Raef al Hasan Rafa

Raef Al Hasan Rafa (born in October 27, 1986) is a multi- talented Bangladeshi musician, drummer, singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, mouth organist, sound engineer & a music producer. He is famous for his work as a drummer and vocal of Aurthohin, Severe Dementia and Kral and also the founding member of ‘The Joint Family]. Known by the nicknames of ‘The All-Rounder’, ‘Rhino’, ‘The Rafa’ and so, he is one of the youngest and most versatile musicians of Bangladesh. He is the only drummer in the country who can play anything and everything ; ranging from extreme hardcore metal to pop and sing fluently at the same time.

''' BIOGRAPHY:

Pre music era: '''

Born in Bangladesh, he is the second and therefore the youngest child of his family, 9 years younger from his brother Sadi Muktafi, who is also currently a prolific guitarist and the founding member of the band Kral. He spent most of his early childhood at Libya due to his father’s posting over there, who is a civil engineer. After returning at the age of 5, he got admitted at Maple Leaf International School at Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was pushed to learn Nazrul Geeti,a local genre of song and harmonium during his childhood, but surprisingly he had zero interest in music back then. He used to play Tabla just because for the sake of it, without having any intention to learn it by heart. He spent most of the extra time of his childhood by playing cricket,[football and other sports, reading books and indulging himself in other regular past time. There is nothing much about his childhood, except from the fact that he always used to be silent and be within himself yet at the same time used to be so wicked and sarcastic that his school teachers used be cranked up by him in no time.

Entering the music scene:

His elder brother Saadi has been his biggest motivator and influence in music as he used to push him for it from 1996 for which he ended up writing a song at around 1998.That track was his first attempt to do something in music which was composed by Saadi. During that time, Saadi discovered that he could make almost any type of voice and made him sing some tunes which he pulled off almost perfectly. The first time he went to a gig was in 2000 held at Indian Cultural Centre where he watched a drum kit for the first time in his life and instinctively felt that he can just play it anyway and also found that he actually could. He also figured that he could also sing while playing around then .During that time he used to accompany Saadi to jamming pads and started to grow interest in music. But unfortunately just when he thought to give his first shot in this field, he fell victim of Sacroiliitis and got paralyzed. It made him completely detached from school as well as music for almost a year which was the whole time of 2001. After recovery he started his never ending journey towards music, which began with the formation of Sychokinesis at 2002. It was an endeavor by him with some of his school friends just to have some fun. On the other hand, Sadi formed Kral where he became the drummer, vocal and songwriter. He, with the others immediately organized his first gig named ‘Pepsi rock fest’ on 19 February where he performed with both the bands for the first time in his life. The show was not much of a success though. After almost 4 months on July 3 he appeared with Kral and performed ‘Pull me under (Dream Theatre), Strange déjà vu (Dream Theatre) & Rising force(Yngwie J. Malmsteen),  This was the first time he sung while playing, mesmerizing  the other contemporary bands present there. In that gig, he caught the attention of Bassbaba Sumon, who was looking for a vocal for his band Aurthohin. From then on he used to hang around at Sumon’s place and at times used to unofficially jam with him. He also did few shows with Kral at well reputed underground venues of that time around then. At November 26, 2002 his first studio work got released in the album ‘Agontuk 2’ which was the first single of Kral called ‘Shesh’

The breakthrough:

After few jamming here and there with Aurthohin, he finally joined the band officially at the end of 2003 and instantaneously got featured in Aurthohin’s 4th Studio album ‘Dhrubok’ as a vocal. He gave his voice in Bijoyer Gaan](A groovy number), Morichika (Old School Aurthohin metal), Guti from Hell (3rd installment of Guti), Ashte Sotto(Metal),Somadhi Sohor(Metal). In the meantime to fill up his void, Imtiaz joined Kral as a vocal. It was like his long leap from underground arena to mainstream music industry. While his voice was gaining a lot of popularity, he kept on doing relentless gigs with both Kral and Aurthohin .He was only 17 years old then, being one of the youngest talents in the music scene of that time. At 2004 two singles of Aurthohin, ‘Epitaph’ & ‘Boyosh’ got released in two mixed albums ‘Shopnochura' & 'Lokayoto  ' respectively where he had immense contribution. Another single of Kral ‘Opekkha’ got released in ‘Lokayoto’ too. At around then he became a member of ‘Dripping gore’ the first death metal band of Bangladesh. That year, on February 13 he organized a gig called ‘ Metal Mayhem’ where Kral performed ‘Act 1:scene one: Regression up to Act 2:scene six :Home’ of the album ‘Metropolis, Part 2: Scenes From a Memory’ by Dream Theater without any pause. That made the audience and the rest others realize what he can really do with his sticks and pedals. Moreover that year, bands longtime guitarist Piklu left the band when Aurthohin decided to continue journey with rest of them. As a result, Rafa took the guitar with Shishir. At 2005 Aurthohin’s another famous single ‘Itihash(heavy metal)’ got released in the album ‘Agountuk-3’ along with two other singles of ‘Dripping Gore’ in the same album. He was doing shows on and off with three of the bands in those time. In those days he used to compose and write his own songs but did not know how to record them. Due to overcome this obstacle, he began experimenting with recording too. For that, he took a software from Bassbaba in order to experiment on how to record songs in his computer and since his brother used to make his own songs and recorded them, he started taking interest in his works as well.

