Awards, citations and accolades are not new to independent artiste Alobo Naga. At the recent 6^th edition of the Artist Aloud Music Awards, Alobo Naga walked away with three awards - Best Song for Chasing Ghosts, Best English Song for Wolo and Best Artiste from North East India.

A lot of music bands from the Northeast have made their mark on the national music scene and Alobo Naga and the Band is one of them. This band has wowed audiences not only in India, but abroad too. Winner of 2012 Best Indian Act at the MTV European music awards ceremony, their song Painted Dreams went up to No.4 spot at the International Top 10 charts on Vh1 and was successively announced as one of the top 50 videos of 2011 by the music channel.

Making music since 2010, Alobo and his band have followers all over the country and are a must see act at music festivals.

Verus Ferreira managed to catch up with the lead vocalist of the band who is from the Sumi tribe of the vibrant hilly state of Nagaland, for a short chat into what makes him one of the most sought after artiste in the country.

So going back in time, how did your foray into music begin?

I started music very early, by the age of 5; I was singing and performing and started writing songs by 11. I was so much into music, but was never encouraged to take it as a career. So like any other Naga kid, I pursued my studies, finished my Masters in Political Science from Delhi University, Post graduate in Tourism Management from IITTM Delhi and went back home.I started working, but I did not find any joy in what I was doing. So in 2008, I quit my job and started preparing myself for music, that’s where my journey began, and still travelling and chasing towards my dream….

So how did you prepare yourself for getting into music?

After quitting my job, I went into formal training, enrolled into Hope Centre of Excellence (Music Academy). I was training under NiseMeruno, brand ambassador for Yamaha piano and AKG microphones, and I passed my Grade 8 under him. Later I started learning under other teachers like Christine Matovich and many others.In 2012 I appeared and passed my Licentiate in Music Performance in Contemporary Vocals (LRSL) under Rock School London. I was fortunate enough to be the first one to do so in contemporary vocals.

That’s great. So tell us the journey then.

Yes I started my journey as a solo artiste and I still do so. In 2011, after my first album was released I invited around 70 different artistes to share the stage with me for a concert. I got stuck with 4 brilliant musicians and we continued playing for a few more shows and ended up forming a band. So basically my solo act is pop and I get to show my other side – rock, through the band. Initially it was a 5 pieceband, but now we are only 4 members.The 4 of us are fixed like fevicol (Laughs). There’s Fung Walling who plays the bass, David Sunaron drums and Lima Mongrowho plays the guitar. I play the keys and we all sing, but we also collaborate with different producers and DJ’s. All of us have different taste in music, but we always met somewhere in the middle to compromise initially, but the moment we found our genre, the music that we want to make, it became very easy to communicate.

What music did you guys jam to at that time?

There were so many, DNCE, Incubus, Walk the Moon, Maroon 5, Coldplay. Our band is into contemporary pop rock; it’s a mixture of rock, pop, funk and electro, but I guess the love for the band ‘Incubus’ got us all together. We were like a tribute band for Incubus, initially doing mostly their covers. Our friendship took hold of the band and we are still together. Thankfully we are blessed with amazing musicians and human beings to be part of the family. And we are still going strong by the Grace of God.

Did your family, your parents play any role in your musical upbringing?

Yes I am so blessed to have amazing parents, siblings and relatives, who have been supporting me till today. My mom used to sing when she was young; my dad taught me 3 guitar chords when I was growing up. My family members have been my strength from the beginning till today.

You have released two albums; can you tell us something aboutthem?

My debut album ‘Road of a Thousand Dreams’ was released on 27^th February2010. But after the formation of my band I was not focusing on my solo career. But in 2016, I thought of venturing back to the pop genre, so I started working with a producer from Germany, MOTO and after 16 months, we came up with my second album ‘Kini’. I am currently working on my third album.

What is ‘Kini’ about?

‘Kini’ in Sumi Naga means 2, and since this is my second album, there is a song called Number No.2. It’s a mixture of chill pop, soul, EDM and acoustic – Pop in a nutshell. The album also has a song for the Bollywood film ‘October’, with the track Never let you go’.The production team wanted an English dance track for a party scene in the movie, fortunately the producer of the movie Ronnie Lahiri heard my album, and approached me to use my song for the film. How could I say No …the rest is history.

Your song Painted Dreams was selected as the Theme Song for the prestigious International Short Film Festival 2011 held in Guwahati.  Can you tell us something about it?

I participated in a singing competition in Guwahati where I met Pritish. After I won the competition he approached me and asked me to compose the theme song for the International Short Film Festival 2011. I went back home and our band came up with a song titled Painted Dreams.We sent it to him but he didn’t favor it, so we had to compose another song with the same title. This time it was selected. The original Painted dreams song was later renamed as Color my world.

In 2012 after the Delhi gang rape case you composed two songs Let Her Live and All we have is now. Can you tell us what made you write these songs?

Yes in 2012 we came up with a song Let her Live, to create awareness about the importance of women and to show our support to all the women in India, and at the same time educating the mass about the importance and worth of a woman and their safety. All we have is now was more of a political song, where we wrote about our frustration of the way the world was going; corruption, nepotism and injustice.

There is an obvious emphasis on social and political commentary in your songs, any reason for this?

I feel we all have a responsibility and role to play in the society and community building. So I try to contribute and do my part in my own small way through my songs and music by spreading awareness and positive messages.

How has the response to your live performance in other cities compared to your hometown or neighboring cities and internationally been?

I have been blessed when it comes to live performances. To be honest, I get better response outside my hometown. Maybe it’s because of the Internet today; people can listen to your music from any part of the world. Maybe because of my genre which is contemporary, so far the response has been great internationally.

You are also actively involved in social work and do a lot of charity in your hometown Nagaland. Comment.

Yes I am philanthropist trying to contribute in my own capacity over the years and I am also the ambassador for Swachh Bharat for Nagaland.

Now many young girls would want to know…. if you have a girlfriend?

(Blushes) Nope

Any new music videos?

Yes, my new single My pomegranate girl will be out next month.

How have you been spending your time during the lockdown?

Music, bible, family time, friends and farming.

Have you been interacting with you fans during the lockdown ? Any virtual concerts done so far?

Yes I did couple of virtual concerts, but now I have stopped for sometime. But planning for an online paid gig with my band. A real concert with lights, stage, LEDs, but virtual, something new and exciting.

What latest music have you released since Come Back Home?

I did release couple of singles like Kikimiye le, The last train, Together we can (song on Corona), Choro Kapi, Ningu Kumtsu (all of us) and couple of covers. You can check them out on my YouTube channel.

Have you done any work for Bollywood anytime?

No unfortunately the music from the movie “October” was my last Bollywood venture.

We’ll surely do that, so lastly what can we expect next from you?

Unfortunately most of our tours and gigs were cancelled because of the pandemic. But working on my solo album and also our band ANTB is working on our next EP, so probably it will be out by this year and we will start with our tour once the situation is normal.

 Interviewed by Verus Ferreira