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

Delhi based journalist from Assam working with the Times of India Sabina Sehgal Saikia have been missing amid the din of the nightmare in Mumbai. Confirmed this Sabina’s husband Santanu Saikia said Sabina was there at the Taj hotel on Wednesday and she is remaining untraced. The senior journalist went to Mumbai on official work two days ago and was staying in the room. Her cell connection is not working.
Civil society in India has strongly condemned the recent decision of the Group of Ministers (GOM) in India to defer the implementation of pictorial health warnings on tobacco product packages which was to come in to effect from November 30, 2008. The pictorial warnings have been deferred, again, till at least end of May 2009.This decision of GOM is very unfortunate and has appalled the public health community across the country, said members of Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control (AFTC). By repeatedly postponing the implementation of pack warnings on tobacco packages, the government is failing from performing its important duty to provide essential information to make Indian consumers aware...
A newly recruited ULFA cxadre has been arrested in upper Assam's Sivasagar distirct on Wednesday. According to information, the ULFA cadre is Dibanta Saikia, who was apprehended during a joint operation by Charaideo police and Army's 16 Regiment at Moranhabi village near Sapekhati.It may be noted that there is some inputs that some ULFA cadres have been satying in the area to strike on the Proterst Day faling on November 27. The recent gun battle by ULFA and police and army and the subsequesnt seizure of explosive materials also proved their presence.Moreover, a day after a group of hardcore ULFA miliants had a fierce fighting with army and police at Sarauisajia in Nazira, suspected ULFA...
"Who said agriculture is a business of loss. I am saving more than Rs 80,000/- (about USD 1,750) every year and providing bread & butter to my 11 family members who are dependent on me," said Prabhavati Devi, who lives in Sardar Nagar block of Gorakhpur district. She has one and half acres land in which she is producing more than 86 types of crops annually. Prabhavati Devi is doing organic farming, which is a very reliable method of sustainable agriculture resulting in high production at low cost.According to her, '12 years back I too was doing chemical farming and had no idea about this model of sustainable agriculture which involves an efficient management of time and land...
Kaziranga, the abode of one horn rhino is teeming with the tourists from home and abroad. The focal point of attraction is not only the beauty and bounty of nature but there some thing special. That is nothing but delicious food prepared by the local Karbi youths. These include rice, meat and fish prepared in bamboo tube and even in plantain leaves.Talking to Assam Times, a local Karbi youth said,”we do prepare our traditional dishes for the tourists. We are getting good response from the tourists.”For tourists Kaziranga now no longer a destination to visit the sights and sounds of nature. It is rich with scope for mountaineering put in place very recently. Beside this, dozens...
More ULFA top guns are set to follow Ram Singh who was arrested in a high voltage drama. This time these will include hardcore militant Sujit Mohan who has been unleashing a reign of terror in upper Assam and thus gives sleepless night to army and police.It is as if Ram Singh has opened the gate for several others to join the pro-truce group. Sujit , who hails from a poor family in Patsaku area under Bokota Mouza in Sivasagar district has been a headache for police, army and para military forces for the last couple of years.Sujit has his hardcore colleague Ram Singh alias Mintu Buragohain, whom police recently claimed to have arrested from Jabalating in Bokota area.The duo had one more...
A group of eight hardcore ULFA militants have managed to escape from army and police at Saraisajia area in Nazira.According to information, police and army Jawans from the 316 Field Regiment and 581 Light Regiment launched an operation in the area acting on some specific tip off that a seven member ULFA group led by sergeant Numal Gogoi was hiding at an abandoned house of Shibraj Sarma.The operation was launched with 300 rounds of firing. Later the operation spilled into the neighbouring Borhola and Singibeel areas. During this operation army recovered 8 kilogram RDX, 6 detonators, five bags and a few mobile phones. Dreaded ULFA terrorist Gobinda Ojha was reportedly among these terrorists...
A fierce gun battle between police and ULFA militants is reportedly going on at Saraisaja area under Geleky in Upper Assam’s Sivasagar district of Assam. Local residents, who are keeping inside their houses are still hearing sounds of gun firing. More police forces are arriving in the area.Police have cordoned off the entire area after the six ULFA tp cadres have reportedly managed to flee from the spot. 8 kilo gram RDX nd 8 live wires have been found on the spot.
Dispur police have arrested three persons before being remanded to judicial custody on Saturday. They have been arrested charging them with inciting violence after the October 30 serial blast.Moreover, police have registered cases against several others in this connection.According to information, they are Dhan Barman from Singimari area in Kamrup district, Gogon Mahanta from Sundarihaal and Sartosh Khandakar from Chenga in Barpeta.Police charged them with destroying public property, preventing government employees from discharging their duties, bid on the lives of the government employees.Some more arrested are in the offing, said reliable sources adding that thus these people have...
The serial blast accused and former NDFB home secretary Sabin Boro and Bhutanse citizen Tenzing J Zangpu on Saturday have been remanded to judicial custody even as police is believed to have failed to get any clue.Talking to reporters on the way to the Kamrupo CJM court on Saturday, both they they strongly denied their involvement in the serial blast.Sabin is former NDFB home secretary, who was expelled from the outfit on January 13 he had nothing to do with the serial blast. He was arrested by SIT from the city’s Japorijog area.Bhutanese national Tenzing J Zangpung, also said he was not aware of the incident. The general secretary with the Druk National Congress. SIT picked up him...