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: Cholera epidemic has broken out in North Eastern Province Assam’s capital city Guwahati, confirms Principal of Guwahati Medical College Hospital Dr. M M Deka on Sunday. Previously it has been suspected as Diarrhoea after at least 20 people were suddenly fell ill complaining severe dejections, stomach pain, vomiting and were admitted into different city hospitals. Immediately samples of stools were collected from the patients and sent to Mahendra Mohan Choudhury hospital laboratory where pathologists found stains of vibrio cholerae ogawa in four samples. All four people hail from Uzanbazaar Padum Phukhuri area, where this outbreak has been reported first. A nine year old...
The Assamese community of Toronto represented Assam in India’s 60th Independence day parade held in downtown Toronto on 19 Aug 07. The celebration of India @ 60 took place on Sunday 19 Aug 07 attended by the Indian community of Toronto, Consul general of India and other dignitaries from Ontario and Canadian Governments. It started with a 2 km long procession followed by a cultural program. Every state represented with their traditional attires. Both adults and children of Assamese community of Toronto took part in the parade with tradition silk (Muga and Pat) dress and Gamosha.The participants of Assamese community were proud to represent Assam in such an event wearing Assamese...
Guwahati : An elephant aged about 12 to 15 days has been rescued by the Assam State Zoo Authority from the Rani Reserve Forest today and kept at the Zoo premises, Guwahati on 22-08-07.According to Zoo officials the rescued elephant had deviated from his mother and has been found alone in the Rani Reserve Forest area. The rescued baby elephant is under treatment by the zoo authorities. Remarkably various types of incidents relating to wild animals especially elephants is increasing day by day. On 16th July 2007 an elephant cub was found dead in a water body in Chokhurdu village, near Deeporbil area as it was detached from the group of wild elephants.Also in a tragic incident at the same...
Guwahati : Uzanbazar the heart of Guwahati, the unofficial capital of Northeast and the year is 2007 in India, one of the fastest growing economies of the world and you still have reports of deaths due to water poisoning.2 people died and 14 are serious due to water poisoning in the Padum Pukhuri area of Uzanbazar area. Approximately 50 families have been effected. The deceased are Sunil Bhaspor, 9 years and Runu Hazarika, 45 years.
Guwahati: The string of attacks on Hindi-speaking people refuse to die down as some miscreants hurled a grenade at the home of a Hindi speaking family at Hojai on Wednesday wee hours.According to information, some unidentified miscreants lobbed a grenade into the compound of school teacher Ranjit Prasad Gupta’s residence at Natun Bazar, Pukhuripur at Hojai town. No one was there in the in the backyard where the grenade burst; only a septic tank was damaged under the impact of the blast.Top ranked police officials reached the spot on Wednesday morning and started investigation.Police have rounded up two people, including a surrendered ULFA cadre for investigation.
Guwahati : Rabindra Kumar Sinha, a cousin of Kartiksena Sinha, Patharkandi MLA was abducted from Patharkandi on Tuesday night. He is a Manager of a tea estate owned by Warren Tea in Narayanpur.It is reported that the kidnappers are demanding a ransom of Rs 20 L. Investigations are on.
Guwahati : Bangladeshis coming in to Assam from the neighboring states has been a big issue in recent times. Gogoi and his ministerial colleagues have been saying that they were all Indians and not Bangladeshis. Gogoi had gone on record saying that he will quit politics if anyone proved that they were Bangladeshis. And this has happened. One Jahed Ali who had entered Assam from Arunachal admitted before the magistrate that he was a Bangladeshi.Based on this while speaking to newsmen, AASU leaders President Sankar Prasad Rai, General Secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi and Advisor Samujjal Bhattacharyya said that though they had not raised any demand for resignation of the Chief Minister and his...
Sivasagar : The frozen dead body of an Assamese soldier, who was killed in a plane crash long back in 1968, has been handed over to his family at Deodhai village in Sivsagar district on Tuesday. His body was recovered from Chandrabhaga peak in Himachal Pradesh on August 2 by an army troops. Army brought Phukan’s body, wrapped in the Indian flag, to his native village which was cremated with full military honors. Phukan is survived by his three brothers Tuben, Durganath and Jiten and their families. The funeral was attended by several thousands of local people, representatives from district police and civil authority, military officers and Jawans.On Monday the body was flown to...
The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi), the premier financial institution of the region and an agent for socio-economic change in the North East has implemented a number of innovative developmental plans for the benefit of the inhabitants of the region. In its twelve years of existence, in one of the most well-defined structures and adoption of best practices, NEDFi has been able to address the livelihood issues of the poor, the unorganised and peripheral communities by building upon their strength, in a cluster approach. Some of the major interventions made by NEDFi in this sphere were in Majlishpur craft village in Tripura, weaving cluster of Marups in Manipur,...
Imphal : There was always a rumour. Finally there is proof that the Al Qaida activists are operating in Northeast India.Assam Rifles team engaged in counter insurgency team captured 15 insurgents in the border of Myanmar near Moreh Town in Manipur.The captured militants admitted to having links with the Al Qaida and propogating and collecting funds on its behalf. The 24th batallion of Assam Rifles was involved in this significant operation and it is believed that this would lead them to other operations of the outfit in Northeast India.