Skip to content Skip to navigation

‘Drihrata’ by Farmaan , a new dimension in Assamese music scenario

The sound that can melt hearts, the melody that can be felt within & the symphony that can bring a head bangers ball, in short this is what Farmaan can be defined as. Farmaan doesn’t have a constrained genre as all the members are having varied influences and musical inclination. It likes to do constant experiments with all kinds of music varying from classic rock & metal to RNB & blues.


Away from their hometown, all the members were quite academically inclined. They have completed their engineering from the prestigious institutions and are currently working as engineers in large PSUs and MNCs. They even got a chance to complete their Masters in elite colleges like Georgia Tech, NUS and many other colleges abroad but their love for the music couldn’t allow them to go away. They stayed back so that they could hold on to their dreams, the dream of making it big & creating a revolution in the Assamese music industry.


Although they stayed back it seemed that their dreams were fading away. Frustrated in their own office cubicles they were trying to work out a plan to get out of their monotonous office work. Luck shone on them and they could find like minded colleagues. This led to the inception of ‘ Vervain Productions’. The brain child of Soumya Dash, Vervain Productions has partners who are basically engineers from colleges like IITs & NITs.


Now under the banner of Vervain Productions the band has released their first album ‘DRIHRATA’ on 23rd May 2010. ‘Drihrata’ contains 9 tracks, 5 in Assamese, and 4 bonus tracks in Hindi. The fact that all the tracks are completely different and each has got its unique style is what makes this band so special. Language doesn’t have a barrier for the band so their lyrics are both in Assamese and Hindi. In the album it can be easily seen that the band doesn’t have any constrained genre, ‘Oxanto Hridoy’ is a power ballad, ‘ Lorali ‘ is a soft rock number, ‘Xopun’ is influenced by R&B and ‘Drihrata’ is more or less a Nu-metal number. So the album has something for everyone.


The band has also released a promotional vide of their song ‘ Oxanto Hridoy ‘ which is undoubtedly one of the costliest music video in the Assamese music industry. The song is about the frustrations of people of all ages which is very aptly portrayed by Deepak Dey , one of the leading video director and choreographer of Assam. The you tube link for the video is given below:









About the band:


Farmaan was formed in 2007 when childhood buddies Neil and Gazi met in Chennai and came to know about each other’s talent. Pursuing their graduation from different cities at that time, Neil and Gazi, managed to jam with Manash(drums) making Chennai as their base for jamming. The band used to practice on every weekend, Gazi would come all the way from Trichy which was a hectic 8 hrs bus journey. Their sound seemed to be fresh but the band felt the great need of a bassist. Finally they found their mutual friend, Madhurjya(Bass) back in Guwahati who completed the sound of Farmaan. During semester breaks they would jam in Guwahati and in a span of 1 year they recorded six tracks.


The band had to face many problems in the initial stages as their language, which was initially Hindi, hindered them to participate in the rock competitions held in IITs and NITs. Hindi rock was completely new and the crowd in Chennai and Bangalore was more inclined to death metal. But the band stuck to its genres and when they promoted its recorded tracks in all the colleges in Chennai the response that they got was immense. They were constantly invited as guest artists in many events of the different colleges. In December 2009 the band also got an invitation to perform in Mood Indigo, the annual cultural fest of IIT Mumbai but due to the job pressure of the band members they had to decline the offer. But now backed by Vervain Productions the band members are not hesitating even to the slightest extent to put their jobs on stake and pursue their true love which is music.


Band Members:



Gazi Mehboob ( Lead Guitars and Vocals):


A graduate in Production Engineering from NIT, Trichy, Gazi Mehboob, a self taught guitarist, has been running his fingers on the frets since the last 7 years. His influences are basically metal acts like Iron maiden , Megadeth , Opeth but at the same time he is also inclined towards sufi and Indian classical. He is the main person behind the compositions and lyrics. He loves to fuse metal with sufi music. He is currently working as a manager in NMDC Ltd, the leading mining organization of the government.


Neil Sarmah (Lead Vocals and Rhythm)


A passed out from SRM University in Electronics & Telecom, Neil Sarmah is a die hard fan of Nusrat, Rahat and Shafqat Amanat and considers them as his prime influence. He is open to all genres. He is a self learned vocalist and his main strength lies in the high pitched aalaps that can be heard in most of the songs of Farmaan. As he has not received any formal training Neil is planning to train himself in Indian Classical Music so that he can even refine his god gifted talent. He is currently working as an Asst. Systems Engineer in TCS, New Delhi.


Manash (Drums)


A graduate from SRM University in Electronics & Communication, Manash a.k.a Max has played the tabla for 12 years and managed to get a visharad before he switched to congo and drums. He is currently working as a Network Engineer in CISCO, Gurgaon.


Madhurjya (Bass)


Currently pursuing his B.Tech in Instrumentation Madhurjya has been associated with different bands in Guwahati before he joined Farmaan. His inclination is towards Nu-Metal, Punk, Grudge and but at the same time he is also a die hard fan of Harris, which can be seen in the bass lines of some of the metal acts of the band.

