The idea of creating a concept album that
captured the glimpses of modern and contemporary life had been in our
minds from around 2003, but it was probably in 2005 that we were ready
with ten original compositions worthwhile to be compiled into an
album. We started recording Jibon Britto in January 2006, and
completed the effort sometime around August 2007, after which we sent
it for mastering in Australia.
The audio part of the album was fully complete by December 2007, and
we had already started approaching record companies to try and pitch a
deal them. Our efforts didn't go in vain and we had managed to forge a
deal with a major record label to release Jibon Britto. But over time,
due to our professional commitments we were not able to sign a
contract with them. But still we clung on to the hope of releasing our
album through the label for some more time, but later it was evident
that this was not the way to go due to the complexities involved in
the contract. And we also confess that we didn't really make this
album for the money and our intention was to reach out to people and
to get our music heard, not getting people queued up to buy our music.
And this way we get to keep our copyright too !!!
Hence, going free and going online gave us the opportunity to send our
music across to people to hear, enjoy and appreciate, without
compromising ethically with our professional commitments. Going online
also helped us reach out to a global audience, rather than a stricter
one who had access to music shops in Kolkata.
Continuing the story, while the audio part was getting completed we
had also begun work on the videos for Jibon Britto. We recorded our
first video for the song "Sandhan" in July 2007, and then we shot for
"Achena Chobi" in Feb 2008. Sukanta and his friends shot the video for
"Ashash" in Aug 2008 during their trip of Himachal and Uttar Pradesh.
To conclude our efforts and to mark the release of Jibon Britto to the
world, we want to take this opportunity to thank our family and
friends for the support and love they have shown during the entire
effort of Jibon Britto. A special mention goes to Samik, Somenath,
Manas, Sandeep, Saptashaw, Aritra, Sanjay, Ali, Soham, Ria, Arpa,
Anusua, Dona, Joyeeta and Chandrani for being beside us through the
tough times.
We would also like to show our respect to our fellow musicians Bodhi,
Risabh, Parag, Tushar, Gabu, Sanket, Proshanto, Bhuja, Buro, Himadri,
Shubhayu and many others because we know how tough it is mentally and
physically to make music in India.
Also a special thanks goes to Rajkumar, Raju, Animeshda (Genesis
Records), Dutta kaku (HMV), Saikat and Sarbani. To our mentors Rajada,
Sourabhda and Muktida. And of course to the Jibon Britto recording
team of Jojoda, Potlada, Shubhodeepda, Rupak, Sid and Martin. And
lastly to Sankar and Basu (Gopal dar cha), Iceberg Golpark for making
such delicious rolls, all the waiters at Arsalan for being so patient
with us and Laltu da (Golpark Tea stall) for arranging our
conferences.
And finally a BIG thanks to our parallel careers without which Jibon
Britto would never exist, and even if it did, we could never
'financially' afford to go the "online and free" way.
Overall, the entire experience of the album was an enriching and
self-discovering journey for all of us, and we hope that you will also
like Empty Spaces' maiden Bengali album "Jibon Britto". And as we say,
"You don't have to reach Jibon Britto, Jibon Britto will reach you",
is probably true, in more contexts, than one.
!!!