Rhythm of Love: In conversation with Toxic Peace

‘Toxic Peace,’ a progressive four member rock band is one of the leading bands in Mon district.
The band formed in the year 2002 when only a handful of musicians were existent in the region.
Though the band in their earlier years had no proper platform to expose their talent, their passion for music helped them achieve their dream.
The band in-tune with rock genre also loves to incorporate folk music in their songs and over the years has won several awards and has performed at various national level concerts.
Toxic Peace shares their interesting journey of success towards fulfilling their ‘Hobby and Passion.’

Eastern Mirror: Tell us about your band’s musical evolution. How did you guys meet?
Toxic Peace: The four of us grew up together in a small town – Mon , where there were only a handful of musicians those days and our love for music brought us closer, and Toxic Peace as a full fledged band took birth in the year 2002……..Just as we have grown over the years , our journey as a band has also been an interesting one . From practicing in broken down garages, to performing on big stages; from being deprived of platforms to perform then, to organizing events for younger bands now; from trying to build our own power speakers to owning our own sound system today; from singing covers to playing our own songs… it’s been a very incredible experience…

EM: How best would you describe your music to all people who are new to ‘Toxic Peace’?
TP: Though we play a lot of different genres from classical to hard rock, Progressive Fusion Rock would be the closest description. Our songs are generally easy to listen to and are entertaining, with little touches of different genres taking part in each song.

EM: Do you think it’s more difficult for groups to succeed in the music industry?
TP: We may not be able to give a fair comment on this because Toxic Peace as a band is not a full time professional band. It has been more of a hobby and passion for us and we have ended up being Government employees. But we do believe that, be it a band or a solo artist, if there is determination and hard work, there is equal opportunity to success.

EM: What is the chemistry like amongst you all? Do you have clashes when it comes to your different taste for music genre?
TP: As mentioned earlier, we are more of friends than just band-mates. And in the first place, our love for similar kind of music brought us together as a band… so our chemistry is pretty strong, personally as well as musically..

EM: With each musical genre having its own position, do you think many do not value folk music and are the present generations misguided about folk music?
TP: Not everyone has the same taste for music, so it is understandable that not many follow or play folk music. What we believe is that our culture is very rich and it needs to be explored, promoted and preserved. Having said that, Toxic Peace scratches just the surface of Folk Music.

EM: What is your main source of inspiration when you compose music, talk us through your song writing process?
TP: We write mostly about social and political issues prevalent in our society today. In fact, that is how the name “Toxic Peace” came about.
As far as our song writing is concerned, there is no fixed pattern; it usually is team work that involves contribution from each one of us.

EM: Do you believe that in Nagaland’s competitions are the only platforms for music lovers, is it the only place they are accepted?
TP: In general, Yes. Competitions and beat contests still remains the only platform for many bands in most places in Nagaland.

EM: With quite a good number of awards in your fold, tell us which one has been the most treasured and why?
TP: The awards that we have won so far, whether big or small, each one of them has been an important milestone in our humble journey as a band. Every performance has been a great learning opportunity.

EM: Three issues that you guys strongly feel about the music scenario in Nagaland
TP: -People in our part of the world are naturally inclined towards music. We need to encourage younger generations to consider music as a career/profession, and more than just a hobby.
– Aspiring musicians need more platforms and avenues to explore and realize their potential
– Local musicians and artists deserve more appreciation and support from our own people.

EM: What can we expect from you guys by the end of this year? Any upcoming projects?
TP: We organized “HARMONY”, an Interschool Beat Contest at Mon last year which was very encouraging and inspiring as well. So, apart from few gigs, we are gearing up for the second edition coming up in the month of October.