The sound of music from the North-East

“We Mizo people have a song language filled with metaphors, but now there is a preference for casual language,” he says, adding that he weaves in folklore too, explaining the reference in Siali to a paradise-like place, “Buannel”, from Mizo folktales.

H.O.M is one of the acts to watch out for at this year’s Ziro Festival (26-29 September). Held in the scenic Ziro Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, the festival platforms the diversity of the region’s indigenous music alongside indie talent from India and abroad. But it isn’t the only platform to spotlight the vast independent music scene of the region.

In the last six years, there has been a shift as new restobars began to host live gigs. There’s Shillong’s The Evening Club, Guwahati’s The Maroon Room and Itanagar’s 13 Old Spirit, to name a few. While music and cultural festivals are an annual affair, the restobars keep the music alive through the year.

From ground Ziro

In 2011, Delhi-based alternative rock brand Menwhopause were touring the North-East and landed in Arunachal’s capital, Itanagar. The show’s organiser, Bobby Hano, invited them to his hometown Ziro, with its acres of paddy fields, gentle rolling hills and forests with ancient trees.

It was then that band member Anup Kutty and Hano discussed starting an independent music festival in the North-East. Kutty drew from his experience of touring in the US and Europe, including the Austin-based alternative film and music festival South by South West (SXSW). “In the North-East, we noticed a gap between what’s happening there compared to elsewhere,” Kutty says.

While the electronic dance music festival Sunburn had launched in Goa in 2007, the multi-genre music festival NH7 had started in Pune in 2010 and Blue Frog was the buzziest live gig venue in Mumbai of the 2000s, the immense diversity of the North-East’s music had little space. “The intention was to have one stage for musicians to perform for an audience from all over the world. As the festival evolved, it started getting interest from international bands and got a more global outlook. But even now, after all these years, we make it a point to curate bands from all states of the North-East.”

This year, the line-up features the alternative rock group Solace Her from Manipur, punk-rock and pop band G Force from Sikkim, and Tripura’s folk artist Sadagar Debbarma, who is in his 90s and is known for his baul music. From other parts of India, there are vanguards of Indian music like Delhi’s Parikrama and Mumbai’s Kailash Kher and his band, Kailasa.

From 150 attendees (including performers) in 2012, Ziro’s first year, the festival has grown to more than 12,000 in 2023. It has since partnered with British Council, Embassy of Israel and Institut Français to bring in global acts. This year, the international performers include electronic music group Bottlesmoker from Indonesia, psychedelic rock group Hollow Ship from Sweden and Paradise Molam Bangkok International Band from Thailand–a Thai band will be at Ziro for the first time. The best way to take it all in is to lie outstretched on grass and gaze at the clear blue sky as live music envelops you.

Many musical influences

Music from the North-East is not a monolith, says Kutty. Every community—and there are more than 100—has a unique musical identity.

Each state is influenced by religious and cultural affinities. “Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram have gifted musicians with strong vocals because they’ve been singing in the church for generations. They sing western compositions to the accompaniment of piano and guitar. In Assam, regional songs celebrating the harvest festival of Bihu dominate,” says Ananda Barsaikia, a talent manager from Guwahati. In Arunachal and Assam, Bollywood is an overarching influence. In Tripura, there is a Bengali touch with baul music.

Even within states, there are musical pluralities. “Meghalaya, for instance, has three main regions—Khasi hills, Jaintia hills and Garo hills—each with a distinct sound. Khasi hills has a bubbling rap scene, Jaintia hills has a rich reggae culture, while Garo hills leans towards anthem and pop rock. Shillong with its long lineage of rock, metal and blues is a confluence of everything,” says independent photographer Anurag Banerjee who wrote the book The Songs of Our People, an anthology of musicians of Meghalaya.

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The Evening Club in Shillong. (Photo by Anurag Banerjee)

YouTube has been pivotal in giving a sense of place. Contemporary Bihu singer Abhishruti Bezbaruah, 37, expertly uses the video format to showcase the region, culture and instruments. “I began noticing that every video of a Bihu song followed the same format,” she says.

Typically, women dancers sway under trees with men playing musical instruments. To take a different approach, her 2016 release, Roi Roi Roti, blended sounds of weaving, birdsong and traditional musical instruments with her mellifluous voice. The video—which captured the Bihu festival in a new light with a weaver on the loom and Bezbaruah’s contemporary styling of the mekhela-sador—has 5.6 million views on YouTube.

One of her new releases is Dighloti Dighor Paat with traditional musical instruments of Assam’s Rabha community. In another video, Roi Roi Roti is done in sign language. Her focus on Assam’s indigenous musical instruments make her videos micro-documentaries encompassing song and dance. “I want to strike the right balance between modernity and tradition,” she says over phone from Guwahati.

Beyond the festivals

While Ziro Festival has grown, it isn’t necessarily true that the music scene in the region has expanded too. “It’s limited to small circles within communities,” says Kutty, giving the example of H.O.M, who is one of the most popular artists in Mizoram but is relatively unknown outside the state. When Kutty’s team contacted him, he hadn’t heard about Ziro Festival.

Arunachali rapper Kekho Thiamkho, who goes by stage name K4 Kekho, is best known for the hard-hitting, viral number I am an Indian, which tackles racism. In 2018, K4 Kekho was at Ziro Festival and had a magnetic hold on the audience. He was then relatively unknown but over time, his star has risen and two years ago, he rapped the theme song of Varun Dhawan-starrer Bhediya, set in Arunachal.

Bollywood means commercial success and being able to sing, write and speak Hindi helps. From Assam, there’s the legendary Bhupen Hazarika and recent stars include Papon and Zubeen Garg. Bezbaruah was part of the sound design teams for Ra One and English Vinglish. Kutty points to Arunachali guitarist and singer Taba Chake as a breakthrough artist. His debut performance at Ziro Festival in 2014 had an audience of a few hundred. He drew thousands last year.

The 31-year-old sings in Hindi, English, Assamese and Nyishi (the dialect of his tribe). Last November, he sang Aye Mere Dil for the Pankaj Tripathi-starrer Kadak Singh (2023). “While songwriting, I start with Hindi, but if I feel a certain melody works better in English or Nyishi, I switch languages,” says Chake. He believes Arunachal has benefitted from the “import-export of music”, whether through the Ziro Festival, YouTube videos or breaking into Bollywood.

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