Andre served as part-time drummer till Bubun joined.īy this time, the band had created a niche audience and dedicated following among the youth. In 2003, the drummer Stephen underwent rehabilitation. Teno left the band in 2002 and was replaced by Partha. The album's popularity has increased with time, and today it has achieved a cult following. It was not an instant success, but the music caught on once the FM radio stations started broadcasting the tracks. The album was entitled Fossils and released in 2002. Some of the guitar tracks for this album had to be lifted from the demo version. The recording had to start without Allan, whose departure was so sudden there wasn't enough time to rework their tracks. Former members Teno and Deep re-joined in Allan's stead.Ī contract was landed with Asha Audio and by the end of the same year, recording for the band's first studio album began. In 2001, the guitarist Allan left the band for a corporate career. They faced rejection several times from different record houses. In 2000, the band recorded a demo version of their tracks. In spite of the hostile feedbacks, the band decided to stick to their sound, and for the first time in the history of Indian Bengali rock, a full-fledged, continuous, effort was made to establish the Bengali Rock sound. The band would experience a flurry of line-up 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. Thus, the band name was meant to convey a sense of an "underground" movement that the members felt they had initiated and their belief that they would be fossilised into history under the pressure of social disapproval of their music, only to be excavated decades later by musicologists wishing to discover the roots of Bengali rock. During their first few shows, they met with jeering and hostile objection to the rock style and techniques they employed. Initial audience reaction to the band's music was not encouraging. " Khoro aamar fossil, onubhutir michhil protikriashil kono biplobe". The name is inspired by a line from one of Rupam's lyrics: The group started to call themselves "Fossils" after a suggestion by their guitarist Deep. This line up was short lived and the very next show saw Chandra and Teno on guitars, Baji on drums, Bumpy on bass, Jatu on keyboards and Rupam. This show had Deep on acoustic guitar, Deep Ghosh on guitars, Tanmoy on bass, Rajiv on drums and Rupam. While performing on stage as Rupam Islam and group, on that very day Rupam announced that henceforth he will perform as FOSSILS. Their first stage show was held on 9 January 1999 at Najrul Mancha for Gaan 99 organised by HMV. The band was formed by Rupam Islam, the vocalist. History Formation and early years: 1998–2000