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Agartala’s Samuel Debbarma Evokes Happiness With Debut Song ‘Ecstasy’

The composer and fingerstyle guitarist wrote the song in two years, informed by artists like Tommy Emmanuel

Dec 03, 2021

Samuel Debbarma. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

When Agartala-based guitarist-composer Samuel Debbarma discovered fingerstyle music four years ago, his curiosity about the style was piqued. “I started searching for guitar players in our locality, everywhere, but, unfortunately, got no one,” he says. Inspired by seeing artists such as Tommy Emmanuel, Sungha Jung and Trace Bundy, Debbarma intended to go to music school to dive deeper but he says he didn’t get his family’s approval.

Instead, he turned to tutorial videos on YouTube, which was a bit of a hit and miss. “I was on my own and that’s how my journey starts. Then I’ve started watching their videos and tried to understand their arrangement by reducing the playback speed,” he says with a laugh.

Debbarma has clearly picked up a lot in the last few years, as heard on his debut single “Ecstasy.” The instrumental fingerstyle guitar composition was written in about two years and completed piece by piece, focusing on the theme of the kind of “happiness of life which feeds your soul.”

In the music video shot by Souradeep Rakshit, we see Debbarma settle down in the shade of two large trees and perform the track with simple yet heartfelt flair. The guitarist is working on a full EP worth of songs but that’s happening alongside another project called Nsmusicgram with singer-songwriter Nilanjan De. They’ve brought out three indie-folk songs so far, with two singles coming up in early 2022. Debbarma says about Nsmusicgram’s forthcoming releases, “This project is one of our dream projects. It talks about the fight and love of an average person.”

Watch the video for “Ecstasy” below.

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