Skip to content Skip to navigation

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

By editor |

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

Submitted by Yuvi on Thu, 03/06/2010 - 20:40
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

Submitted by Priyam Biswas on Tue, 08/06/2010 - 19:27
I need to contact Mr. Deepak Dey, can anyone help?
bhaskarnil's picture

Submitted by bhaskarnil on Sat, 03/07/2010 - 01:43
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

Submitted by Honey on Tue, 06/07/2010 - 04:11
neil you rocks...wht to say? just keep on doing good work and entertain us.
Parmita Borah's picture

Submitted by Parmita Borah on Thu, 08/07/2010 - 20:52
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

Submitted by dwarak on Fri, 16/07/2010 - 08:47
Farmaan is rocking...waiting for the national release...all the very best rockstars
Raktim's picture

Submitted by Raktim on Fri, 16/07/2010 - 21:17
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

Submitted by Mona on Sun, 18/07/2010 - 16:44
@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

Submitted by debahuti bora on Fri, 20/08/2010 - 05:34
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

CM for US community model college

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday urged the Centre to explore the US community college model and set up similar colleges in Assam. He requested it to Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal whom he met on Friday in Delhi. Gogoi pointed out that during his visit to community colleges in US in June this year he gained insight into this model and what makes it successful. Gogoi observed that such colleges must be set up in the country, including Assam.

ULFA man killed in Namsai encounter

A hardcore ULFA militant was killed at an encounter with security forces at Namsai along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Saturday. According to police, the encounter took place in the afternoon with 12th Assam Rifles jawans where the militant died on the spot. The identity of the militant was not yet known.

Security beef up on ULFA strike threat

All of a sudden security has been beefed up across the state. Security forces have concentrated on Guwahati on Friday following a threat by ULFA’s anti-talk faction. According to information, police has specific inputs of ULFA’s plan to strike in Guwahati likely on Saturday. That’s why, security alert has been sounded. Security forces have been put on maximum alert following fresh threat of attack in Sibsagar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia towns.

Gogoi seeks more tribunals on immigrants

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday sought more tribunals to detect and deport the Bangladeshi immigrants from the state. During his meeting with Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Friday in New Delhi, Gogoi told Shinde that the state lacks adequate tribunals to detect Bangladeshi immigrants. According to him, the cases pending before the tribunals are huge in number and that more judges are required to expedite the process. Before that Chief Minister Gogoi submitted a set of guidelines for updating the national registrar of citizens before Shinde.

Normalcy prevails in BTAD areas: Shinde

Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Friday said that the overall situation in the violence-hit BTAD areas and Dhubri was normal. Talking to reporters after getting update on BTAD situation from Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in Delhi, Shinde said that refugees in large number have left the camps. He said that those still remaining would also be rehabilitated.

Trader shot dead; Rs 30 lakh looted

An uneasy situation prevails in Nalbari town on Friday after unidentified miscreants shot dead at a local businessman in broad day light. Identified as Ashis Maskara, the victim was on his way to a bank when miscreants sprayed several rounds of bullets before looting Rs 30 lakh from his bag. Maskara was rushed to the civil hospital. But he was declared brought dead. Local people in large number came out alleging it law lawlessness and insecurity. Boxed by circumstances, police arrested two persons in this connection. Identified as Chandan Kalita and Kunaldeep Sindhu, they confessed that they attacked the businessman. Police further recovered 5 lakh rupees from their possession.

Centre averse to more immigrant tribunals

The Centre is likely to reject the Assam government’s request to set up more tribunals to clear the immigrants cases. According to sources, the Centre is likely to ask the Assam government to put the existing tribunals to better use by setting out modalities to fast track the pending cases. Thirty six tribunals, the Centre believes, are enough to decide cases in quick time and it can be done by fast tracking 200 cases on a daily basis.

Dispur wants fast tract immigration cases

The Assam government writes to the Centre seeking 64 additional tribunals to fast track the deportation of the Bangladeshi immigrants. In a letter to home ministry, Dispur has asked for more than five extra tribunals in Dhubri, Goalpara, Nagaon, Barpeta, Cachar and Sonitpur and one each in Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri districts. The has 36 foreigner tribunals that are yet to dispose of about 3.13 lakh cases. Notably, the state has been witnessing decadal growth of a particular community in 11 out of 27 districts.

Tea workers’ sit-in for puja bonus

Thousands of tea garden workers are all set to go for a day long strike on September 19 demanding puja bonus on the price of ration items, tea workers of the state. The workers would sit in strike under the aegis of Akhil Bharatiya Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ABCMS) to demand a 20 per cent annual puja bonus before Durga Puja in October. ABCMS officials said that the demand is that the price of the ration items should be incorporated while calculating the annual bonus of tea workers.

Refugees flee BTAD camps! doubful

Assam home department maintains strict vigil following the reports of mysterious disappearance of a section of refugees from the camps set up at the height of the BTAD violence. According to reports, some inmates of relief camps in the violence-hit Dhubri district have gone missing. These are suspected to have crossed over to Bangladesh. Dispur has intelligence inputs suggesting that some inmates had crossed over to West Bengal but there is no specific inputs of the exact number of missing inmates. Altogether 213 camps have 1.92 lakh inmates in Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang, Bongaingaon and Barptea districts.