|
Combining various
international genres
including hard rock,
R&B, fusion, rock, funk,
techno, ballads and
synth, mixed with some
traditional Bangla
Marfuthi-folk, Tishma's
debut album 'Tara' is
the first album ever of
its kind in Bangladesh,
with Bangla songs in a
completely international
format. The biggest hits
from Tishma's album are
the songs 'Bashiwallah',
'Ay Cchelera Ay Meyera',
'Domei Domei' and 'Ek
Poloke'.
Months before her debut
album was released,
Tishma was signed on as
a spokesperson for
international brand name
Pepsi. Tishma is the
world's all-time
youngest Pepsi star!
Tishma is also the first
artist ever to have been
signed on by Pepsi even
before having any album
released in the market.
Besides, Tishma is also
the youngest artist of
all time in the
Bangladeshi mainstream
music industry!
When Tishma's debut solo
album 'Tara' finally hit
stores on the evening of
28 November 2002, the
full stock of the album
was completely sold out
all over the country!.
This was especially
because the album had
also become a very big
hit outside Dhaka,
mainly in mufassil towns
and villages. Sangeeta
officially reported that
over 25,000-plus copies
of 'Tara' album were
sold out within just
hours on the first day!
And also that the album
was selling at a rate of
thousands of copies per
day every single day
afterwards. The demand
was so high that the
album could not be
supplied to shops fast
enough to keep up with
the customer demand.
Customers would go to
buy the album only to
find that it was already
sold out! Normally,
cassettes sent to the
market are wrapped in
plastic coverings. But
Tishma's albums were
selling so quickly and
re-orders from stores
were pouring in so fast
that just to keep up
with the demand for
'Tara' album, Sangeeta
had to produce the
cassettes so quickly
there was no time even
to wrap the cassettes in
plastic coverings! This
has created an all-time
record for a new female
artist. Before Tishma,
no new female artist has
ever achieved such
sensational market
success with just her
debut album only. The
last time a new female
artist became a hit in
the market was seven
years ago. After that,
Tishma is the first new
female artist to have
broken that seven-year
record! Even today,
months after the album
release, Tishma's 'Tara'
album has a good demand
still and is still
selling in stores
steadily at a very good
rate indeed.
Tishma is also very
popular in concerts. She
has performed at Dhaka
Stadium for the SAF
Games 2003, and has
performed at the Army
Stadium three times, for
Close-up Rock Brigade,
Pepsi Go Get Them Live
and Uro Rhythm Concert
for Shabana. She has
also performed at many
other concerts and shows
including the Bangladesh
Cultural Reporter's
Awards 2002,
Lux-Anandadhara Miss
Photogenic 2002 (her
first performance of a
song from her album),
Pepsi Live Concert at
Fantasy Kingdom with LRB,
and many more. Tishma
has also received many
offers to participate in
shows abroad, but she
still has not accepted
any of them as yet for
the time being. Tishma's
favourite kind of show
is the charity concert
because here she can
raise funds to help
people in need while
entertaining people at
the same time.
Tishma has appeared on
international Indian
channel, Zee TV, where a
music video for her song
'Ay Cchelra' was
broadcast on the show 'Ponchokonna'
on the evening of last
Eid-ul-Fitr. Tishma's
first solo musical
television programme,
which was aired on ATN
Bangla about a month
after her debut album
'Tara' was released.
Tishma's first VCD,
released from Sangeeta.
She is also featured in
a second just-released
VCD from Sangeeta.
In Tishma's latest
musical project, she
collaborated with LRB
band on a new song 'Chaitra
Jai Baishshakh Ashe',
especially for the
occasion of Pahela
Baishakh, on an
experimental song which
is a fusion of
heavy-metal and Indian
classical. Ayub Bacchu
composed this song, the
whole of LRB band played
on the song and Tishma
was on the vocals.
Her upcoming projects
include several mixed
albums, including an
experimental hard rock
mixed album together
with alternative rock
band 'Black', co-ordinated
by Shafiq Tuhin. This
album will contain
completely new styles of
music, again. On the
album Tishma will
compose several of the
tracks herself. She will
also collaborate with
'Black' on some metal
songs. Tishma would like
to experiment deeper
into even more diverse
genres of music,
including heavy metal
and soul. She also wants
to learn about Indian
classical music.
However, she has not
started work on her
second solo album just
as yet, which she does
not want to start
without careful
consideration. She
prefers to take her time
and produce good music
slowly and steadily for
her solo projects.
'Quality over quantity'
is her philosophy.
Though Tishma's voice
and performance are
constantly compared to
the international
performers, Tishma has
no definite influences
in her singing, and her
singing style has just
developed itself along
the way. Besides
possessing a
multi-octave voice,
Tishma also writes
songs, composes music,
plays the keyboard,
piano, guitar, and
almost all percussion
instruments (all
self-taught) and can
sing in seven languages.
She has won
international awards for
her singing from the
Associated Board of the
Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM)
of London. She won this
award for two
consecutive years!
The first time Tishma
ever sang in public was
when she performed at a
charity concert for Wild
Polio patient, schoolboy
Amit, and some months
later at a charity show
for cancer patient,
schoolgirl Shuchi. Her
aim was to raise funds
for these two child
patients. But the
audience appreciated her
singing so much at these
two shows, that they
encouraged her to
continue with her music
and wanted her to create
an album of her own
songs. She was just not
interested in recording
an album. However, after
participating in several
more concerts, the
response only improved.
The audiences just
became more enthusiastic
in their demands for
Tishma to put together
an album. They enjoyed
Tishma's completely new
style of singing and her
different voice so much
that they constantly
wanted her to record her
own songs.
An interesting point is
that Tishma may never
have become involved
with singing if she had
not unexpectedly
participated in a school
drama, where she
received a musical role
in which she was
required to sing. Not
only was her singing
ability discovered then,
it was unveiled that she
could sing the most
difficult songs very
well indeed.
Tishma began her
education at a very
early age in Camberley,
England, and has
travelled Europe widely,
touring France, Germany,
Belgium, Holland,
Switzerland, Italy,
Greece, Austria,
Croatia, Yugoslavia,
Bosnia, and Macedonia
among other countries.
At her school SFX
Greenherald
International School,
she was also involved in
various extra-curricular
activities in school,
including debating,
science, sports, drama,
writing and more. Tishma
also recently gave her
Cambridge GCSE O'levels
from Greenherald. She
has won a Daily Star
Award for her
outstanding academic
results, and her further
studies will involve
mathematics, the
sciences and computer
science. Tishma is a
journalist for the Daily
Star and a music critic
for The Independent. She
also writes fiction and
poetry, and has won
awards for essays,
poetry and art. She is
also a regular
contributor for the
Bangladesh Observer and
the New Nation. |
