(From left) Bassist Chandra, guitarist Allan, singer-songwriter Rupam, drummer Tanmoy and guitarist Deep cut the cake. Picture: B. Halder

It was business as usual at Working Class Zero studio in South End Park on January 9. Fossils was in the middle of a two-hour-long rehearsal for their gig at Kalyani Mela (on January 11). In another room, fans and members of Bangla Rock Magazine, a bimonthly edited by Rupam, waited with a cake. The occasion? Fossils turned 15 on January 9. A t2 chat with the band members.

What do you do on this day?

Rupam: We didn’t even remember this one. One of our fans shared the information on Facebook a few days ago. Then Rupsha (Fossils manager and Rupam’s wife) pointed out that Fossils is completing 15 years on January 9. And then, at the stroke of midnight, once text messages started pouring in, I felt I was sitting inside a temple — tung tung kore ghonta bajchhe!

Deep: People were asking me what are you doing today? I quite nonchalantly replied that we’ll be practising.

Rupam: We have done shows on January 9 when people from the audience urged us to announce our band’s birthday!

But how do you celebrate Jan 9?

Rupam: We have never given this a thought. Well, we celebrate by putting up special shows or creating music or doing albums. We are making music every day. On Jan 9, 1999, I had a show with the band where I announced: ‘We will be called Fossils from now on.’ But then the band broke up. Again we formed a band for our next show in June (at Sisir Mancha). Then there were a few more line-up changes. We recorded our debut album Fossils in 2001 and it came out in 2002.

Why do you think Fossils is still one of the top bands in Calcutta?

Allan: Everything began with the music, so the focus always remains on making music. Everything else is an incentive, it comes with the music. After every album, the slate is wiped clean and we have to start again. We don’t rest on our laurels. Right now we are again a new band about to make new music.

Rupam: Because we pursued a sound no one was doing at that time. When we started, Bengali folk songs (folk-pop) ruled the charts; it was a folk joog. But then we didn’t get any shows for the first few months since the release of our debut album. Our philosophy was to continue making music even if we didn’t get gigs and then some day an archaeologist would unearth our songs and feel we were doing some good work! We felt our work would be evaluated and appreciated posthumously.

Deep: Think about it, a band is starting off thinking that no one would listen to their songs and still they are practising every day!

Allan: It’s more about the legacy that we would leave behind. It wasn’t about getting shows.

How do you reconcile with changes in the music business?

Allan: Any successful enterprise is about adapting to situations, changing with the times... evolving. If you decide to remain a dinosaur, then you would be stuck. It’s quite ironical since we are called Fossils (laughs)! We always believe in changing with the times. This is the only way we can stay relevant and that’s how it has worked for us.

How did you keep yourself motivated?

Allan: When I started playing the guitar everyone said why are you doing this. It’s not going to take you anywhere. People wanted me to take up a job. I finally gave up (in 2001) and got a job in Hyderabad. But these guys carried on. (He rejoined in 2011.)

Rupam: When Chandra (bassist) and I were visiting music companies with our demos, people there would advise me to bring out albums as Rupam with the kind of sound I was known for earlier. They would say: “Go back to your earlier sound (pop-fusion) and we can strike a deal. Bangla rock hobe na!” But we stuck to our guns. Chandra is an engineer, and he stayed on with the band.

Chandra: With our first steady line-up (Rupam, Allan, Stephen, Chandra, Indra) there was a lot of creative energy flowing. We were doing a lot of new things.

Rupam: We started work on our debut album in 2001. The year that followed the release of the album (in 2002) was the most critical. There were no shows. It can be demoralising when you don’t get any shows after your album comes out. We just worked hard, kept practising. Then, in 2003, the album became a hit. Songs like Aekla ghor and Hasnuhana became so popular that overnight we became the number one band in Calcutta! Tarporeo struggle, which was more about how to retain the number one spot! And we have achieved it through hard work.

How do you constantly reinvent?

Rupam: We have never compromised with the music.

Chandra: If we say we would arrive for sound check at 3pm (for a gig), we keep our word.

Allan: We don’t take things for granted. It is easy to slip into a comfort zone. Every two-three shows, our entire song list changes. We introduce new songs. That keeps it fresh for us and the audience. We don’t throw our weight around. We go on time, do our sound check on time.

Rupam: We also give the best- possible sound.

Allan: For every show we are flying down sound engineer Anupam Roy from Delhi.

Deep: Since we are so disciplined, and since we have raised the bar, and created a market, other bands started getting shows. They could also raise their budgets, because Fossils was the first band in Calcutta to do a show for Rs 1.2 lakh in 2005.

Rupam: Although we had done a show taking Rs 2,000 in advance in 2003, we reached the Rs 1-lakh mark in 2005. Also, we could make songs that the audience could connect with. It’s also a cathartic experience for them; they get to release intense feelings or emotions.

Over the years what sort of challenges have you faced?

Rupam: The biggest challenge was to give the best production. Fossils 2 and Fossils 3 were mastered by Steve Fallone of Sterling Sound (New York). We always want to innovate, give new things (Aupodartho was a video album; there’s an audio-video CD with Mission F; a graphic novel with Fossils 3).

Allan: It’s about challenging yourself and evolving.

Chandrabindoo turned 25, Cactus 21 and Fossils 15. What does the future hold for the Bangla rock scene?

Rupam: Amra shobcheye young. Amader anande thaka uchit. We’ll be supporting and promoting young bands. We are there for young bands.

What does the band mean to you now?

Rupam: The band’s role now is to lead the generation. I feel we have a responsibility ekhonkar projonmo ba porer projonmo ke manush bananor. That’s why I do music.

Allan: For me, the band represents what I love doing, with a lot of honesty and conviction.

Chandra: It gives me a sense of identity.

Spreading joy and cheer: Santa came calling for streetchildren on Christmas Day. Aditya (one of the founding members of Fossils Fossils Force, the official fan club of the band, who now lives in Singapore) dressed up as Santa, and with a Matador full of school and college students (Fossils Force members), went around the city gifting toys, cakes, chocolates, biscuits, rice, dal, cooking oil, warm clothes.... Fossils fans made 380 hampers and distributed 270 shawls and blankets. Rupam, who had joined them for a while, was so moved that he went back home around 2.30am and wrote a song, which he mailed to Fossils Force members early next morning.

Top 6 songs

• Hasnuhana
• Bishakto manush
• Aekla ghor
• Acid
• Bicycle chor
• Khnoro aamar fossil

milestones

• Producing Fossils 4 and retaining the copyright and publishing rights to it.
• Receiving the Anandalok Puraskar for Best Non-Film Album for Fossils 3 .
• Park Street coming to a standstill during the launch of the album Aupodartho (2007).
• Getting Grammy-nominee Steve Fallone of Sterling Sound (New York) to master Fossils 2 and Fossils 3.
• Performing in Las Vegas in 2012.
• Touring UK (2009) and Australia (2012).

Arindam Chatterjee

I love Fossils because... Tellt2@abp.in