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

Rebati Neog Assam's Bhoot Jolokia has become famous as the worlds hottest chilly a few months back. Guinness Book of World Records has awarded this title to our very own red chili and the media all across has been covering this event widely. But almost all reports in English named this chilly as “ghost chilly” translating the name directly from Assamese. In Assamese “bhut” stands for “ghost”. Bhot actually means people of Bhutan. Awarded chili is Bhot Jolokiya not Bhut Jolokiya In Assam everyone knows it. Some journalist made this mistake sometime back and it is continuing
Kaziranga : One rhino was drowned at Kohora Range in Kaziranga National Park. This is the first reported death of any big animal in the park after floods submerged more then 60% of the park area. Officials believes that the rhino actually died at lest one week ago and was over aged. The horn was intact which proved that it is not a case of poaching.
Guwahati : A Leopard killed one teenaged boy and injured five others on Wednesday in Upper Assam's Dibrugarh district. Police sources informed that 11 years old Dhirsai Garh, son of Maheswar Garh of Bhadoi Panch Ali went to bring back his cattle herd on Wednesday evening when a leopard attacked him. He succumbed to his injuries immediately. Angry villagers managed to track down the leopard in a tea garden near Bhadoi Reserve Forest. They attacked it immediately with a sharp weapon. The Leopard attacked in retaliation and injured five people. Later however the villagers managed to kill the man-eater. In another incident, two Rhinos moving out from Kaziranga National Park created panic in...
Guwahati: Army fatigues (olive green stripes) have been banned in Assam from 1st of August in view of the Independence Day on 15th of August 2007. Every year it is observed that the State witnesses an escalation in violence before the Independence Day celebrations and it is easy for militants to wear army fatigues and mingle with the crowd. Moreover there have been reports of incidents from Dibrugarh where ULFA militants had dressed in army fatigues and harassed woman in some villages. And hence the administration has decided to go ahead with the ban.
Nagaon: Unidentified gunmen killed an Assam State Electricity Board employee at Nagaon on Thursday and flew away with cash amounting to Rupees 2.6 lakhs. This amount was the cash collection of the day at Nagaon Electrical Division-1, which is the only revenue collection branch for the entire district from consumers against their monthly bill. This happened when two staff members of the office and a security man were boarding a vehicle with the cash in a bag to deposit in the Bank at 2.45 PM. Two armed youths who were loitering there for some time came close to the vehicle and tried to snatch the bag. When challenged they fired at the driver, and one of the ASEB employees, Guna Das. Das was...
Guwahati: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has been given a grant by Hewlett Packard (HP) amounting to approximately $75,000 worth of technology.HP India Director, P Ravindranathan announced at a press conference that the grant was aimed at integrating mobile technology and educational infrastructure and transforming the way subjects are taught on its campus. The grant would comprise things like HP tablet PCs, wireless networking cards and printers , optical drives and stipends for people to complete work on projects which have to be completed within a year, Gautam Barua, Director IIT, Guwahati welcomed the grant and said that it would benefit the students and the...
Guwahati: Guwahati High Court on Wednesday stayed the appointment of 13,318 numbers of Anganabadi Workers in the Social Warfare Department. This would have been the biggest appointment in the second term of the Tarun Gogoi led Congress government. The Social Welfare Department had published a selection list to fill up vacancies in 6659 centers located in various places of the state a few days back. Post this advocate Rita Devi had filed a writ petition at the High Court alleging discrimination in filling up of these vacancies. Accepting the application, the court has stayed this process until further orders and has asked the Government to file an affidavit within three weeks.
Barpeta: Police opened fire and lathi-charged a group of flood-hit people on Wednesday who were blocking a highway near Barpeta town demanding urgent relief. One minor and several other people were injured in this incident. About 1500 people were taking shelter at Bhella High Secondary School since Saturday last, but not getting any kind of Government relief or other support. The angry villagers blocked Barpeta-Doulashal road on Wednesday evening in protest. A police team led by Additional Superintendent of Police reached the spot immediately and tried to clear road forcefully. When people protested, police lathi charged to disperse the mob. People started pelting stones and brick pieces...
Guwahati: Popular singer Zubeen Garg and many others joined hands to save Kaziranga National Park, the home of the one horned Rhinoceros in Upper Assam. On Wednesday a team of at least twenty artists led by Zubeen camped at Kaziranga, attended several street meetings, held a protest march, distributed leaflets, sang a song specially composed for the occasion and drew a painting on the theme save wildlife, preserve Kaziranga to create awareness among common people residing in nearby villages.They also encouraged volunteers of different NGO and local people who engaged themselves in night patrolling on National highway 37 passing through the Park area to save animals from speeding vehicles...
Guwahati: After weeklong heavy down pour, floodwater submerged the world famous Kaziranga National Park in several places. Park authority informs that at least 60% of the park area was inundated and water level is rising day-by-day covering more area. It is yet to be ascertained, whether floods are a curse or blessing to the park known for the one horned rhinoceros worldwide. Three years of consecutive draught damaged the ecology of the park whereas fresh floods every monsoon helps park grazing lands to grow plenty of grass creating a good stock of étagè for the entire year. Flood waters also helps to carry out excess production of fish from marsh and low lying areas of the park...