The Happening was one of the premier music events that ran as a series for quite a number of years. Initially organized by Club Valencia as a fund raising event, it soon portrayed leading bands and was transformed into THE music event at that time.
Our band was called “No Limits” and had a young and energetic audience who could associate with our band-sound. We played mostly our originals, some of which which was recorded but never released. Sadly, this was the last No Limits performance of this line-up – the band disbanded due to differences among us.
At first, I got to learn the sound of the bass from the different styles and rhythms from the organ that I was playing – a Yamaha Electone Mate. This introduced me to the sound and it’s role in the overall piece of music. I first played bass not on an electric bass but on the organ. It had foot pedals for bass and I played bass with my left foot! Continue reading “How I picked up Bass”
Blasterz was our school band. We started off very young and in the band were very talented guys, musically. We received tremendous support from our school, our seniors, professionals, and even the media at that time. The fact that very young kids had a school band was considered phenomenal then.
The line-up consisted of Nimal (vocals & guitar), Ibrahim Amir (drums), Mondhu (rhythm guitar), Abdulla Nihad (bass) and myself (keyboards). I and most others were in Grade 6 (Majeediyya School) at that time.
We practiced in school (when a room was available); at our homes and in jam studios. The jam studios those days cost only MRf 10/= (Maldivian Rufiyaa, Ten) per hour! It may sound really cheap now but, I remember having to wait for about a week when each could chip in just MRf 2/= to make a total of MRf 10/=. Most of the time we would bunk in someone’s home or at school.
The Blasterz played in the annual school concerts and practically anywhere where we were welcome. The band made its first TV appearance in 1984 on MiniPops by TVM (Television Maldives) which portrayed three bands in school at that time – Allied Forces, Blasterz and Pluto.
Blasterz also performed at ‘Rainbow’ – the first ever Youth Concert held in Maldives, which portrayed different talents of artists across the country.
Three out of the five band members successfully made it to the commercial music scene in the Maldives, later.
In 1980, during one of the evening car rides with my Dad, he talked me into taking some piano lessons. At first I didn’t have a clue of what to expect. But then I agreed. My sister, Fazeela, was already taking some lessons from Mrs. Amaraseyna (long time music teacher at Majeediyya School). Continue reading “Piano Lessons”
My mother noticed that on a July 26th (Independence Day of Maldives) celebrations, I started kicking a lot while in her womb, reacting to some music to a dance by some kids. Later, when ‘Knock Three Times‘ (by Tony Orlando & Dawn) was played at home on the radiogram, I would kick more than usual. She had noticed this correlation then. At that time, she had never read about this phenomenon. However, recent experiments show that babies in the womb do react well to music. Continue reading “My Musical Aptitude”