'''The journey towards Music Production & some more: '''

To master in art of mixing and mastering of sounds, he used to read any and every book he could come across regarding this field of work on which he was currently engaged in, then experimented on modifying/remixing a few songs, and through the course of time he has learned how to master this technique .As a consequence in 2006 he, along with Kamal composed the song ‘Protirup’ (mixed and mastered by him) which was featured in the hyped mixed album ‘Underground’. At the same time he did his first TV commercial soundtrack for the well reputed apparel brand ‘Ecstacy’. In addition he met Fuad Al Muqtadir and began working with him professionally as a Co- producer and as a session musician too.In the same year he joined the most reputed death metal band of Bangladesh ‘Severe Dementia’ as a drummer and Producer. Right after joining the band he produced a single called ‘Demented Mentation’ and also went for his first ever tour to India with them. During 2007 Aurthohin’s two more singles ‘Hollow’ & ‘Nirbodh’ from the albums ’Live Now’ &’Underground 2’ respectively got released. ‘Hollow’ was his first ever composition and then came Nirbodh. These were also mixed and mastered by him,which gave him more and more success. At the same year Shuvo, Aurthohin's longtime Drummer left the band for personal reason and he eventually took the stick. In course he also produced the first International EP of ‘Severe Dementia’ named ‘Epitaph of Plassey’ which got released in the studio album ‘Rise of the Eastern Blood’ in the label ‘Demonstealer Records’ along with two other bands from Pakistan and India. This EP comprised of five songs where he worked not only as a producer but as the drummer, vocal, guitarist and sound engineer. He was also one of the judges in the band hunt competition ‘Grameen phone Drockstars-2’ and produced the full length album ‘Apostrut Juddho’ of the winning band ‘Powersurge’ which got released in the label of G series on 2008.

At 2008 after a long break of 5 years Aurthohin released their 5th Studio Album ‘Aushomapto 1’.There for the 1st time Rafa sang some melodious soft numbers for Aurthohin. The three legendary songs ‘Kadbe bisshoy’(punk rock),’ Anmone’(rock) and ‘Nikrishto’(heavy metal) were exclusively composed by him. In ‘Kadbe bisshoy’ he played the guiter solo which gave him the public recognition as a guitarist from then. These three songs made him touch the peak of his career which made him incredibly famous in the eyes of mass listeners. His two more singles ‘Pichuhata’ and ‘ Smriticharon’ got released in the album ‘Kromannoy’ –a mixed album produced by Fuad and co-produced by him. After this, he joined ‘FnF’ (Fuad & Friends) as a drummer. As of Severe Dementia, he produced the single ‘Credence of Fort William’ which got released in the album ‘Metal Farm Vol-6’.This album got released by a Thai label ‘Metal Farm’ an also got featured in an anime .The single of Kral ‘Song for Jewel Bhai’ got released in the album ‘Rock-101’-a prominent band mixed album co –ordinated by Iqbal Asif Jewel. Some of the songs of that album were mixed and mastered by him. He produced a TV commercial for Grameenphone which was the theme song for the independence day concert of 2008.

2009 was a moderately eventful year for him as he formed his starchild ‘The Joint Family’ in order to experiment with his unexplored abilities. Through this project, he crossed all his limits by creating some amazing ambient and progressive tracks as he claims these two to be his favorite genres of music with some psychedelic touch. The first track of this project ‘Rebulation’ got released in the album ‘Rock 202’. He also co –produced the full length album ‘Fuad feat. Kona’ (Label: G series, 2009).He also went to do shows in USA that year as a solo arist.

In 2010,he worked as a producer for the first time for the album 'Rafa feat. [Topu- She Ke’. He released the single ‘Ektu Brishty’ in the album ‘The Hit Album too. Also two of the singles of The Joint Family ‘Bhaar’ & ‘The Bicycle Day’ got released in the albums ‘Aashor’ & ‘Rock-404’ respectively and the single ‘Shonga Shongjom’ of Kral in ‘Rock-505’ too. In the meantime he kept on doing his own studio production works along with gigs with all his bands.

The year 2011 was rather very busy for him. His solo production work ‘Ontorip’ got released in 2011 where ‘Sharmin’ gave her voice. Another production work, ‘Aundormohol’ got released which featured ‘Tanjib’ as the vocal. He mixed and mastered the first album ‘Oporajeyo’ of the band ‘Mechanix’ and the latest studio album of Aurthohin ‘ Aushomapto-2 ’. Presumably, the last single of The Joint Family ‘Vision of a Mind’s Garden’ got released in ‘Rock-707’ that year.

