Rock music mightn’t be the cultural force it once was, but anyone declaring the genre dead clearly hasn’t been to Bangladesh.
“It is very, very popular in Bangladesh” said Werribee’s Ashiqur Tishad of rock’s popularity in his homeland.
“Amongst every friend group you’ll find one or two guitarists and if you’re lucky a drummer and keyboardist as well.”
Mr Tishad mightn’t play an instrument himself, but his passion for rock music hasn’t waned in the decade since he emigrated to Australia.
Mr Tishad is Vice-President of the Bangla Band Association Australia, an organisation named after Bangladesh’s unique style of rock music and committed to spreading it far and wide.
That’s the aim of the upcoming Legacy Rock Festival 2.0 in Hoppers Crossing on August 19.
Mr Tishad and the BBAA are organising the festival with six local Bangla bands on the bill, including headliners, Subclass 573 .
“They’re named after the visa category they came to Australia under” said Mr Tishad of the group who started in 2007.
Like the other groups, Subclass 573 play Bangla, a style not dissimilar to heavy metal but with it’s own sub-continental twist.
“What makes it significantly different from others styles of rock music is the lyrics.
They’ve very soulful because they’re taken from day to day life in Bangladesh, there’s a lot of emotion to it ” said Mr Tishad of Bangla, which often features, violins, saxophone and traditional Bangladeshi percussion too.
Mr Tishad said he hoped the festival would help spread Bangla beyond the local immigrant community.
“We just want to keep it alive and give everyone a taste of it.”
Legacy Rock Festival 2.0 runs from 5.30pm to 9.30pm at Dreambuilders, Hoppers Crossing, on Saturday August 19.
