Fossils (band)

Fossils members and the official fan club logo

A recent picture

Fossils are a Bangla Rock band formed in Kolkata, India in 1998. The group is considered one of the pioneering Rock acts in Kolkata's Bangla music scene.

The band is currently composed of Rupam Islam (lead vocals, composer, lyricist), Deep (rhythm guitar), Partha (lead guitar), Chandra (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Bubun (drums, percussion).

Their music is flavoured by a blend of blues, hard rock, alternative rock, and Indian folk along with Rupam Islam's vocal renditions of his characteristic psycho-analytical lyrics. They are noted for their social commentary and advocation of causes such as the welfare of HIV positive people.

Like most other Bangla bands, Fossils performs in the Bengali language but using mainly Western principles of music.

History

Formation and Early Years: 1998 - 2000

The band was assembled through the efforts of Rupam Islam. Then a struggling solo artiste, Islam scouted for like-minded individuals and eventually succeeded in gathering a tentative lineup in 1998.

The group started to call themselves Fossils after a suggestion by their guitarist Deep. The name is inspired by a line from one of Rupam's lyrics which goes as follows: "Khoro aamar fossil, onubhutir michhil protikriashil kono biplobe"

Initial audience reaction to the band's music was not encouraging. During their first few shows, they met with jeering and hostile objection to the Rock techniques they employed.

Thus, the band name was meant to convey the sense of the "underground" movement the members felt they were initiating and their belief that they would be fossilized into History under pressure of social disapproval of their music, only to be excavated decades later by researchers wishing to discover the roots of Bangla rock.

The band would experience a flurry of lineup changes until the end of 1999, by which time a sort of permanency was achieved with Rupam (vocals), Chandra (bass), Allan (guitar), Stephen (drums), Indra (keyboards), and Parikhshit (manager) as the members.

Fossils: 2000 - 2003

In 2000, the band would record a demo version of their tracks. They faced rejection several times from different record houses.

In 2001, the guitarist Allan (currently a member of Cactus) left the band for a corporate career. Former members Teno and Deep re-joined in Allan's stead.

A contract was landed with Asha Audio and by the end of the same year, recording for the band's first studio album began. The recording had to start without Allan whose departure had been so sudden there wasn't enough time to rework their tracks. Some of the guitar tracks for this album had to be lifted from the demo version. The album was entitled FOSSILS and released in 2002. It wasn't an instant success but the music caught on once the FM channels started broadcasting the tracks. The album's popularity has only increased with time.

Teno would leave the band in 2002 and was replaced by Partha.

In 2003, the drummer Stephen had to be shifted to a Rehab clinic. Andre served as part-time drummer till Bubun joined.

By this time, the band had created a niche audience and dedicated following among the youth.

Fossils 2: 2004 - 2005

The band's second album entitled FOSSILS 2 was released in 2004. It was then noted as the Bangla band album with the highest budget till date. The album was partly sponsored by the Thums Up brand. The Mastering Engineer was Steve Fallone of Sterling Sound, New York.

The band witnessed a surge in popularity.

In 2005, the manager Parikshit was expelled from the band; Rupam & Deep jointly took over his work.

Mission F: 2006

The third studio album entitled MISSION F was released in 2006. It was a theme-album for the first Kolkata Police Friendship Cup Football Tournament.

A special track "Aeka Nauo", dedicated to HIV Positive people was included in the album. It featured Usha Uthup and was produced in collaboration with the Kolkata Sukriti Foundation. A free VCD distributed with the album, contains the video for the track which shows HIV positive people with their faces uncovered interacting freely with Uthup and the band-members. The VCD also contained a chat-session with band-members.

Radio Mirchi collaborated with the band to produce two Unplugged versions of previously recorded tracks that were included in the album.

According to a survey conducted by Radio Mirchi, Mission F was declared the highest sold album in Kolkata for the year 2006.

Aupodartho: 2007

In the first half of 2007, Rupam Islam worked on a separate project (named RnB) with the bassist Bumpy.

In the second half of 2007, the band released a Music video album entitled AUPODARTHO.

The album was scheduled to be launched in Music World, Park Street, Kolkata. The crowd turnout was so unexpectedly huge that fans had to be turned out and the outlet's premises closed. The Police had a tough time controlling the crowd. The release eventually happened on the same day with Rupam Islam placing himself atop a stool outside the outlet and addressing the fans without a microphone.

During the Pujas of 2007, Rupam Islam's 1998 solo album was re-launched by Saregama HMV.

2008 - Present

The end of 2008 saw Fossils begin the recording of their 5th album which is due to be released some time around the second half of 2009.

2009 marked the 10th anniversary of the band. The band's official fan club FOSSILS FORCE was launched the same year, which started their operation through a blood donation camp on 1st May 2009.

Rupam on the Rocks, written by Rupam Islam and published by Ananda Publishers was launched in the Kolkata Book Fair 2009.