Music is something the world would be lost without! We feel it, we breathe it, we love it! Eastern Mirror’s – Rhythm of Love- connects our readers to music through conversation with artists as they share their experience with their love …… MUSIC
Music moves us, opens our emotions – passing all barriers. Music is a piece that we can all connect to so Readers get connected with your favorite artists every Friday with Rhythm of Love.
Exciting Nagaland with their inspirational A Capella music, N Frens, a group of 10 music lovers from different parts of Dimapur is one of the few Acapella bands to shake up the Naga music scene with the fun music genre that many are unfamiliar with. With awesome experiences touring around Mokokchung districts on their bikes, not only enthralling the crowds but also spreading the gospel through their music, these young men come from Changtongya, Khar, Lirmen, Longjang, Mongsenyimti, Waromong and Yajang village of Mokokchung district have made a name for themselves.
Eastern Mirror: A little introduction about your group. How and when it was formed.
_N Frenz: ‘_N Frenz’ as we are called started in the year 2005, with 10 of us music lovers consisting of Manen Pongen, Lanuwapang Aier, Achet Jamir, Salang Ozukum, Alem Longchar, Lanu Longchar, Imkongwati, Lanutoshi Aier, Imchungyanger and Kalong. Our story dates back a decade ago when we joined the Dimapur Ao Baptist Arogo (DABA) Youth Choir for the inauguration of DABA in Duncan. Our first opportunity was a performance of ‘male voice’ at Duncan Youth Fellowship, DABA.
Since then there was no looking back for us, with opportunities knocking at our door we continued to perform in countless churches, ministries and social gatherings and finally in 2012 we were christened officially as ‘_N Frenz’.
Eastern Mirror: Did you set out to create a specific sound, or are you just doing the music you love? What/who are your collective musical influences?
_N Frenz: We do music that we love. As a group of 10 members we all have our own influences, which also adds to our individual advantages as it always leaves room for each one of us to put our hand on something new, which we haven’t tried.
Eastern Mirror: What kind of music do you think the band mostly focuses on? Gospel music or contemporary music?
_N Frenz: We sing both Contemporary and Gospel music.
Eastern Mirror: Have any of the band members undergone any kind of formal vocal training prior to the formation of the band?
_N Frenz: ‘No’, none of the members have undergone any formal education in music. But few of our members have attended vocational music training conducted by our church (Dimapur Ao Baptist Arogo).
Eastern Mirror: How do you rate the overall music scene of Nagaland as compared with the rest of the world?
_N Frenz: Nagas are music lovers by birth. But on the context of rating musical standards on an international level, we are still young and trying to find an identity. Over the past decade, music in our state has taken a major role and we hope it will continue to grow.
Eastern Mirror: What has been your overall experience over these past few years being an A cappella band which is not very common in Nagaland?
_N Frenz: Playing what we love has been a blessing for us, as music has been with us since before we could remember. We ‘_N Frenz’ do not consider ourselves as a professional band because we love music as a team. But our journey has been magnificent and we are privileged to be one among the few A capella bands in Nagaland, which we are very proud of. And we hope that the youngsters will understand A capella and appreciate the music that we do and follow suit.
Eastern Mirror: How much of your own arranging do you do while composing songs and tunes?
_N Frenz: We sing mostly cover songs, so we don’t have a song of our own though we do all arrangements.
Eastern Mirror: Any words of advice for the young upcoming music lovers who wish to walk in your footsteps?
_N Frenz: ‘Stay Positive’, ‘Avoid Drugs’, stay free from HIV. Do what you love, stay humble and be positive in life.
