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: What a diversity created by nature in Assam? When more then 56 lakhs of people are marooned in floodwater, one fifth of the state submerged; a huge area is facing severe drought in a different corner of the same Assam. Hundreds of villages in the "C" sector of Assam-Nagaland border under Dhansiri sub division of Golaghat district have been facing drought since onset of the monsoon this year. They have failed to plough their fields and are yet to grow paddy saplings making their future miserable. Not a single drop of rain had fallen in Barbil, Hatimora, Shantipur, Pujabil, Dhantola Pub, Dhantola Pachchim, Silanijan, Pithaghat, Sonapur, Dyalpur, Kawikori, Borijan, Morajan...
Guwahati: Guwahati city police have arrested a private hospital owner with a lady doctor and a youth for allegedly conducting an abortion to a minor on Sunday night. Panbazaar Police has registered a foeticide case against them. The girl aging about 14 years accused her lover Amar Sharma (30 years) of Raha in Nagaon district for her pregnancy. According to her, Amar misguided her taking advantage of her inocence. When Amar came to know about her pregnancy, he brought her to a city nursing home Wintrobe and arranged for immediate abortion paying a cash amount of Rs. 2000 to the hospital authorities. When police got information about this,a team from Pan Bazaar police station reached the...
Guwahati: One lady has jumped before a running train with her two-year-old child on Sunday at 10.30 AM at Abhayapuri in Bongaigaon district. Both were killed on the spot. They were identified as Mridula Das (30 years) and her son Aditya of Bishnu Nagar, Goalpara. Her husband is an engineer posted at Agartala. She committed suicide near Abhayapuri Rail Station immediately after down Chilarai Passenger left the station. Police has lodged an unnatural death case in this regard. Locals blamed her mother-in-law for this suicide.
Guwahati: Dr. Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya has been re-elected as North East Students Organization’s President again. A meeting held at Shillong on Saturday had taken a decision to elect Dr. Bhattacharya as President and Gumsum Haidar, as General secretary of the organization for the coming year. Haidar is a senior leader of Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (APSU).
Guwahati: One women has jumped before a running train with her two-year-old child on Sunday at 10.30 AM at Abhayapuri in Bongaigaon district. Both were killed on the spot. They have been identified as Mridula Das (30 years) and her son Aditya of Bishnu Nagar, Goalpara. Her husband is an engineer posted at Agartala. She committed suicide near Abhayapuri Rail Station immediately. Police have lodged an unnatural death case in this regard. Locales blamed her mother-in-law for this suicide.
Guwahati: A special summer session of Assam Assembly is starting on Monday to take a grant on supplementary demands. This session is likely to abolish colonial Assam Police Act-1861 by replacing a new law. A bill will be placed before the House within this session. Assam Police Act is too old to act with complex crime and criminology of present time. Meanwhile, Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon district Muslim Saranarthy Committee had threatened to commit mass suicide in front of Capital Complex on Monday to protest against government's discrimination to all refugees taking shelter at Bordhup Refugee camp since 1994. There are 2442 inmates of 350 families in that relief camp." 201 of us...
Imphal :All Manipur working journalists Association and Editors Guild has decided in a meeting to resume publications of all daily newspapers from Monday. They had closed down all publications few days back to protest against militant's threat on media. All daily newspapers published from Manipur had closed down their publications since Wednesday to protest against threats of militants to media. News bulletins aired on local cable channels had also stopped supporting a decision taken by the Editors Guild and All Manipur Working Journalists Association. On Tuesday night, militants had sent a RPG cell wrapped in a gift pack to the office of Sanghai Express, a daily news paper published...
Guwahati : Female shoplifters are plying in Guwahati. The police have arrested a three member group of female shoplifters, who were involved in several jewellery theft cases.A jewellery boutique owner informed the police about their presence in his shop post which police immediately rushed to the shop and caught them. They were identified as Nazma Begum of Islam patty, Golaghat (37 years), Rubi Begum of Kamarpatty, Guwahati (33 years) and Pranati Nath of Karimganj (25 years). This gang was already wanted in connection of a case which was registered at Panbazar police station. Owner of the L. Gopal Jewellers situated in Kuber Hotel campus registered a case in Fancy Bazaar out post a few...
Goalpara : There has been a blast at Agiya,in Goalpara districts at 7.10 PM. Three civilians have been injured. Police have rushed to the spot. ULFA is suspected to be behind the blast.
Guwahati : The Journalists Forum, Assam (JFA) has strongly condemned the combined threats to the media in Manipur from both official and unofficial quarters.In a meeting held in Guwahati on Saturday, the JFA expressed its whole-hearted support to the Manipur media which is in the line of fire from both the militants and the State Government. In a resolution, the Forum said that in a democracy the media is responsible for and accountable to only the general public. Even in a conflict situation, like the one prevalent in Manipur, this basic tenet of journalistic ethics does not allow media outlets to peddle views favouring one party and harming the other.