Nagaland: 17-yr-old guitarist sensation Imnainla from Mokokchung is taking the music scene by storm!
By Kaushik Jai Barua | April 5, 2019
Nagaland has lately been taken by storm by the prodigious talent of a seventeen year old guitarist from Mokokchung, Imnainla. It started a couple of years ago with videos of her playing the lead guitar going viral on social media and eventually led to her taking the stage at Hornbill Festival of Music 2018. This startling climb up the ladders of popularity has put her name amongst the artists to look out for in the whole of the Northeast India.
Talking about her first trysts with her instrument, the lead guitarist, Imnainla says, "Ever since childhood, I was always interested and influenced on seeing other people play the guitar. You see, the thing about a guitar is that its fret board holds the key to create unlimited music…to open doors to an unending flow of creativity. This is what triggered my interest and started to play when I was 12. However, I never really invested much of my time on it then. It was only two years later when I was 14 that I started to develop a keen interest on what I was doing and I invested my time in practising and brushing up my skills, striving to be better every single day – and as a matter of fact I am still doing that."
She adds that she has never taken any formal theoretical courses on music, "Thinking back, I remember that I started out being taught the basics of the instrument by my elder brother who also was self-taught and he, in a way, first influenced me to pick up the guitar. He introduced me to the roots of music, being himself influenced by blues and Jazz, taught me chords, scales and the basics with which I needed to equip myself to stand where I am today. Over the years I have come to appreciate artists such as Plini, Intervals, Marco Sfogli, Polyphia and a bit of jazz and soul blues."
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Imnainla says that although she has been performing quite regularly around her hometown, she would like to go play in other places. "I've been performing at some small gigs in the locality and then some one or two bigger ones. The Hornbill International Festival of 2018 has by far been the best and the biggest arena where I've performed and also the most responsive." she insists.
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For someone as young as her,Imnainla has her own struggles in pursuing music, especially as she has tojuggle it with her schoolwork and academics. She says that her parents havebeen quite supportive towards her decision to pursue music. "In such a societyas ours today where everyone is racing after a 'Behind-the-desk' career, Ibelieve that it is quite a challenge to take up the stand and do something differentwhich most would not do. But I haven't yet come across denials from my parentsregarding my pursuit of music and they have always stood by my side. As of nowI have no plans as such to become a 'full time musician'. But after completingmy 12th I would like to join a music school and learn more about it."
Talking about her aspirations for the future, Imnainla adds that she feels she has stepped into a small and a humble beginning. In the future, she hopes to make it big so that she can go to different places to perform and explore the possibilities of making a career out of music in the future.
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The writer can be reached at kaushik@thenortheasttoday.com. He can be followed @kaushikjaibarua on all social media
