Raef al Hasan Rafa


Raef Al Hasan Rafa is a Bangladeshi musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the drummer of rock band Aurthohin, and as the drummer of Cryptic Fate. He also works bands like Severe Dementia, Kral and The Joint Family. He is the founding member of the rock band AvoidRafa.

Biography

Beginnings

Due to his father's job posting, he was born in Libya, he was the youngest child of his family, and is the younger brother of Saadi Muktafi, a guitarist and the founding member of the band Kral. He spent most of his early childhood in Libya. After returning to Bangladesh at the age of 5, he got admitted to Maple Leaf International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was pushed to learn Nazrul Geeti,a local genre of song and harmonium during his childhood, but he scarcely had any interest in music back then.

Musical career

To master the art of mixing and mastering of sounds, Rafa used to read any and every book he could come across regarding this field of work in which he was engaged, then experimented on modifying/remixing a few songs, and in the course of time he learned how to master this technique. As a result, in 2006 he, along with Kamal composed the song 'Protirup' which was featured in the mixed album 'Underground'. At the same time he did his first TV commercial soundtrack for the well reputed apparel brand 'Ecstasy'. In addition he met Fuad al Muqtadir and began working with him professionally as a co-producer and as a session musician too. In the same year he joined the death metal band Severe Dementia as a drummer and producer. Right after joining the band he produced a single called 'Demented Mentation' and also went for his first ever tour to India with them.
In 2007 Aurthohin's two more singles 'Hollow' & 'Nirbodh' from the albums 'Live Now' and 'Underground 2' respectively got released. 'Hollow' was his first ever composition and then came Nirbodh. These were also mixed and mastered by him. At the same year, Shuvo, Aurthohin's longtime Drummer left the band for personal reason and Rafa eventually took the stick. In course he also produced the first international EP of 'Severe Dementia' named 'Epitaph of Plassey' which got released in the studio album 'Rise of the Eastern Blood' in the label 'Demonstealer Records' along with two other bands from Pakistan and India. This EP comprised five songs where he worked as a producer and the drummer, vocal, guitarist and sound engineer. He was also one of the judges in the band hunt competition 'Grameenphone Drockstars-2' and produced the full-length album 'Apostrut Juddho' of the winning band 'Powersurge' which got released in the label of G series in 2008.
In 2008 after a long break of 5 years Aurthohin released their 5th Studio Album 'Aushomapto 1'. There for the first time Rafa sang some melodious soft numbers for Aurthohin. The three renowned songs 'Kadbe Bisshoye',' Anmone' and 'Nikrishto' were composed by him. In 'Kadbe Bisshoye' he played the guitar solo which gave him the public recognition as a guitarist from then. His two more singles 'Pichu Hata' and ' Smriti Charon' were released in the album 'Kromannoy' –a mixed album produced by Fuad and co-produced by him. After this, he joined 'FnF' as a drummer. As of Severe Dementia, he produced the single 'Credence of Fort William' which got released in the album 'Metal Farm Vol-6'. This album got released by a Thai label 'Metal Farm' and also got featured in an anime. The single of Kral 'Song for Jewel Bhai' got released in the album 'Rock-101'-a prominent band mixed album co–ordinated by Iqbal Asif Jewel. Some of the songs of that album were mixed and mastered by him. He produced a TV commercial for Grameenphone which was the theme song for the independence day concert of 2008.
2009 was a moderately eventful year for him as he formed his starchild 'The Joint Family' to experiment with his unexplored abilities. Through this project, he created some ambient and progressive tracks as he claims these two to be his favourite genres of music with some psychedelic touch. The first track of this project 'Rebulation' was released in the album 'Rock 202'. He also co–produced the full-length album 'Fuad feat. Kona'.He also went to do shows in the USA that year as a solo artist.
In 2010, he worked as a producer for the first time for the album 'Rafa feat. Topu – She Ke'. He released the single 'Ektu Brishti' in the album 'The Hit Album too. Also two of the singles of The Joint Family 'Bhaar' & 'The Bicycle Day' were released in the albums 'Aashor' & 'Rock-404' respectively and the single 'Shonga Shongjom' of Kral in 'Rock-505'. In the meantime he kept on doing his own studio production works along with gigs with all his bands.
The year 2011 was rather busy for him. His solo production work 'Ontorip' got released in 2011 where 'Sharmin' gave her voice. Another production work, 'Aundormohol' got released which featured 'Tanjib' as the vocal. He mixed and mastered the first album 'Oporajeyo' of the band 'Mechanix' and the latest studio album of Aurthohin ' Aushomapto-2 '. Presumably, the last single of The Joint Family 'Vision of a Mind's Garden' got released in 'Rock-707' that year.
Throughout 2012 he appeared in several stage shows which began with his presence in 'Guitarfest 2012'. With Severe Dementia he went for his second band tour at Nepal. They were the headliners of that concert naming 'Ides of March' which was organised by 'KTM rocks'. He released the music video of The Bicycle day, some days after the tour. He also made a guest appearance in the video 'Agnisnan' of 'Powersurge'. He worked as a producer in that song as well. In addition, he officially started his own company 'Hotbox Entertainment' where he also included video production with his primary field of work.
The beginning of 2013 kicked off with his appearance in the then most hyped up event with a few other renowned artists for the campaign 'Go Free, for GrameenPhone. He directed his first documentary 'Chol Chol Chol' which was a tribute to 'Shahbagh movement'. It was quite a success for him as his first visual work. In the same year, Rafa disbanded 'The Joint Family' and joined 'Cryptic Fate' as a drummer. He appeared in the video 'Akromon' right after joining his new band. Meanwhile, he did a few shows and TV commercial soundtracks and started working on his solo album. He has been the front man in the show 'Rhythm & Strings' which was the most anticipated show that year.
In January 2014, he composed one of the native versions of 'FIFA 2014' official soundtrack. At present, Rafa is working on his solo album. He formed his own band in the name of AvoidRafa with some of the very talented musicians in Bangladesh music industry, namely Pavel on bass, Samir Hafiz on guitars and Jeffrey on drums. He is also engaged with Aurthohin, Cryptic Fate and Severe Dementia, doing concerts and shows.
On 6 October 2015, Rafa officially part ways with Aurthohin. Both Sumon and Rafa ended the partnership amidst warm wishes and both expressed to work together, but under separate identity, in any future concerns.
On 1 May 2016, AvoidRafa released their debut album Bhaar. The album consists of 10 songs. The album was mastered and produced by Hotbox Entertainment.

Discography

AvoidRafa

with Dripping Gore