With Naam Chara Gaan already a public hit, Poraho is en-route for a successful release of their second album, and while the release is knocking in the door, we caught up with the band and discussed about their new album and about their new sound.
All of you are from different musical background. How did it all start for you guys?
Shahed: Well, the lineup is not at all the same when we first started. We have better musicians now, well suited for the job. First official change of the band was our Drummer Rahul. He was there since the first show after our album launch. It took a while to cope up since he is from a metal background, but he is doing better than anybody in the band right now.
Next change was our guitarist Pritom. He is a marvelous addition to the band. He plays awesome solos, tunes songs and is a very good musician – makes the job a lot easier for me.
Reshad was next – the groove of the band. His addition was important because a groovy bass line with vocal harmonies is very important in the genre we play. His harmonies go pretty well with the range and the timber of our vocalist.
Rahul: So, yeah. Jamming made it a lot easier. We all share our ideas, respect each others’ opinion. No one is the “boss” around here. The gradual start was pretty well and it’s going pretty well for us as well.
First album: Thoughts and transition? How did you find Pritom bhai?
Shahed: First Album was entirely Masrur bhaia [lol]. You better ask him.
Masrur: Not entirely me. i wasn’t even sure about the album. Me and Shahed went to Ratul’s place [owned] for recording the song we had. Ratuls’ mixing magic made the songs sound so good. And I had more songs written by that time so I thought about recording them; hence, the album. All the songs were written and tuned by me. Shahed did not have his own gears back then as he is a lefty, so he gave most of the guitar takes “ulta” [haha]. So, couldn’t play a lot of the stuffs that he wanted. Fasih [Owned] helped us a lot by focusing on guitar tracking. Ratul tracked the bass lines of the album. Overall, no thoughts actually..a bunch of love songs [haha].
Shahed: Basically, I and Pritom used to play for a groove metal band called Strident. I had a good chemistry with him, don’t know about him though. Poraho needed a guitarist, I asked him and he said yes – pretty straightforward.
Rahul: He was not “found”, he was already there [haha!].
How does the poraho sound differ from the 1st album to the new one? What are the factors that caused these changes?
Reshad: A complete new sound, I must say. We are feeling the change when we are rehearsing our tracks. Changes in song writing and a lot of different things are done which we did not try before – it’s fun.
Pritom: Using more than 3 chords [haha] and duel soloing. It has always been fun.
Rahul: New musicians means new feel. Shahed bhaia and Pritom bhaia are always up to harmonizing and competing on who is the fastest [haha] – A lot of guitar playing on this album. Drums and the bass section are much improved compared to our first album.
Masrur: Lyrically, a lot of variations. Shahed and Reshad are writing lyrics this time along with me, even the tunes along with Pritom. So yes, new changes, new feel.
Why does Rahul use so much crash?
Rahul: It’s fun! I like using it and I will do [xD].
Piracy has always been a barrier for good music and you see a few bands coming up with ways of getting away from this.
How do you plan to get your album out of harms’ way?
Shahed: I think the ways are excellent. One of my all time favorite band Arbovirus’s album was a good example. It was a slap to the face of piracy, and to be honest, all we can do and say is
“stop piracy” and request not to do this.
About our upcoming album, we are under the contract of our record label Fahim Music. Ergo, is coming out from there. We are hoping that the sales increase this time and it’s a normal scene that the mp3 of our album will be uploaded in two three days (max) after the release. Sadly, we can’t do anything about it other than saying not to download them and buy original CDs. It’s all on the people buying the records and how they want to compensate for our work.
Being in multiple bands, having a job and almost at the end of your education, how are you coping up with the pressure?
Are you willing to continue this after you finish your education? What are Mashrur bhai’s thought on this?
Shahed: Music has always been my passion. It will always be. I have managed to cope up with it, gone through a hell lot for this. There is no stopping me!
Masrur: “lagle job chere dibo tao music/band charbo na” [haha!].
Rahul: I play for a metal band and for a rock/mellow band like Poraho. I rather enjoy it, playing different types of music. I don’t like being “typed”.
Pritom bhai is going places with Old School. Does he find it hard to give time to Poraho, having Old School tight schedule in mind?
Pritom: I like to stay busy. I like doing music. It’s not hard for me. It’s never hard when it comes to Poraho. I like it the way it is right now. What’s more fun than staying completely busy doing music? [xD]

About the album, what is different about the album that will make it stand out loud from rest of the bands in this country?
Rahul: Stand out loud? It’s louder than the first one [xD]!
Reshad: There are many superb bands out there. I don’t know whether we will stand out or not. We are all trying our best. Let’s just hope we succeed.
Shahed: Even if we don’t stand out, all I want is that at least when they go to bed, they would listen to our songs, relate them to their lives, laugh/cry and then fall asleep hoping for a new day.
We can safely say that we are moving out of the “dead” zone that we were going through, in terms of the live music scene. A lot of the bands want to create albums and EPs but financial constraints are a big pain in the rear for them. Was a problem for Poraho too? Releasing an album requires smart planning or just the passion of letting your fans listen to your sound
Reshad: Lack of money has always been a pain in the “you know what” for everyone. But I’m really happy that shows are happening here and there. We are seeing two or three new bands coming out of every show – feels great.
Rahul: EPs are a great idea if you are lacking finance. At least people get to hear your music. That’s all that matters eventually.
Shahed: The equation is simple: People won’t buy CDs = decrease in sales = Loss for record labels = Lack of sponsors = lack of money = labels not promoting/financing bands. Some bands even don’t get loyalty. They record the album by their own money. It’s the truth. I know it’s harsh, yet promotion plays a vital role. It has always been a passion for us, doing music, let the people know. But to be honest, a smart planning is very much essential. It won’t do you any harm, rather will reap benefits. So, we all should plan and then release an album rather than doing it in a haste and then let the album die in the market and letting only 30 people among your friends know that your band even has an album.