A Free Soul

Singer Rushnaf Wadud
Talks to
Apurba Jahangir

	Courtesy: Rushnaf Wadud

My schooling was divided into two segments, one in Bangladesh and one abroad. I used to live in Chittagong and I studied at Sunshine Grammar School, St Mary's and Green View School till Grade V. After the Chittagong phase of my schooling ended, I went to Assam in India. There I got admitted to Assam Valley School, which was a boarding school. I got my school and college degrees from there.

You can say that I was a good student. Though, I was much more interested in extracurricular activities and football rather than my studies. When it came to education, I pretended to know everything. In one word you can say, I was pretty much the class clown. After school ended, I enrolled at a university at Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi. I did my undergraduate there on English Literature.

My fondness towards music began from an early age. My family was also into music and everyone used to sing very well. We often had small musical nights during family gatherings. So you can say my journey into the great world of music started from then. And in school, I used to jam with my friends and class mates and did shows in schools.

My first official band was named 'Stitch' in Delhi. We used to do a lot of indie songs. Although, I lived in Delhi, I used to travel back and forth to Bangladesh. I had a friend named Mushfiq who used to study with me at Assam Valley School. So, when I came back here, we used to jam a lot. Back in 2009, when Mushfiq and I were jamming, he played an amazing intro on his guitar which I thought sounded really good. Then I had a couple of lines which I wrote a while back on a tissue paper that I started singing. And after that jam, the band Blunderware and the song Afim Chash were born.

If I had to say something about myself, I would say I live an unconventional, alternative lifestyle. Maybe, that's why I prefer doing alternative music altogether.

Right now, my future plan is to work for Blunderware's solo album. We didn't plan anything when we formed the band but right now we can see that the people are expecting more from us. And we would like to keep up with those expectations. And apart from that, I am also working as a producer with a brand new radio station named Radio Shadhin. We will hopefully go on air from next month.

As for young musicians, I would like to say that know the world a bit more than you know already. Don't jump into anything with a lack of knowledge because that never helps. And it's not only for music. No matter what you do, try to know everything about that particular subject.