STUDIO 13<br> Bangladesh's New YouTube Sensation

Bangladesh isn't exactly new to YouTube. Comedy videos made by Bangladeshis have gone viral before and there have been a few local musicians posting videos on the site as well. But Abtahi Iptesam and his Studio 13 have caused quite a stir since launching with a cover video of Coldplay's Yellow. Nearly a year and thousands of hits later, Studio 13 is a growing brand in the music scene.

Abtahi was first in a metal band called “Friday The 13th”. They were a fast growing band, having been crowned the champions of “Incursion Battle of the Bands” in 2012. Abtahi, inspired by hard rockers like Guns N' Roses and Led Zeppelin, found his true calling working in rock projects. Having had interests in music production and decent video editing skills, Abtahi recorded a simple cover as an experiment. The video became viral and inspired him to aim higher with this new project. He affectionately named his studio “Studio 13” after “Friday The 13th” and has gone on to make three more videos since then. The fact that he is growing as a musician and a performer can be seen with the way the videos increase in quality.

Yellow was a simple, acoustic cover featuring Ryan Sarwar, who had previously been the vocalist of Friday The 13th. The spotlight really is on Sarwar on this one. His vocals are, for lack of better word, perfect for the song. Abtahi has a few creative guitar arpeggios thrown in to add his own vibe but Sarwar carries the song through—definitely one of the best unplugged Yellow covers on Youtube.

The second video is The White Stripes' classic Seven Nation Army. This is where Abtahi begins to shine. He addresses every last aspect of Jack White's symbolic guitar style and adds his own flair. The video features Mofizul Haque Rubayet (from Echoes) on vocals and Saadi Khan (Echoes) on bass. The guitars and vocals are on fire on this one.

The third video is Nemesis' Johoyoddhoni. It features C!RCLE's Rayhan Islam on vocals. It's a standard cover. There are no mistakes or weak spots. It just doesn't excite in the same way as the earlier videos. The fourth and final video (thus far) will, however, excite from the get go. An eye-catching new set and better video editing and graphics await you in the cover of Arctic Monkeys' R U Mine? Rubayet returns on vocals this time. The fact that they're both wearing Studio 13 t-shirts is probably enough to tell you that this channel has grown. Rubayet once again sparkles. Abtahi's guitar and Rubayet's voice are an excellent partnership and unlike Seven Nation Army, where Abtahi might have gotten a bit over-indulgent, his playing is very restrained this time, landing right on the money. Since most YouTube covers are either shoddy live cover attempts or weak acoustic renditions, this is a powerful cover. It really deserves to get a lot more attention.

Although only time will tell if Studio 13 can get that far, the four videos so far do show a lot of promise. The sky clearly is the limit for Bangladesh's up-and-coming YouTube rockstar. He has the shades and the attitude. And his music isn't bad either.