IN A CONVERSATION, MUSICIAN XEFER RAHMAN ELABORATES ON HER CREATIVE PROCESS AND HER EVOLUTION AS AN ARTIST.
You are one of Bangladesh’s upcoming musicians who are famous for creating songs that have a fusion of different genres and languages (English and Bangla). How do you balkance the two languages in your music?
Everything I have always done has been organic and based on my feelings. I used to focus more on English songs before and started experimenting with Bangla music much later. At the time, there were a lot of criticisms about why I was making English music as a Bangladeshi. I started with English music as my inspirations were Western artists. Later, when I became more confident, I started making Bangla music. I used to think that I wouldn’t be able to pull off doing Bangla music the way I could in English. Now, it’s more balanced because I do experimental songs in both languages. I’m still evolving as an artist.
How important is it to have a thick skin, being a woman in this industry?
It is super important, otherwise what people say is going to affect your mental health, as well as your craft. I started my career when I was really young, and I could not always ignore all the comments I was getting. Having thick skin is not easy, and it is not something that is inbuilt. Since I am a public figure, I had to adapt.
You collaborated with Arekta Rock Band to create Ojana and Nei Proyojon with Muza. Tell us about the experiences and about your reaction to the popoularity of both songs.
At the beginning of my career, I was more adamant about my style and my appearance. In recent years, I’m more open to evolving as an artist. That’s when I stepped into this project, Nei Proyojon with the label Quintetic Network. My appearance and also my sound were very different in this song. I saw a different side of the music industry. A lot of girls are dancing to it on TikTok; it’s a proper pop song. Muza and I are very good friends, the whole process was really fun. I’m open to doing more collaborations, and different sounds. I was not that comfortable with happy, bubbly sounds back in the day since I was, and am, more comfortable with dark, melancholic sounds. In the last two years, I have gotten out of that comfort zone. Arekta Rock Band and I are also friends, and that’s how the collaboration of Ojana happened. The two of us wrote it together. I am very proud of the song. I had never made a video like this, the fact that we had to act like a couple was very different for both of us. Big shout out to Flybot Studios, who did the video, and do most of my videos.
AT THE BEGINNING OF MY CAREER, I WAS MORE ADAMANT ABOUT MY STYLE AND MY APPEARANCE. IN RECENT YEARS, I’M MORE OPEN TO EVOLVING AS AN ARTIST.
Tell us about your creative process.
I enjoy making melodies the most. It comes very naturally to me. There is a long process in making a song from the idea to the song to the video at the end. For me, songwriting came very naturally. I never had any proper music training. When I used to create melodies, I didn’t know what I was doing. At first I make a melody, and then I create the words with a lyricist or I write them myself. I am very involved with the process, starting from what sort of instruments should be used, and what beat will go with the song. I work with producers who understand what I want, and that’s how we create. I’m precise about my vision. For videos, starting from costumes to sets and colour grading, all the creative decisions go through me. I’m very involved in every step of the process. The whole thing is teamwork. I’m glad I have a team who understands, and who grew with me over the years.
Before every video and every show, I come up with my own looks. I used to be very conscious about what I wear, and what I do, but in the last two years, I am much more open. The pandemic actually changed me. I realised that life is too short. So now I’m going to do all sorts of songs, looks. I won’t change my hair though (laughs).
Photographs: Riyad Ashraf