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.
With each having the world class experience in music industry, Colored Keys, a four member team was formed in November 2014. The band through their songs aims to inspire and influence people around them. Adding their originality of composing and writing as one of the USP’s of the band’s progress, Colored Keys have recently released their debut single ‘Always Love You’.
Eastern Mirror: A little intro of ‘Colored Keys’ …….And how it all started.
Colored Keys: Colored Keys is a male band of four individuals with distinctive musical talents from Dimapur.
We based our band’s name on our vision and goals. To be colourful and creative and to inspire and influence people through our music and be Keys to open their dreams.
Before the merger of the band :- Kehodi Yoho, Kehepe Letro, Kenei mepfhiio and Neikuo Khezhie were all associated with different bands and groups. It was their similarities in their taste and style of music that eventually brought them together. The band was officially launched in November 2014 where they did a small concert at Furtados store Dimapur.
Eastern Mirror: Background of your debut single ‘Always Love You’
Colored Keys: ‘Always love you’ was originally written and composed by Neikuo Khezhie. The band was practicing to sing at a wedding when he made them hear the song and from that very moment they started adding parts. The following week they were able to arrange the whole song in their style of music and they went on to record it after few months at Cleff Ensemble Kohima.
Piano accompaniment was Khriesazo Liezietsu.
Eastern Mirror: Each having been experienced the taste of ‘Music’ with the outside world, do you see any differences in the music industry of Nagaland and the outside world.
Colored Keys: There is not much difference as far as talent goes. The fineness is something which the artists here need to pay attention to- performance and attitude.
For any industry to flourish the market is very important and of course the market here is negligible as compared to the outside world and our production houses are very small unlike the outside world where they have good artist management and record labels. Another thing is they have genuine subscribers (fans buy music). We still need a lot of promotion and networking. This is where MTF should step in.
Eastern Mirror: As mentioned in ‘indihut’ about the band’s USP, what do you think is the most important inspiration for musicians when it comes to composing and writing original music.
Colored Keys: To be truly inspired we must learn to trust our instinct and creative empathy. Sometimes you write or compose something, look back over it the next day and you don’t like it at all. We all have that small voice that tells us we’re rubbish and we need to learn how to silence that. Learning to be more honest with your feelings and not getting too critical to yourself is also important. We should spend more time in our own head and of course ‘silence’ is a good friend of writers and composers.
Eastern Mirror: With the band firmly focused into ‘originality’ of a song and each member being involved in music industry for more than a decade, where do you think the Naga musicians stands when it comes to composing and playing originals?
Colored Keys: We are a confused generation. Be it in music or other fields. Identity crisis is on the rise. As we all know Nagas have only been introduced to western music for hardly a handful of decades, talent wise we are really good and fast learners. We have so many creative talented writers who can compete with the rest of the world but on composing originals we are still behind. But on the bright side there are many artists making it big to the international arena. Be it western or tribal. DJ ina Zhimo is one musician worth mentioning.
Eastern Mirror: What is your say on musicians who composes and writes beautiful lyrics but copies the musical tunes of the other world class bands? Don’t you think the beautifully lyrics turns invalid when played or sung with common/copied tunes?
Colored Keys: It’s a rising trend for song writers to lean towards certain tunes or lyrical schemes when their creativity comes into play. Some are intentional plagiarism while others are unintentional subconsciousness that creeps into their artistry when composing due to the influence they get from the music they listen to. It’s a common trait to see modern song writers having familiarity in the tunes or lyrics with some other older songs. eg like Sam Smith,pharell Williams ,katy Perry etc all who are considered to be music giants of our modern generation often find themselves with lawsuits regarding plagiarism.
Plagiarism is illegal and musicians and song writers have to be really careful and mindful that our own artistry has an originality. Yes this topic is a controversial topic as music is music and there is bound to be some similarities.
Eastern Mirror: How do you balance your music with other obligations – mate, children, jobs, etc?
Colored Keys: With or without shows we make sure we meet every week. Staying in touch and meet ups are very important for bands. We discuss songs in advance so that everyone comes with ideas and together we add inputs and do the arrangement. There are times where only two of us are available for the weekly practice. To keep the band functioning even when one or two of the members are busy the rest meet and practice.
Eastern Mirror: Have you shared the stage with any prominent musicians of the world? If so, how was the experience like?
Colored Keys: The band members while singing for different bands and groups like colours, NSA, Zowe madrigal etc have had the privilege to travel in many parts of the world and performed alongside with international singers like Christine Matovich(The American Embassy school) and Bollywood choreographer Shiamak davar.
Apart from the unbelievable feeling that you get singing and performing with them you learn alot from them.
Not just how they talk, walk, dance and sing on stage but how they maintain their composure, how they vocalise, warm up and utilize their artistry on and off stage.
(The fourth member of Coloured Kenei mepfhiio couldn’t be a part of their debut single release.He will be joining for the next project.)
