Euphoria (Indian band)

Euphoria (Hindi: युफ़ोरिया), is an Indian rock band from the city of Delhi, India. Euphoria was put together by Dr. Palash Sen and his friends in New Delhi in 1988. The Band is also considered the soul of the pop music wave which hit India in the mid nineties. The band released their fifth studio album 'Item' in 2011 on Universal Music India.

Early years and the first album Dhoom (till 1999)

Euphoria was formed in 1988 by a then medical student Dr. Palash Sen and his friends. Bass player, Debajyoti Bhaduri, joined hands with Palash in the early nineties. Moving through several line ups, the band kept searching for their elusive break. It came 10 years after their inception as Euphoria released their first studio album titled 'Dhoom' in the October 1998 to critical acclaim and commercial success.They became the pioneers of 'Hind Rock' or rock music in Hindi. Their first single was titled 'Dhoom Pichuk Dhoom' – and it became the most popular video to hit TV screens in that decade. Directed by ad-guru and filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar, the video became a benchmark for non-Bollywood music videos. Two other videos were shot and released for the songs "Tum" and " Sha Na Na" the same year.

Phir Dhoom and Mantra (1999–2002)

After the success of 'Dhoom', Euphoria started work on their second studio album 'Phir Dhoom'; and delivered hit singles such as 'Phir Dhoom', 'Rok Sako To Rok Lo', and 'Pyar Hi Tha'. But it was their first single 'Maaeri' (which was instrumental in launching the career of Rimmi Sen) which became their most successful song, and their trademark tune. It was during the recording of this album, that Palash asked Tabla Player Prashant Trivedi and Percussionist Rakesh Bhardwaj to join the band. Two back to back hit records had already cemented Euphoria as a force to be reckoned with. The band toured heavily this time, to promote the record and also played at the prestigious Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis in 2000. In 2001, Euphoria became the first ever band to play inside the United Nations General Assembly along with Junoon from Pakistan. After returning to the country the band released "Mantra" India's first ever standalone single release, independent of an album.

‘Mantra' established their unique hind rock resonance which was an eclectic mixture of Indian and global sounds. It was during this time that front man Palash shot for the film Filhaal, which was released the same year.

Gully (2003–2006)

Mantra was later included in the band's third album, 'Gully' in 2003. Three music videos were made for the songs 'Ana Meri Gully', 'Raja Rani' and 'Ab Na Jaa' and all of this received heavy airplay on mainstream TV channels. Gully has been one of Euphoria's most successful albums till date. In the video of the title song "Gully" the band launched Bollywood heart throb Vidya Balan.

Mehfuz, REDhoom, Best of Luck and Line Up Change (2006–2010)

In 2006, the band's fourth studio album 'Mehfuz' surprised critics and fans alike. The new sound and the maturity in the songwriting won a lot of hearts and made Euphoria the only force in Indian music which could commercially take on Bollywood. Four music videos were released for the songs 'Soneya', 'Mehfuz', 'Bewafaa', and 'Rab Jaane'.Mehfuz was the first album that the band recorded in their newly made studio "The Clinic". The band's current drummer, Ashwani Verma joined the band during this time.

In 2008, the band completed 10 years of their recording career and released 'Re Dhoom'a commemorative compilation album consisting of 12 of Euphoria's biggest hits with a music video of the song 'Bhoola Sab'.

Following personal differences and misunderstandings, Palash asked the then guitarist and keyboardist Hitesh Madan and Benjamine Pinto to leave the band.

During a brief hiatus that the band took, from playing live, Euphoria created music for the Malayalam Film "Best of Luck" released in late 2010. Indian Guitar Legend Kalyan Baruah played guitars on the songs. Kalyan also appeared live with Euphoria on 2 occasions, and later also guested on their 2011 MTV Unplugged appearance.

Axeman Amborish Saikia and Keyboard player Vinayak Gupta completed Euphoria's line up and brought about a total change in Euphoria's sound with their cutting edge nu age musicianship. Euphoria was sounding younger, better and more aggressive than ever.

Item (2011)

In 2011, the band released their fifth studio album titled "Item" and embarked on a 10 city tour of USA to promote it. Euphoria also made an appearance on MTV Unplugged's Indian edition the same year and performed "ITEM" and "C U Later" from the new album, along with their other hits. In the first week of May, Euphoria released the second single "C U Later" from Item in two languages, Hindi and English. A music video to support the promotions was also created in both languages, making it India's first bi lingual single. The single went on to peak at number 5 on VH1 India's Top Ten charts. Item was released worldwide by Universal Music India.

Sharnaagat (2012 Onwards)

Euphoria launched their 6th studio album titled "Sharnaagat" in 2012, surprising critics and fans with a new direction. Sharnaagat was the band's first spiritual record, with influences of pop, folk and blues. Frontman Palash's father, Late Dr. Rupendra Kumar Sen had composed 3 out of the 7 songs featured on the album. A music video was shot for the title track "Sharnaagat" in the premises of a Temple, Mosque, Church and a Gurudwara in Delhi with an attempt to portray the universality of God and religion. Palash directed the video with the entire band and its support staff doubling up as the production crew. Sharnaagat was released worldwide by Times Music Spiritual.

Discography

Films

The band has composed the soundtrack for a Malayalam film named Best of luck (2010).^[2]

Albums

Albums and Singles of Euphoria is listed below:^[3]

• 1998 – Dhoom
• 2000 – Phir Dhoom
• 2003 – Gully
• 2006 – Mehfuz
• 2008 – ReDhoom
• 2011 – Item
• 2012– Sharnaagat

Singles

• 2001 – Mantra

Songs

• Dhoom Pichak Dhoom
• Sha Na Na
• Maaeri
• Phir Dhoom
• Raja Rani
• Ab Naa Jaa
• Aana Meri Gully
• Sone De Maa
• Soneya
• Mehfuz
• Bhoola Sab
• Ram Ali
• C U Later
• Kabootar
• Item
• Sharnaagat
• Prabhuji
• Sheranwali Maa

Collaborations

• 2004 – Jeet Lo Dil feat. Strings
• 2010 – Delhi Meri Jaan. (for the Commonwealth Games 2010 New Delhi)

Key facts

Dr. Palash Sen is also an actor, who acted in the Bollywood movie called Filhaal. Also, Palash has just completed a film called Mumbai Cutting, in which he plays the lead role. Euphoria created the background score to this movie.

References

External links

• IndianMusicMug News – Euphoria launches New single C U Later
• Euphoria