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

Flood waters continue to wreak havoc in Dhemaji district destroying paddy fields besides rendering thousands of people homless. According to information, floods have inundated 10 villages in the entire districts following incessant rains that lashed the district during the last 72 hours. Most of the houses have been severely damaged in the village.
Exodus seems to have stopped. Suggesting a gradual return of normalcy, hundreds of people from the northeast are back to Bangalore in three special trains from Guwahati on Monday. According to Northeast Frontier Railway, three special trains had left for Bangalore on Sunday taking back those who had fled from Bangalore fearing attacks. After four days of panic-driven exodus, the situation eased on Monday with police and railway officials saying it has stopped in Karnataka and reduced to a trickle in Tamil Nadu.
Normalcy is back. There has been no report of fresh incident of violence even as security has been beefed up on the occasion of Eid on Monday. Police and security forces have been deployed in all districts and regular reports have been received. Eid celebrations are over in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri, which bore the brunt of the recent violence.Chief minister Tarun Gogoi participated at a community Eid prayer in Guwahati in the morning and called for peace and harmony in the state.
Three more bodies were recovered on Monday taking the toll in violence on board the Guwahati-bound train to five. Two bodies were recovered from a place between Belakoba and Raninagar stations. Two more bodies were found later at a place near Halakata, close to New Jalpaiguri station. The body of a man was found on Monday close to the tracks near Manguraj railway station on West Bengal border under the Northeast Frontier Railway.NF Railway authorities have yet to ascertain the reason. Besides, it was not clear if the five were among those fleeing Bangalore fearing backlash after the Assam violence as the police and railway authorities remained tight-lipped pending an investigation. The...
Assam Gana Parishad legislator Alka Sarma on Monday said that the BTAD violence is not a conflict between Bodos-Muslim. Talking to reporters in Bangalore, she said that the implementation of the Assam Accord could have averted the tension. Sarma slammed Dispur for failing to deal with the tension by building up confidence among the people.
A team of the National Council of Churches in India is on a two-day visit to BTAD areas to take stock of the situation. They expressed solidarity with the victims of violence. Led by Solomon Rongpi, the Executive Secretary for Unity, Mission & Evangelism, the nine-member NCCI team has representatives from the Presbyterian Churches of India, the Young Women Christian Association, the Lutheran Church and others.
Seven Joint Secretaries are scheduled to arrive on BTAD areas and Dhubri to monitor the rehabilitation after the clash. The delegation of joint secretaries will visit Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang and Baksa districts to oversee the steps for relief and rehabilitation of those affected during the recent violence. Apart from Joint Secretary (Northeast) in the Home Ministry Shambhu Singh and Joint Secretary (Disaster Management) RK Srivastava, the other officers belong to the Ministries of Health, Rural Development, Food, Department of Drinking Water and Planning Commission. The team will hold meetings with state government officials and take stock of the plans being chalked out to implement...
Body of more Assamese youth was recovered in West Bengal on Monday. Identified as Anil Das he hails from Majuli, who is a security guard with a hotel in Hyderabad. His body was recovered near a railway station in West Bengal.
Top pro talk ULFA leader Hira Sarania was arrested in connection with a sensational kidnap and murder case in Guwahati. Sarania was arrested by Guwahati police from Nalbari on a complaint lodged by Binit Jain’s family members who has been missing from August 1. He was arrested along with three others including a Gauhati High Court on Monday morning. The complaint was lodged at Dispur police station.
The Asia Book of Records has formally recognized the rarest sacred lamp at a Vaishnavite temple near Jorhat on Saturday. The lamp gets rare recognition for burning continuously for the past 484 years after it was lit up by the saint Madhavdeva in 1528 in Dhekiakhowa Bor Namghar. The formal certificate was handed over to Jorhat Lok Sabha MP and former Union Minister Bijoy Krishna Handique.Madhabdeva, set up the historic Dhekiakhuwa Namghar in 1528 and since then the lamp has been burning continuously. Receiving the certificate, Handique said that the recognition would help in furthering the teachings of the two Vaishnavite saints Srimanta Sankardev and Mahapurush Madhabdeva.