Queen Hazarika | G-Plus

Initially trained in Indian classical music by her aunt and grandfather, Queen developed a taste for soul music gradually and very recently her track, ‘Xaare Aasu’ (I am awake) gained huge success and popularity and received appreciation from across the world. It received around 25,000 likes in just 11 days on networking sites.

Interestingly, Queen is a third generation singer in her family and started listening to music when she was in her mother’s womb. The 38-year-old said, “My singing life started even before I was born because my parents wanted to have a singer in the family and my father used to play the gramophone near my mother’s womb while she was sleeping.” When she started speaking, she started with sa ra ga ma… Singing was always a part of her life and she first stepped up on the stage at the tender age of four and sang her first song on Jyoti Prasad Agarwala’s anniversary.

She then started singing for children’s plays in theatres. In 1996, she recorded her first album (Abhiman) with her uncle Raaj J Konwar who is a Bollywood singer now and has sung for the movie, Ragini MMS and also received many awards. This was the proper professional beginning for Queen as a singer.

After that she finished her first solo album ‘Sobi’, which is also available on soundcloud.com. Then she delivered her first playback for the film ‘Mon’ along Zubin Garg, which was one of the toughest songs she ever sung. Many singers were not able to sing this song but Queen was able to do it which gained her huge appreciation. After this there was no stopping her. After ‘Mon’, she also sang for ‘Suren Suror Putek’ and ‘Sneh Bandhan’.

Hazarika was born in Lakhimpur to Raj Hazarika and Usha Gogoi Hazarika. She studied at St. Mary’s High School in North-Lakhimpur and later graduated from Handique Girl’s College, Guwahati. Queen has acted in films like ‘Surjasta’,’ Avataran’ (yet to be released which is also the first 3D film), ‘Akasmat-Out of The Blue’ and ‘Stage 3 Fighting’ (English film directed by Kenny Basumatary).

Taking a sabbatical from singing because of marriage and children, she had also worked in the corporate sector for around nine years working with ICICI, Reliance and Vodafone India. She left Vodafone in 2014 and with extreme support from her family to pursue her passion, she is now totally into singing and is lined up with many projects.

On 1st May she released ‘Xaare Aasu’ which is a huge hit. With the desire of always singing something different, she is extremely excited about one of her future projects, which is a fusion of Assamese and Carnatic music. According to her, the music industry here has gone into a rut and there is no creativity. She feels she has something new to do in all her ventures. According to her, Guwahati has changed to a great extent and she likes the new generation as she believes that the new lot is much focused.

At the same time, however, she dislikes many things about the city, mostly, the changing value system. With many planned projects in the future, she dreams of working with David Foster and Illayaraja. She has two sons, Mahin and Caillou and the younger one has already started writing songs at the age of six. Mahin, who is nine years old, wants to become a magician.

Xaare Aasu is an Assamese song composed by Jim Ankan Deka and sung by Queen Hazarika. It is the first of ChaiTunes series of music videos. Powered by Music Malt, the song is based on poems by Assamese writer duo Prof. Bhabananda Deka and Nalini Prava Deka.

CREDITS:

Composer - Jim Ankan Deka
Singer - Queen Hazarika
Video - Parmita Borah
Lyrics - Jim Ankan Deka (based on poems by Prof. Bhabananda Deka and Nalini Prava Deka)
Guitar - Jim Ankan Deka, Pratik Nalawade
Bass - Harish Marappa
Drums - Shreyas Akarshan
Actors - Suhit Kumar, Divya Nambiar
Producer - Jim Ankan Deka, Parmita Borah
Floor Manager - Vinod M Singh
Sound Engineer - Jim Ankan Deka, Anil CJ
Photographer - Deepak Vijaykumar
Producer - Parmita Borah, Jim Ankan Deka
Recorded at - Madcat Studio, Eastern Fare Studio
Edited and Mastered at - Eastern Fare Studio, Bangalore
Stot At - Innerspace Studios, Bangalore
Video Editing Studio - Eastern Fare Studio, Bangalore
Production House - Eastern Fare, Bangalore
Powered by - Music Malt, Bangalore

ABOUT:

ChaiTunes is a concept where music is brewed and stories are told over cups of tea. It is an experiment where musicians from different parts of India come together to create a musical experience. ChaiTunes music videos are produced by Eastern Fare Productions and powered by Music Malt.

LINKS:

Eastern Fare - http://www.easternfare.in
Music Malt - http://www.musicmalt.com
ChaiTunes - http://www.facebook.com/ChaiTunesMusic
Jim Ankan Deka - http://www.withjim.in
Innerspace Studios - https://www.facebook.com/innerspacestudiosbangalore

Singing to glory | Eastern Chronicle

SUCCESS is defined differently by different individuals. Whether it's personal or professional one certainly looks for better opportunities in life. Being engaged in life's hullabaloo one certainly hopes to relish the taste of success.

In another good piece of news for music lovers, one of the most talented singers Queen Hazarika's recent track Xaare Aasu gained huge popularity across the world. In a candid conversation with Buzz the singer says, "I am grateful and overwhelmed. Although we expected it to be a hit, but never thought it would happen overnight," adding that espying Xaare Aasu getting 6000 hits on Youtube on the day of its release was utter surprising. The song is gaining popularity outside Assam as well as abroad.

"The first response I received was from a poet in US, Mardee Agen. People in UK, Slovenia, South Africa and Thailand have listened and shared with their followers," says Queen. As of now the song has been shared over 1000 times in the social media while the numbers are still counting. "It is heart-warming to see that even regional language music is accepted wholeheartedly in the global arena," adds Queen.

Eliciting about her experience she says, "Working outside Assam has always been wonderful. People are professional and unnecessary gossiping is never a part of their discussions". Throwing more light on her recent hit Xaare Aasu Queen says, "I recorded the song in two different studios of Bengaluru, namely Madcat Studios and Eastern Fare, under the aegis of Anil CJ who is a Kannada movie producer and Jim Ankan Deka, the director of Eastern Fare Foundation," adding that the video was directed by Parmita Borah and she was the one who conceptualised the story.

"It was a privilege working with musicians from different parts of the country including the likes of Pratik Nalawade from Mumbai, Harish Marappa and Shreyas Akarshan from Bengaluru, and musician Jim Ankan Deka who hails from Assam and currently based in Bengaluru", adds Queen.

Speaking about the concept of the song she says, "It happened on an impulse. A thought struck my mind one fine day and thus the idea was put to reality in the form of Xaare Aasu," adding that after working with Jim in 'Aawaz-speak up against sexual violence', he was always Queen's first choice for Xaare Aasu as the composer and arranger. It may be mentioned here that 'Aawaz-speak up against sexual violence' is a 2012 multi award winning song.

Sharing her future plans Queen informs that recently she came in touch with Suchethan Rangaswamy who is a well-known playback and Camatic classical singer from Karnataka, with whom she is planning on a fusion album. "This would supposedly be the first of its kind in Assam," says Hazarika further informing that she also has plans to try her luck in bollywood.

She sums up speaking her heart out about her dream, "It is my dream to work with two of the musicians I have always adored, David Foster, the Canadian musician and record producer and Illayaraja, one of the finest music composers in India and a living legend."