A Rising Star

From being ‘that funny vape guy’ on LadBible to becoming an embodiment of indie-folk acoustic music in Bangladesh, Samin Ahmed has come far in his endeavors. Not only does he pursue his music in Dhaka, but he is also engaged in the Sydney scene. Tunajina Islam chats with the young musician and learns more.

Samin was gifted with a knack for singing and began showcasing his talents at the tender age of 4. He is now 22 and released his first solo “Blue”, which received heaps of love from his fans. Overwhelmed with the positive response, Samin says that ‘Blue’ was a major moment for him especially since it’s his first-ever personal release. Starting with the direction and gathering resources, he managed to pull this off alone. Nevertheless, this was a huge learning curve for Samin as he states that “a solo experience allows you to learn the importance of investing in the right crew which includes sound engineering, videography, and editing”. Samin goes on to talk about the niche culture of indie folk music here in Dhaka which resonates with his kind of music. As he emerges in this music scene, he wants to be part of the effort to build this niche up and spread the spirit of indie-folk across the industry. 

Studying in Sydney now, Samin is part of a band called Packing Dhaka, as a lead singer, that evidently got the inspiration for its name from our very own Dhaka. They play neo funk and Indie music and have had several shows across the city. Being within 2 scenes at the same time, Samin mentions the vast differences in the music culture in both. Dhaka tends to lack the concept of investing in the music culture while Sydney takes it head-on. “Music is an escape from reality. It’s an experience worth investing in as it feeds the soul” he says. Writing up a new song can be therapeutic since this is a major coping mechanism. Whether it’s “No Games” or “Blue”, Samin finds the inspiration for the lyrics from his own self-expression. To add more, Samin Ahmed is also a comedy figure while also pursuing his Vlog channel. 

Through all of this, he expresses his gratitude to his family and friends who were his pillars of support. Despite getting a judgment from broader groups, he finds that your closest people supporting you is all that you need. Working with several other musicians throughout this journey, he states that the music scene is almost a close-knit family where everyone stands beside the other, rather than rivalry. He ends off the conversation by giving some advice to future musicians; “Don’t rush yourself. Everything has a step-by-step process and things will fall into place in due time.”