Comments

Yuvi's picture

Assamese music lovers were in need of such an album ..... the songs are really fantastic .... I guess it will totally redefine the way we see assamese music.... people should watch out for 'lorali' & 'Xopun jen lage '
Priyam Biswas's picture

I need to contact Mr. Deepak Dey, can anyone help?
bhaskarnil's picture

Nice piece of work man....gazi....ur dedication really works out..a must for every neo-assamese generation...for d love of the music..
Honey's picture

neil you rocks...wht to say? just keep on doing good work and entertain us.
Parmita Borah's picture

Great to know about Farmaan.. I think the picture was taken outside St. Anthony's College, Shillong...got m all nostalgic! let me know if am wrong :)
dwarak's picture

Farmaan is rocking...waiting for the national release...all the very best rockstars
Raktim's picture

Are the persons writing comments friends of the band? How can anyone praise such a mess of singing and a video which looks so funny and out of place? Boys, please stick to your engineering. Sngfor yourselves and not for us. Thank you.
Mona's picture

@Raktim this video looks funny? what about the rest of the typical assamese video's huh?those seem to be upto the level of those directed by Sophie Mullers and Joseph Kahns for you, ain't it? I am not saying this is a very good video. atleast these guys worked hard to do something different? And being newcomers they did a gud job from the point of view of the Assamese industry.
debahuti bora's picture

neil pinky ba here u r great man i didnt know u r in a band farmaan wit such a good voice keep going we r in need of such talent. my support n best wishes r always wit u. "BEST OF LUCK FARMAAN".

Pages

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Guwahati Frontier BSF steps up effective border management and supervision of functioning of field formations along the 495 km of the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam and West Bengal. Addressing the troops during the First Raising Day of the Frontier at Patgaon in Guwahati on Monday Inspector General P K Wahal said that the new Frontier have been carrying out civic action programmes. He said that the troops on the border have been found dominating their respective area of responsibility round-the-clock through observation posts, patrolling on foot, patrolling both on vehicle and boat during day time. In addition to human efforts, troops have been making extensive use of force multipliers...
Stages have been set to airlift a rhinoceros to a national sanctuary after the rare animal reached Sualkuchi in the outskirt of Guwahati.The full grown rhinoceros is believed to have strayed from the Pobitora sanctuary which is being guarded around the clock against poachers with an IAF helicopter. The efforts to airlift the rhinoceros failed on Monday because of bad weather. Top ranked forest and district administration officials are camping in the Rani Chapori area to guard the animal from poachers. The rhino was spotted by local people at Rani Chapori of Sualkuchi near here in Kamrup Rural district and was suspected to have strayed from the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary near Guwahati.For...
Fresh incidents of violence gripped Dima Hasao distirct after the district administration relaxed curfew in Haflong on Monday.Supporters of the North Cachar Hills Indigenous Poples Forum turned violent where policemen were attacked in Haflong town. Bandh supporters pelted stones at security forces at Mahadev Tilla and Harangajao. Policemen on duty were forced to fire rubber bullets to disperse the mob.Some NCIPF activists came out into the streets in Haflong during the curfew relaxation period and set on fire a bike at Kalibari Road. This is apart from an incident where an autorickshaw was damaged at Gunjung area. Indefinite curfew was reimposed in the hills town following the incident.
Three persons were killed by lightning and two others seriously injured in Goalpara district on Monday.Two of them hail from a family when the five persons were inside a house at Nolanga Reserve when they were struck by ligtning killing a man and his son and a neighbour on the spot. Three persons were killed by lightning in Dhubri district and two girls in Golaghat district on Sunday.
Tension is simmering along Assam-Mizoram interstate border when a Barak Valley-based NGOs launched a fresh indefinite blockade on NH-54.The blockade on the road connecting Mizoram was launched at 6 in the morning demanding that non-tribal workers from Cachar district be allowed to enter Mizoram's IOC Veng locality of Vairengte without inner line permits.The All Barak Youth Students' Association demanded that the governments of both the states find a solution to Assam-Mizoram boundary disputes and implored the Assam government to destroy the 'boundary pillars' erected by Mizo NGOs.
A UGC sponsored national seminar on the Problems of Industrial Labourers in Assam was held in ADP College, Nagaon on September 28-29. The seminar was inaugurated on Sep 28 by Dr Narayan Ch Barman, President of Governing Body by lighting lamp. Dr Sarifuddin Ahmed, Principal of ADP College welcomed the guests and scholars. Dr Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, Working President of the Seminar Organizing Committee dedicated the seminar to the hallowed memory of Anandaram Dhekial Phookan who was the pioneer of economic analysis in Assamese literature.Prof Nirankar Srivastav, Dean, School of Social Science, North Eastern Hills University presented the key note address. He highlighted the problems of...
The ravaging inferno at an ONGC-owned plants in Titabor on Friday mires in controversy. ONGC authorities blamed technical fault resulting in the fire that left reduced properties worth crores of rupees to ashes. But ULFA’s anti-talk claimed to have blown up the plant alleging that the attack would continue. In an e-mail statement, the outfit claimed to have blown up the plants. Notably, on several occasion earlier ULFA owned up responsibilities.
Security forces arrested six cadre of United Peoples Democratic Front in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday. They were arrested from Changlang district bordering Tinsukia during an anti insurgency operation. Police interrogation is going on in Tinsukia.
An ULFA militant was killed and two policeman have been seriously injured at an encounter in Tinsukia district on Saturday. The encounter took place at Bordumgsa when ULFA militants faced security forces on patrolling duty resulting in a fierce firing in the evening. ULFA militants lobbed a grenade in which one policeman was injured and he was admitted to Assam Medical College Hospital at Dibrugarh. Then the militants managed to escape.
National Human Rights Commission has registered one more case in connection with the murder of PhD scholar from Assam Pritam Bhattacharjee at Naugachia railway station in Bihar. The case was registered after Silchar district bar association appealed to NHRC to ensure that the culprits are brought to book. The NHRC has registered the suit, its assistant registrar (legal cell) informed the bar association secretary Champak Dutta. Bhattacharjee, who hails from Silchar had boarded the Assam-Avadh Express from Guwahati on July 8 and went missing from Naugachia station the next day.