Beatmosphere’s phonetic magic: The origins of Bangladesh’s foremost acapella group

Beatmosphere grew from a community of like-minded music enthusiasts who came together to make music and share ideas. Over time, that shared passion developed into a nine-member band whose music brings together beatboxing and acapella. After winning “Voice of Bangladesh”, a national selection show produced by Bongo, six members will take the group’s sound to Bangkok to represent Bangladesh at the Eurovision Song Contest Asia Grand Finale.

So, what exactly is Beatmosphere? Moktadir Dewan Shanto and Ronesh Biswas started Beatbox Bangladesh in late 2014. Both were beatboxers, but took on different roles. Shanto looked after the creative and practical work, while Ronesh searched for beatboxers across a small, scattered scene.

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They organised battles and met new performers through the community. One thing led to another, and the project soon began to grow beyond its original purpose.

Since around 2009, Shanto had been drawn to the idea of bringing many voices together as ONE. It was never a formal project; most of his work was solo as BeatBaksho or involved collaborations with other musicians. As Beatbox Bangladesh brought beatboxers together, the idea took shape as Beatmosphere, an acapella and beatbox group formed in 2015.

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The band went through different versions, with members joining at different points. It went on hiatus before the pandemic, but in 2021, Shanto reached out to beatboxers who had grown through Beatbox Bangladesh. This time, they were ready to build something more lasting.

“We used to meet every Friday at my home, where I had set up Bharitone Studios. We recorded our acapellas, made content and did a lot more there. We were like-minded weird people who loved making noise,” he said.

Today, Beatmosphere has nine members, though six form its regular performing line-up. The full group includes Ahnaf Anindo (Glizmo), Ishtiyak Zobayer (Zardo), Khandaker Shams (Anarchy), Mahi Bin Ashraful (Sykoverse), Mahi Hossain Khan (Invalid), Prachya Priyodip (Dippox), Rafiun Nabi Nahin (RafTeknix), Sidratul Mursalin Bhasha (Bhasha) and Shanto (BeatBaksho).

Each member brings a different strength to the group. Bhasha, a classically trained vocalist who has sung since childhood, leads the vocal layering and harmony work during rehearsals and recordings. He also helps the group find the right notes and tune.

Prachya, who now lives in the UK, remains part of the band. He sang on Beatmosphere’s debut song, “Shob Kichu Bhalo Lage”, and is also a beatboxer.

Nahin, now an architect, was Bangladesh’s first national beatbox champion. He won BattleBoxBD, the national championship, in 2017 and 2018. Anarchy followed with wins in 2019 and 2020. He has since released multiple singles and, most recently, a rap EP, “Bangla Rap Er Future”.

The group has also helped members discover talents they had not yet explored. When Zardo sang Habib Wahid’s “Esho Brishty Namai”, the group heard a side of him they had never known. He had sung on his own before, but they had not realised he could perform with such confidence. “Where have you been all these years?” Shanto recalled asking. Zardo is now one of the two lead vocalists on “Tumi Ele”.

Glizmo grew more confident through performing. In “Tumi Ele”, Sykoverse mimes playing an air guitar, though the guitar sound is made entirely with the mouth. Invalid, meanwhile, creates drum-like sounds through beatboxing and has become more expressive on stage.

These stories show how Beatmosphere gives its members room to try new things and find their own ways of expressing themselves. Shanto hopes the group’s journey will encourage others to take a chance on ideas that may seem unusual at first.

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Behind the group’s sound is producer and sound engineer Subhro Raha, who has been working with Beatbox Bangladesh and Beatmosphere for around 13 years. Although the members have learnt production while making acapella music, Shanto describes Subhro as the backbone of their sound. He has handled production for their Coke Studio work and a Chorki show, among other projects, and has also produced “Tumi Ele” and several of Anarchy’s tracks.

The group’s next big step came with “Voice of Bangladesh”, produced by Bongo, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest Asia. The competition allowed no more than six performers on stage, so Beatmosphere had to choose Glizmo, Zardo, Sykoverse, Invalid, Bhasha and BeatBaksho from its nine-member line-up.

All six can beatbox, but their roles shift from one song to another. In “Tumi Ele”, each member contributes a different sound, with vocal percussion, harmonies and acapella forming the song’s arrangement.

The band will represent Bangladesh at the Eurovision Song Contest Asia Grand Finale in Bangkok on November 14. Shanto said the group had not expected to win, especially with so many strong singers in the competition. The result took time to sink in.

The crew hopes its journey will encourage others to create with whatever they have. Six members will take that spirit to the stage in Bangkok.

It is to be noted that while the Eurovision Song Contest has been the subject of much controversy due to Israel's participation. Critics, activists, and participating musicians have argued that Israel should be excluded over human rights concerns and its military actions in Gaza, pointing to the precedent set when Russia was banned following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.