Nagaland’s indie rock band ‘Trance Effect’ speak about their debut ‘No more pretending’ and more
By Kaushik Jai Barua | March 15, 2019
As the video to their stunning performance in Drift Music Festival does the rounds all over the internet, Bassist Imnamaong Imchen and Vocalist Gabriel Iuli Yeptho recall how they zeroed in on their band's alternative rock/pop charm.
The light footed Iuli Yeptho was amongst the most memorable faces on stage at the Drift Music festival held in Guwahati. Despite playing the opening slot of the festival to an almost paltry audience, the band steadily found attendees running towards the stage as they played the first three songs from their set-list. For newer fans of the Indian Indie subculture, it probably might be a leap to imagine an alternative rock act from Nagaland pull off such a feat in the outskirts of Guwahati, despite the lack of a dedicated audience for them in the city. Yet here is a two year old Alternative act Trance Effect posing on stage almost as if they were putting up a homecoming performance. In the pit, I'm introduced to Animesh Gogoi who single-handedly manages a mass of Independent artists from Assam singing in indigenous languages, the founder of Mad-Max entertainment- who is in complete awe of the five piece act on stage. He laments at the lack of visibility for these acts-a hurdle he faces for the artistes he manages as well. "I only wish there was a way to get these bands into the major festivals around the country. There is so much music that goes unheard from our region" he rues. Soon, Trance Effect shifts to the more emotion based part of their set-list featuring only their vocalist Iuli and Guitarist Taqo- one of the most beautiful moments of their set- it was almost like watching the Carpenters come back to life. This, you may have guessed, is not your average new act from Nagaland.
'Stop Pretending' their debut single released earlier last year, is a true reflection of how charismatic and inspired the five piece can be when they work together. When I meet the fivetet, after their performance at Drift Music Festival, I ask if they have a method to all their madness- a formula that they follow to sound the way that they do. "Oh! it was in fact our bassist who came up with the idea of the band. He was keen on making music in a band and sounding like no one else!" says their vocalist Iuli with almost a mock accusatory tone. She's quick to correct herself "To be honest it's because we came together to make music that all of us enjoy- I guess you could call that our secret ingredient!" Then, of course, there's a couple of thousand views on their YouTube channel despite them having never released an official video- Iuli instantly grimaces- "That's not a reflection of anything really! It's just a number."
Bassist Imnamaong Imchen says there's "no method as such" nothing different from any other band out there. When they finally formed the innovative new act, the idea that actually mooted and kept them going was the possibility of making music as a band that would "reach out to a younger generation". But unlike many other alternative rock bands in the region, Trance Effect is a step away from 90s nostalgia rock- it's not a case, Imchen says , of "we love how this band sounds, now we're going to sound like them".
The original proposition, for the Dimapur bunch, was that all of them would each create work inspired by their collective love for a wide spectrum of genres and owing to Alt-rock/pop's all encompassing characteristic- it would all fall into place in the larger scheme of things. "We wanted people to have a fun time. Full of energy and brimming with positivity. It's not your everyday kind of Alternative rock either- It's a melodic and somewhat alternative approach to the Indie genre. " explains Imchen.
Such clarity in vision is seldom found amidst young bands from the region but whether this clarity can help them cut through the noise and take their music to larger audiences- only time will tell.
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Follow the band's social media handle here- https://www.facebook.com/tranceeffect808989/
The writer can be reached at kaushik@thenortheasttoday.in. Follow him @kaushikjaibarua
