Angaraag Mahanta
Encyclopedia
Angaraag Mahanta known as Papon is a singer, composer and record producer. Born to music duo and legends of Assamese music, Archana Mahanta and Khagen Mahanta
, he was introduced to music early on in his childhood. His first language is Assamese
and he also sings in hindi
and bengali
. His initial training was in Indian Classical
and devotional and folk music
. He learnt vocals primarily but also plays the khol
, tabla
, guitar
, and harmonium
. His music genres are ambient electronic
, acoustic folk and new age
Indian classical music
and has been identified as having traces of pentatonic
Mongoloid notes, local river song influences and ghazals.
and Karsh Kale
at various festivals around the world including the Paléo Music Festival
in Switzerland
, Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival
in Jakarta
, Mosaic Music Festival
in Singapore
and Oslo World Music Festival in Norway. Aside from performing with them, Papon has co-written couple of song with the MIDIval Punditz that featured on their third album Hello Hello which ranked among the top three songs on Amazon, worldwide. He collaborated with the Welling Jazz Band, in Wellington, New Zealand
, for a project with them playing some of his music live for the festival Crossings in Wellington, New Zealand
in 2007. Also in the project was Rihan Sheehan, a popular electronic artist and producer from Wellington. He also wrote a song with Karsh Kale for his new album Cinema. He is presently working on two international collaborations which will be released in 2012.
Papon released his first album, Junaki Raati in Assamese at the end of 2004, marking a new kind of regional sound. The second album he produced was Sinaaki Osinaaki, which was released in November, 2009. Papon also has sung in few other albums produced by various artists in Assam. His first folk music album was Rangphul a Bihu album, after which he produced Gomseng and subsequently, Phagunor Gaan an album representing the typical holi songs of Borpeta in West Assam. Papon has been featured on albums by labels MDR Records, in a tie up with Times Music, and has also featured on the soundtrack of Bollywood
films Dum Maaro Dum, I Am Kalam
and most recently, Soundtrack. He has been featured on the Indian leg of the show Coke Studio
in MTV
. He performed on the show Global Indian Film Awards
with Midival Punditz
, Kailash Kher and Shubha Mudgal
. He also appeared on Star world India
, Episode six of The Dewarists
with Rabbi Shergill
and recorded a song Khule Da Rabb.
. The band has performed twice at the SAARC Music Band Festival in New Delhi, the Eastwind Festival and the Kovalam Literary Festival and has performed overseas with Sutasi in Singapore
. The band took a two year break in the wait for a solo album which is releasing internationally at the end of this 2011. The band is back in action in November with 4 big festivals in the same month. They are playing at the October Fest in Bangalore
, NH7 Weekender fest in Pune
and the Rock for Rights concert in New Delhi
.
Earlier their track OMO was taken on by Saregama HMV for release on the compilation album, The Underground along with a song called Jiya Baittho Jai in an album called Sahibol. In 2008, their track called Khuda Hota was released by Dada Music an extension of Music Today.
Khagen Mahanta
Khagen Mahanta is an exponent in folk and traditional music of Assam. He was awarded Sangeet Natak Academy award for folk and traditional music in the year 1992....
, he was introduced to music early on in his childhood. His first language is Assamese
Assamese language
Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language. It is used mainly in the state of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Nagamese, an Assamese-based Creole language is widely used in...
and he also sings in hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and bengali
Bengali
Bengali may refer to something of, from, or related to Bengal, the region roughly divided between West Bengal, Tripura and Bangladesh.* Bengali people, a major linguistic group in South Asia* Bengali Hindu people, the ethnic group native to eastern India....
. His initial training was in Indian Classical
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
and devotional and folk music
Indian folk music
Indian folk music is diverse because of India's vast cultural diversity. It has many forms including bhangra, lavani, dandiya and Rajasthani. The arrival of movies and pop music weakened folk music's popularity, but cheaply recordable music has made it easier to find and helped revive the traditions...
. He learnt vocals primarily but also plays the khol
Khol
The khol also known as a mrdanga or mridanga is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India for accompaniment with devotional music...
, tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and harmonium
Harmonium
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
. His music genres are ambient electronic
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, acoustic folk and new age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
Indian classical music
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
and has been identified as having traces of pentatonic
Pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...
Mongoloid notes, local river song influences and ghazals.
Collaborations
Papon has performed with the MIDIval PunditzMIDIval Punditz
MIDIval Punditz is an Indian fusion group consisting of two Delhi-based musicians, Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj. Their style revolves mostly around changer, jungle, electronica, and North Indian classical music...
and Karsh Kale
Karsh Kale
Karsh Kale is an Indian American musician, producer and composer, and is considered one of the pioneering figures in defining the Asian Underground genre by mixing disparate genres of music such as Indian classical and folk with electronica, rock, pop and ambient music...
at various festivals around the world including the Paléo Music Festival
Paléo Festival
The Paléo Festival de Nyon, usually just called Paléo, started in a small way in 1976 as the Nyon Folk Festival. It was differently located, near the Lake Geneva and had only two stages. But today it is the second biggest open-air music festival in mainland Europe, after the Sziget Festival. Today...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival
Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival
Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival is one of the largest jazz festivals in the world and arguably the biggest in in the Southern Hemisphere, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The annual jazz festival is held every early March and was designed to be one of the largest jazz festivals globally...
in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Mosaic Music Festival
Mosaic Music Festival
Mosaic Music Festival is an annual 10-day long music festival in Singapore that features both local and overseas acts. It showcases a variety of music genres, ranging from indie-folk to hip-hop. It aims to provide a platform for interaction between Singapore and International artistes...
in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Oslo World Music Festival in Norway. Aside from performing with them, Papon has co-written couple of song with the MIDIval Punditz that featured on their third album Hello Hello which ranked among the top three songs on Amazon, worldwide. He collaborated with the Welling Jazz Band, in Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, for a project with them playing some of his music live for the festival Crossings in Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 2007. Also in the project was Rihan Sheehan, a popular electronic artist and producer from Wellington. He also wrote a song with Karsh Kale for his new album Cinema. He is presently working on two international collaborations which will be released in 2012.