Throughout 2012 he appeared in lot of stage shows which began with his presence in ‘Guiterfest 2012’.With Severe Dementia he went for his second band tour at Nepal. They were the headliners of that concert naming ‘Ides of March’ which was organized by ‘KTM rocks’. He released the music video of The Bicycle day, some days after the tour. He also had a guest appearance in the video ‘Agnisnan’ of ‘Powersurge’. He worked as a producer in that song as well. In addition, he officially started his own company ‘Hotbox Entertainment’ where he also included a little bit of video production with his primary field of work.

The beginning of 2013 kicked off with his appearance in the then most hyped up even with few other renowned artists for the campaign ‘Go Free(Cholo Bohudur), for Grameen Phone (Telenor). He directed his first documentary ‘Chol Chol Chol’ which was a tribute to ‘Shahbagh movement’. It was quite a success for him as his first visual work. It was quite a turbulent year for him, as he disbanded ‘The Joint Family’ as well as joined ‘Cryptic Fate’ as a drummer. He appeared in the video ‘Akromon’ right after joining. Meanwhile he did few shows and TV commercial soundtracks and started working on his solo album. He has been the front man in the show ‘Rhythm & Strings’ which has been the most anticipated show that year.

Recently he has composed one of the native versions of ‘FIFA 2014’ official soundtrack. At this time, he is working for his solo album. He is also engaged with Aurthohin, Cryptic Fate and Severe Dementia, doing concerts and shows.

Equipments:


 * Yamaha stage custom acoustic drumkit
 * Tamairon cobrapower glide drum pedal
 * Aslyn dane semi acoustic/electric guiter
 * Line 6 variax 700 electric guiter
 * Martin MC_16 GTE acoustic guiter
 * Pro mark drum sticks
 * Roland TD 11 extended electronic drum kit
 * Remoheads
 * Zildjian,Sabian,Meinl cymbals
 * Cordoba ukulele
 * Le oscar harmonica

Aurthohin
(studio album)
 * Dhrubok(2003)
 * Aushomapto 1(2008)
 * Aushomapto-2 (2011)

Kral
(singles only)
 * Shesh @ Agontuk 2(2004)
 * Opekhay @ Lokayot(2004)
 * Ek janala akasher manchitro@ Underground(2006)
 * Klanto Bohumatrikta @ Underground 2(2007)
 * Song for Jewel Bhai @ Rock 101(2008)
 * Shonga Monushshotto @ Rock 303(2009)
 * Shonga Shongjom @ Rock 505(2010)
 * Shurjaioner Suru @ Rock 606(2011)

Severe Dementia
(singles only)
 * Howls of Murshidabad @ Rise of the Eastern Blood(2007)
 * Credence of Fort William @ Rise of the Eastern Blood(2007)
 * Shudder Thee Incensed Goddess @ Rock 505(2010)

The Joint Family
(singles only) with Dripping Gore (singles only) Bimur Monushotter Udvason @ Agontuk 3(2005)
 * Revolution @ Rock 202(2009)
 * Bhaar @ Ashor(2010)
 * The Bicycle Day @ Rock 404(2010)
 * Vision Of A Minds Garden@ Rock 707(2011)

Cryptic Fate
(studio album)
 * Noy Mash(2013)

Solo career
(singles only)
 * Sriticharon @ Kromannoy(2009)
 * Pichutan @ Kromannoy(2009)
 * Ektu Bristhi @ The Hit Album 2(2010)
 * Abar (ukulele version)(2014)

As a Music Producer/Sound Engineer

 * Powersurge - Oprostut Juddho(2008)
 * Topu - Shey Ke(2010)
 * Sharmin - Ontorip(2011)
 * Mechanix - Oporajeyo(2011)
 * Air & Air - A Time To Break The Silence(2011)
 * Aurthohin-Aushomapto-2(2011)
 * Cryptic Fate-Noy Maash(2013)

TV/Radio Commercials and other Sountracks

 * Ecstacy(2006)
 * Mojo 500(2007)
 * BTTB(2007)
 * Rexona(2007)
 * Aktel cafe 8000(2008)
 * UNDP education awareness theme song(2008)
 * Grameen phone 26 March theme track(2008)
 * Banglalink eid(2008)
 * Nestle(2008)
 * Bangladesh General Election theme track(2008)
 * Union Capital(2009)
 * BBC Bangladesh Radio(2009)
 * Marks all rounder theme track(2010)
 * British American Tobacco Bangladesh worker motivational theme track(2010)
 * United Airways theme track(2010)
 * Panda Antivirus (2012)
 * Grameen Phone WAP service of Qur'an interpretation and meaning(2012)
 * GPIT theme track(2012)
 * Grameen Phone re-branding 'Go Free' theme track(2012)
 * Golden Harvest trade fair promotional track(2012)
 * One world one Djuice (2012)
 * Grameen Phone Internet utshob(2012)
 * Telenor internal employee motivational theme track(2012)
 * Commonwealth Games official theme tracks (2013)
 * British American Tobacco LOS theme track(2013)
 * Dhaka Tribune promotional theme track(produced by Johan Alamgir(2013)
 * Grameen phone valentine theme track(2013)
 * Femicon official theme track(2013)
 * Coca-Cola 'FIFA 2014' official theme track(Bangladesh)(2014)
 * Close up Valentine's Day telefilm 'Otohpor' theme track(2014)