“Let’s go dancing” is something people have been saying since the early 50s but cultures of communal dance existed way before that. In the 1920s, it was the dancehall and speakeasy where people grooved to jazz. Then came the clubs that initially played pop music from the time with artists like Michael Jackson and ABBA. In Chicago, techno and house was brewing that was originated by Black and gay DJs. The 80s started an electronic music movement that manifested in different forms all across the world. Slowly the scene grew rich with eccentric subgenres. They branched out of mainstream club culture as an underground scene in itself felt more niche and exclusive.
The result of this also became the line dividing two music cohorts: remixes at the club vs record labels and music collectives that organized private gigs more dance-focused raves; the two did cross paths as a venue for the event but they were two different worlds: at least until electronic dance music developed a community of its own.
Even if dance music popularized it was and continues to be an exclusive phenomena clubs are still the primary venues for artists and DJs and hence if there’s no club in a city, there cannot be an active music scene. Or so we thought. Dance music may have originated alongside club culture but people learned pretty soon that it was the music and community that mattered not the venue. This led to raves as another offset of dance music; one that was more anti-establishment and rugged; in contrast with the luxuries of clubs.
Bhai Bhai Soundsystem comes from the same school of thought when it comes to dance music. Officially starting as a DJ collective comprised of Sakib Tonmoya, Shoummo Saha, and Hasib Mahmud in a post-pandemic Dhaka in early 2022, Bhai Bhai Sound System evolved pretty organically. Being in a city with no clubs or club culture, they depended on unique spaces that their friends had access to and hosted all-night dance parties. The group started throwing small events in a basement every other week with a goal to change the sound culture of Dhaka, where dance music meant mostly commercial pop and bollywood or progressive house and techno.
"When Bhai Bhai started, there were not a lot of DJs in the scene. This is something we actively worked on by giving lessons, providing our gear and support, and organizing shows for new DJs to play in front of a big audience and take their craft to the next level. The list of artists who were supported by Bhai Bhai from the start include Dameer, NAI, Jonaki, YOANAXOX, Death Wail and more. We don’t usually put a specific direction on sound for new artists, rather let them decide what they like and put them on lineups where they fit. Overall, we are quite genre agnostic with a thirst for new and interesting sounds."Bhai Bhai Soundsystem
The founders of Bhai Bhai Soundsystem had always been a part of the underground music scene in several acts and collectives such as Dhaka Electronica Scene and Ghurni/Karkhana Collective. But with the new endeavour, they found a community to create and build something together. Apart from the DJs, people like Adrita Khan, Naseef Fatemi, Fayed Khan among others, helped organize events and nurture the collective with their sheer belief in the cause.
In January 2024, they organized an event called Kapakapi, featuring sounds from artists like Jonaki, Izhaqo and Enayet. This caught the attention of Shama Anwar, an ex-collaborator with Keep Hush, a global dance music platform, bringing the two together. Streaming was something Bhai Bhai wasn’t focused on until they met Keep Hush who allowed them to record their sets and showcase their artists’ work online.
Bhai Bhai soundsystem, as a collective promotes various genres of dance music from disco and house to techno but lately their focus has been bass and jungle. They constantly host and organize events featuring new and upcoming artists from Dhaka, celebrating their Bengali identity through sounds and collaborations. The snippets of their gigs on Instagram and the sets available on YouTube will give you a glimpse into how they’re creating a cultural milestone for Dhaka by intersecting their heritage with the country's burgeoning electronic dance music scene.
With their events, they aim to push electronic music and dance culture forward in Bangladesh and use the communal experiences they curate as a means to explore and share their Bengali identity with the world. They are on a mission to carve their own place in the global electronic music scene by creating a local platform for DJs and producers. In both its intention and practice, Bhai Bhai Soundsystem is a democratizing force which represents the same free-spirited autonomy that turned electronic music into the global community it is today.
Follow Bhai Bhai Soundsystem here.
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