Fossils: Kolkata's Pioneering Hard Rock Band
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“Be true to yourself and you’ll find your voice.” This is what Prasenjit ‘Pom’ Chakraborty was quoted saying in an interview. And indeed, the bassist of the band “Fossils” cannot be alleged to be not walking the talk by emphasizing on being one’s utmost original self while being involved in the delicate task of creating art.
Fossils was formed in Kolkata in 1998. In the Bengali music scene, the group is regarded as one of the pioneering rock acts. Rupam Islam (lead vocals, additional guitars), Deep Ghosh (rhythm guitar), Allan Temjen Ao (lead guitar), Tanmoy Das (drums), and Prasenjit “Pom” Chakraborty make up the band. Blues, rock, psychedelia, and Rupam Islam’s vocal interpretations of his distinctively psychoanalytical lyrics give their music a unique flavour.
Fossils thrive on delivering the kind of rock sound which has never been delivered to rock, and music listeners in general. “We love the term ‘challenge’. All the albums that Fossils has done have challenged its previous releases. We never repeated anything. When our first album, Fossils, was released, people said they had never heard such a hard rock sound in Bangla music. We thought it was not enough, so we gave them a harder sound in our next album, Fossils 2.”
The key aspect to the fame and long-term success of the band, along with their unprecedented approach to rock, has been their ability to stay authentic. When it comes to musical influences, every current band member has had their own heroes which must have defined their own individual sound and eventually the band’s overall sound. Some of their influences include Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Syd Barrett, Tico Torres, George Harrison, James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius and interestingly, Bappi Lahiri and Kumar Sanu.
The band has done a commendable job for the development of the Bangla rock scene locally, as well as on a national level. They started underground but are not, for all the good reasons, Kolkata’s well-kept secret anymore.
Also read: Shakti: The Bridging Gap Between Jazz, Progressive Rock and Indian Classical Music.
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