Hit It Off

Benazir Alam is enthralled by Klas Magnus Rosén’s performance at the Bengal Art Lounge

Photographs by Kazi Mukul 

Magnus Rosén

When he was nine years old, Magnus wanted to play the bass flute. “At the time, the bass flute wasn’t affordable, despite which, the flute was my first instrument,” smirks Magnus.
But one day he got a magic box which was made of wood and covered in leather. “I can still recall the smell when I opened it. The wonderful smell of wood and leather mesmerised me,” Inside the box, Magnus found was a round the world ticket. “There was only one condition with this ticket, I had to figure out how the ticket worked,” he interjects.
This metaphorical ticket was the bass. He mastered it and performed in more than 50 countries around the world.
According to Magnus, good music is the kind that touches the soul. “There are so many different bass styles that I like but what is important for me is that the music must be heartfelt. Besides for his passion for music, he is currently the ambassador of Juteborg, a Swedish organisation that recently visited Bangladesh in order to promote this golden fibre of Bangladesh globally. Through his project ‘Culture meets Industry,’ Magnus tries to come up with innovative plans to merge the two together. “Jute is biodegradable, hence it doesn’t affect the grounds. Apart from that, one can make shoes, clothes, bags and even car accessories. Also, a big part of Bangladeshi culture, Jute has many uses and is environmentally friendly as well,” informs Magnus.
Being involved in various social projects such as Juteborg, Hunger Project, UK’s music and culture schools, has deeply influenced Magnus’ musical journey. “Music is a part of my life, so it grows with my age, which in turn acts as an influence on my social gestures,” he says.
The artiste made arrangements for the audience to bring 2kgs of food during his tour in South America. People came to the concert with bags of food which served as fees for the tickets. “I got in touch with the health charity organisations there and with their help we distributed the food in Favelas, a slum in Brazil,” shares Magnus.
Recently, Magnus played his music free of cost for the workers in the Jute Fabric mill in Dhaka. “There were 800 young students who were very excited to see me perform. They even cheered on loudly as I started playing,” he smiles.
Having been in the music scene since 1997, Magnus was associated with bands such as Revolution Renaissance, Shadowside, and HammerFall. His experiences through the years helped him grow as a musician.
“I played in HammerFall for 10 years; I’d certainly admit that we had luck on our side. Despite being an underground band, we made our way to Grammy Nomination’s Jury Award,” he exclaims. Apart from that, Magnus received ‘Artiste of the Year Award’ along with other cultural prizes as well. “It certainly took us a while to get here. Somehow I would always think that this journey didn’t happen because of me or my talent.” Magnus felt it was sheer luck that made him who he is today, thus it helped him to stay rooted
and humble.