Rhythm of Love: In conversation with Aren Jamir

Aren Jamir who is at present serving as a youth pastor at Kangtsung near Tuli town is also a gifted singer, he made his debut into the music industry with the release of his single “Beautiful with Jesus” recently. His first experience with singing goes back to as early as his class 10th performance when he sang nervously onstage with shivery legs in front of his school and since then he has always kept music close to him. His debut single “Beautiful with Jesus” is a testimony of his self-realization of life’s true richness in Christ The young artist highlights that “Music” is something that the church and the state demands, knowing the fact that it plays a vital role in touching the hearts and souls of the people especially the youths. “ EASTERN MIRROR: How would you like to introduce yourself to those who haven’t heard of you yet..... Aren Jamir: It’s been about a year now since I began my voyage as a Youth Pastor at my own native village which is Kangtsung near Tuli Town. It has been my passion to work with young people. The best part is in discovering their talents, God-given talents, and letting them use it for the glory of God. Besides that I’m a worship leader, a composer and a singer. EASTERN MIRROR: When did you realise music was a passion for you?....Any stories behind your singing career? Aren Jamir: It started recently, when I was in 10th standard. I still remember my first song, singing with my friend Wati on father’s day. I was very nervous, my legs were shivering, but somehow we managed to complete the song. The challenge of singing on that day was a breakthrough for my music career. It took me several other opportunities given the platform to exhibit and prune my skills. My realization of the fact that my heart beats for music became my motivation to work hard. From that day onwards, I started singing as a front man in a band and began to lead worship at Yinsem Fellowship (DABA). In fact, my first music platform started from an unassumingly small Nagamese Church (NGM). EASTERN MIRROR: Being a Youth pastor (as mentioned in indihut) and a musician...what do you think is the role of ‘music’ when it comes to bringing positive changes among the youths of the state. Aren Jamir: “Music” is something that Church and State demands, knowing the fact that it plays a vital role in touching the hearts and souls of the people especially the youths. We can clearly see that different organisations opt for Music as a means to give awareness on Drugs/Alcohol/ HIV/AIDS and so forth. The impact can be very much positive as the turn-ups is always tremendous when it comes to music-based programs. In the near future, I believe that music will take higher role to reach out to the young people because it does not have any barriers. It connects directly with their hearts. Looking backon past decades, Naga artists have jumped from good to excellence in the field of music. Currently, there are some prominent artists whom I know and they are serious about bringing change through their meaningful songs and I’m thankful to them. I personally feel that music should be for a cause, it should speak louder than the words. I include myself in saying that, “It is important to promote professional music like other well known artists in the rest of the world but we should not forget to let our heart speak through it”. This is why we need to let the heart write the song. My debut single “Beautiful with Jesus” comes as a testimony to my self-realization of life’s true richness in Christ. Like any other fledgling youth, I thought life as a Christian would be fun-less boring life. Instead, life in Christ brought out the most beautiful side of life in me. Every word and melody of the song is meant to express my delight of a life full in Christ. : Basically I focus more on tune and the message of the song. I’ve noticed that the first thing that most of the listeners would like to hear is catchy tunes and then lyrics. Reflections from my own experience is something nobody else can write for me. And that part of the song is where I feel belongs with the song rather than just writing on some other things, which is still equally important. You might have noticed that my lyrics are rather simple and easy to understand. If that so, I’m glad about it. : There is no particular influence as such. Everyday we listen to different tastes of music but only some gives significant flavour to the heart. In this regard I would give credit to some well known artists like John Mayer, Steven Curtis, Israel Houghton, Chris Tomlin and the like.