Nagaland’s Finest: Artists to watch out for!

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By Kaushik Jai Barua | March 20, 2019 

Here at TNT -The Northeast Today-Y! we pride ourselves in discovering the cutting edge of independent music from Northeast India and it is our pursuit to keep you on the front line too, by giving you an insight into the journeys of innovative new artists and bands poised to shape the sound and scene. To that end, we've rounded up our favorites who, we think, are on the rise across several different genres. Spanning from songs about faith to state of affairs, here are some bands and artists you must get on now before everyone else does.

Paper Sky:Taking the North East by a storm, Paperskyhave their own unique take onalternative rock and indie grunge while staying tantalizingly true to thesounds of the genre. Based in Dimapur, Nagaland, the band first started out in2013 with Jongma on vocals and rhythm guitar, Augustine on bass, Neisakhou onlead guitar and Yanger on drums. Following their long hiatus, Papersky madetheir comeback last year when they played at the Thuwuni Music Festival inNovember with Nourhe replacing Neisakhou as the lead guitarist. If their recentwin in Project Play held at this year's Drift Music Festival in Guwahati is anyindication of times to come, the band is here to stay this time around. Paperskyare planning a tour of Northeast in May, Covering Kohima, Dimapur, Guwahati andShillong with an album release to follow soon after.

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Since 90s: A band that is difficult to pigeonhole in any particular genre, the sound of Since 90s can perhaps be broadly described as Modern Alternative Rock. They hit their break after winning Nagaland's NSACS contest in November 2007 and they haven't looked back since. "That was the initial starting point for us to pursue music a whole, prior to that we played together mostly helping out in the church." says the vocalist Apecha. "We write mostly about what we face as a society, as a community and we intend to open up the Pandora's Box for dialogue to be initiated and although the words we use might not be agreeable to every listener of our music but we feel like we have done our job as long as that spark has been ignited." With an EP coming out by the end of this year, the prospects for Since 90s look very promising indeed.

Tokaholi Chishi: A writer who infuses her words with melodies to make them sound sweeter, Tokaholiis one of the freshest folk voices from the northeastern independent music at the moment. "I had always been captivated by music and words. Maintaining a journal and scribbling down my feelings. Growing up I had a severe stutter, but whenever I sang it almost magically disappeared. I found music to be a good medium to communicate and whenever I wanted someone to know how I felt I would turn it into a song and sing it to them.." she says talking about the beginning of her journey in music. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Josh Garrels and John Mark McMillan, Tokaholi mostly writes about the feelings she is going through, "I believe there is a song for every season and it is important to capture those moments with words. I want my songs to speak to the listener, be relevant to them and allow them to journey with me." Tokaholi is currently working on new music with a specific focus on indie folk.

Imliakum Aier: There is a certain honesty about Imliakum's writing that coaxes you to stop in your track for a moment and absorb his music with undivided attention. Having started his career playing covers as a guitarist/vocalist like many other independent artists, Imliakum felt uneasily constrained playing music that was written by others. That was his inspiration to spilling his heart and soul into his own music, written not with no ulterior motives, no commercial aspirations, no intention to appease the masses, but purely for himself. Here is a musician who truly wears his heart on his sleeve and that infuses his art with a quality that is near impossible to imitate.

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The writer can be reached at kaushik@thenortheasttoday.in. Follow him @kaushikjaibarua