Miles (band)

Miles মাইলস
Background information
Origin	Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Genres	Pop rock blues rock (early)
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Miles Music
Members	Hamin Ahmed Iqbal Asif Jewel Manam Ahmed Syed Ziaur Rahman Turjo
Past members	Shafin Ahmed Farid Rashid Kamal Mainuddin Happy Akhand Larry Burnaby Musa Ishtiaq Robin Shahedul Huda Milton Akbar Mahbubur Rashid Khayem Ahmed

Miles is a Bangladeshi rock band formed in Dhaka on 1 August 1979 by Farid Rashid, Kamal Mainuddin, Larry Burnaby, Ishtiaq, Musa, Robin and Happy Akhand.

They released their self titled debut studio album Miles in 1982, which contained English numbers. They released their second album A Step Farther in 1986. After four years, they released their third studio and first Bengali album Protisruti (Promise) in 1991.

History

Their first album, Miles, was released in 1982, including five original songs and seven cover songs. Their second album, A Step Farther was released in 1986 and it consisted of 7 original and 5 cover songs. Their first Bengali album, Protisruti, was released in 1991. It included 12 original Bengali songs. Their second Bengali album, Prottasha, was released in 1993. In 1994, the first CD of the band was released as Best of Miles.

The fourth Bengali album, Probaho, was produced in 1999.

In 2011, Grameenphone announced that it would release their album Proticchobi. The album was released in 2015.

Miles was invited to play at a 2016 concert in Kolkata celebrating India's Independence Day. Fossils, an Indian hard rock band which was also scheduled to perform, accused Miles of posting anti-Indian messages on social media during the Cricket World Cup. Lead singer and bassist Shafin Ahmed responded that his posts were not anti-Indian, were his personal beliefs as a patriotic Bangladeshi, and did not represent the views of the band. Organizers disinvited both bands.

Shafin Ahmed left the band, for the second time, at the end of 2017. He rejoined in August 2018 after resolving differences with other members. He announced at the end of 2021 that he will be leaving the band for the third and final time.

Concerts

From 1979 to 1982, Miles played at the Chambeeli Super Club at the Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka five nights a week. They went on to perform on Bangladesh Television. In 1982, Miles made their first appearance in public concert at Shilpakala Academy Auditorium in Dhaka.

In 1991, they performed their first concert outside Bangladesh, in Bangalore. In 1992, Miles performed in the very first BAMBA concert. They signed a lucrative sponsor deal with Pepsi in 1995 where exclusive concerts were held in Bangladesh. In 1996 and 1998 they went back to India to perform in Kolkata. In 1996 they did a major tour in the US and Canada over two months. They performed in New York City, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Miami and Montreal.

In 1999, they performed in a large concert at Chittagong stadium with over 30,000 attending. Miles toured Australia and Italy in 2008. They also went to cities of the UAE.

In 2010, Miles performed mainly in stadium concerts across the country, in cities including Rangpur, Comilla, Mymensingh, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chittagong and Dhaka.

In 2012, Miles started their 32-year anniversary tour by performing in cities of United States including Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Jose, and Seattle.

In 2019, Miles 40th Anniversary was celebrated by touring and performing in 17 cities in America (New Jersey, Virginia, Baltimore, Michigan, Los Angeles, New York, Atlantic City, Phoenix, San Jose, Tampa, Buffalo, Detroit, Ohio and NY Fobana), 7 cities in Canada (Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal) and 3 cities in Australia (Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne). After returning back to their home country Bangladesh, Miles toured and performed in 4 cities (Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet) and later ended the whole celebration by performing at the Bashundhara International Convention Centre in Dhaka. The members during the milestone were Shafin Ahmed (vocals & bass guitar), Hamin Ahmed (vocals & lead guitar), Iqbal Asif Jewel (lead guitar), Manam Ahmed (keyboard) & Syed Ziaur Rahman Turjo (drums).

Members

Present members

• Hamin Ahmed – vocals, lead guitars (1979–present)
• Manam Ahmed – keyboards (1982–present)
• Syed Ziaur Rahman Turjo – drums (1997–present)
• Iqbal Asif Jewel – lead guitars (1999–present)

Past members

• Shafin Ahmed – vocals, bass guitars (1979–2009, 2014–2017, 2018–2021)
• Happy Akhand – keyboards, vocals (1979–1984)
• Farid Rashid – lead vocals, bass guitars (1979–1986)
• Kamal Mainuddin – drums (1979–1986)
• Larry Burnaby – lead guitars (1979–1984)
• Ishtiaq – rhythm guitars (1979–1982)
• Musa – lead guitars (1982–1984)
• Shehedul Huda – drums (1979–1981)
• Robin – keyboards (1986–1987)
• Milton Akbar – drums (1987–1992)
• Mahbub Ur Rashid – drums (1992–1996)
• Khayem Ahmed – bass guitars (2009–2014)
• Faysal Ahmed Tanim – bass guitars (2018)

Discography

• Miles (1982)
• A Step Farther (1986)
• Protisruti (Promise) (1991)
• Prottasha (Expectation) (1993)
• Prottoy (Belief) (1996)
• Proyash (Attempt) (1997)
• Probaho (Flow) (2000)
• Protiddhoni (Echoes) (2006)
• Proticchobi (Reflections) (2015)
• Proborton (Induction) (2016)

External links

• Miles – Official Facebook Page
• Miles's channel on YouTube