Papon released his first album, Junaki Raati in Assamese at the end of 2004, marking a new kind of regional sound. The second album he produced was Sinaaki Osinaaki, which was released in November, 2009. Papon also has sung in few other albums produced by various artists in Assam. His first folk music album was Rangphul a Bihu album, after which he produced Gomseng and subsequently, Phagunor Gaan an album representing the typical holi songs of Borpeta in West Assam. Papon has been featured on albums by labels MDR Records, in a tie up with Times Music, and has also featured on the soundtrack of Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
films Dum Maaro Dum, I Am Kalam
I Am Kalam
I Am Kalam is a Bollywood film directed by Nila Madhab Panda. The plot revolves around Chhotu, a poor Rajasthani boy, who is inspired by the life of the former President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. and his strong desire to learn to read. The character of Chhotu has been performed by Harsh...
and most recently, Soundtrack. He has been featured on the Indian leg of the show Coke Studio
Coke Studio
Coke Studio is a Pakistani television series featuring live music performances. Although it is adapted from the original Brazilian show named Estúdio Coca-Cola, it is fundamentally different from the original version where the show was a concert style show whereas the Pakistani version records its...
in MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. He performed on the show Global Indian Film Awards
Global Indian Film Awards
Global Indian Film Awards was an awards ceremony held between 2005 and 2007, conceptualized to acknowledge excellence in the Indian Film industry and honour artists in 23 categories across various genres, from acting to film making. It is held in a different country each year. 2005 in Dubai,...
with Midival Punditz
MIDIval Punditz
MIDIval Punditz is an Indian fusion group consisting of two Delhi-based musicians, Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj. Their style revolves mostly around changer, jungle, electronica, and North Indian classical music...
, Kailash Kher and Shubha Mudgal
Shubha Mudgal
Shubha Mudgal is a well-known Indian singer of Hindustani classical music, Khayal, Thumri, Dadra, and popular Indian Pop music.She has been awarded the 1996 National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Music Direction for 'Amrit Beej', the 1998 Gold Plaque Award for Special Achievement in Music,...
. He also appeared on Star world India
STAR World India
STAR World India is an English language television channel, part of the STAR World network, owned by Star TV broadcast in India. It syndicates popular shows from U.S. and U.K. to appeal to the English-speaking population of India and other South Asian countries...
, Episode six of The Dewarists
The Dewarists
The Dewarists is a musical television series on Star World India. The series is part music documentary and part travelogue. The show casts musicians from various parts of the world, collaborating to create original music while travelling across India. So far the first five episodes has been showcased...
with Rabbi Shergill
Rabbi Shergill
Rabbi Shergill in Jatt Sikh family is an Indian musician well known for his debut album Rabbi and the chart-topper song of 2005, "Bulla Ki Jaana"...
and recorded a song Khule Da Rabb.
Papon and East India Company
In 2007, Papon formed an electronic folk-fusion band called Papon and The East India Company. The band consisted of Papon on lead, Brin Desai on live electronics, Krishna on guitars, Kirti on percussion and Dipu on bass. The five members came from backgrounds varying from Assamese folk to metal and blues to trip hopTrip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
. The band has performed twice at the SAARC Music Band Festival in New Delhi, the Eastwind Festival and the Kovalam Literary Festival and has performed overseas with Sutasi in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The band took a two year break in the wait for a solo album which is releasing internationally at the end of this 2011. The band is back in action in November with 4 big festivals in the same month. They are playing at the October Fest in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, NH7 Weekender fest in Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
and the Rock for Rights concert in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
.
Earlier their track OMO was taken on by Saregama HMV for release on the compilation album, The Underground along with a song called Jiya Baittho Jai in an album called Sahibol. In 2008, their track called Khuda Hota was released by Dada Music an extension of Music Today.
Nomination and awards
He was nominated twice under the Best Folk Album category for his two Assamese folk albums Gomseng (Bihu) with Rashmi and Phagunar Gaan (Holi Songs) at the GIMA awards 2011.Albums (Assamese)
- Dhulir Akakh
- Phagunar Gaan (Holi songs)
- Gaan with Zubeen and Zublee
- Gomseng with Rashmi
- Junaki Raati
- Niyoror Godhuli
- Rongphool
- Sinaki Oshinaki
Bollywood movie songs
- Sajna Lets Enjoy 2004
- Jiyein Kyun Dum Maaro Dum 2011
- Zindagi Aisi Waisi I Am KalamI Am KalamI Am Kalam is a Bollywood film directed by Nila Madhab Panda. The plot revolves around Chhotu, a poor Rajasthani boy, who is inspired by the life of the former President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. and his strong desire to learn to read. The character of Chhotu has been performed by Harsh...
2011 - Banao Soundtrack 2011
- Naina Laagey Soundtrack 2011