Biography

Fossils came to be at a time when Bangla rock was taking its baby footsteps. The little work that was happening in the genre of rock music was limited to ‘one off' songs amongst many. No constructive effort was made to establish the genre of rock in the Bangla music scenario. Fossils burst onto this scene and changed it. Rupam Islam, after his debut solo album launched in 1998, went on to form Fossils a year later, with a handful of musical colleagues who shared his vision of a band that would push the envelope of contemporary Bengali rock. Many consider Fossils to be the pioneers of Bangla rock. Fossils’ first album (2002) also saw the term 'rock' being mentioned as a genre for the first time in any Bangla album. With the popularity of Fossils’ songs, West Bengal witnessed a sea-change in the Bangla music scene, especially the Bangla band scene. All new upcoming bands who till then were working mainly in the genre of Bangla folk suddenly took to Bangla rock, and Bangla rock became the most popular form of music amongst the youth. Within a short span of four years, Fossils went on to become the most popular Bangla band in India, largely due to its explosive LIVE shows and introspective and cathartic lyrics with melodic aggression, pushed forth further by the release of their second album, Fossils 2, in 2004. The band is equally popular with non-resident Bengali audiences across the globe, whether in Bangalore or Mumbai, Hyderabad or Houston. Fossils has two successful UK shows, two USA (Banga Sammelan) tours, one Australia show and many shows in neighboring Bangladesh under its belt. Fossils has made it on the covers of leading magazines: Two covers on Anandamela: The ABP magazine for youngsters Two covers on Graphiti: The Sunday supplement magazine of The Telegraph Unish Kuri: The ABP magazine for teenagers India Today Simply Kolkata: The Calcutta supplement of India Today magazine Corporate Tie-Ups: Fossils has composed a special jingle for Thums Up Fossils was part of the Horlicks promotion for the Pujas in 2004 For the Horlicks Lite launch at the Hyatt, Kolkata, Fossils presented their version of the Horlicks Lite jingle in Bengali Fossils 2 was the first album from Bengal to get a corporate sponsorship Fossils composed the Radio Mirchi jingle for the channel's birthday as well as its programme, Mirchi Tram Fossils lyrics were used for the hoarding campaigns of Aamar FM and Unish Kuri Fossils performed for the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in 2012 Fossils for a cause:  Fossils was the first band to compose a special song for those living with HIV. For the first time, HIV-positive individuals appeared unmasked in a music video with the band and Usha Uthup Along with Usha Uthup, the band performed in aid of the 2004 Tsunami victims Rupam has recorded an album with street children of Kolkata, whom he has trained for the past three years The Fossils official fan club – Fossils Force – regularly organizes special programmes in aid of the lesser privileged Fossils regularly performs free for different causes