‘The Heavy Melodies’ from Shamator wins Sonic Showdown the ultimate band battle

KOHIMA — ‘The Heavy Melodies’ from Government Higher Secondary School, Shamator won the first position of the Sonic Showdown, the ultimate band battle-beat contest for High School and Higher Secondary School Students at RCEMPA in Phezhu Jotsoma on Sep. 26.

The event was organised by the department of Youth Resources and Sports (YRS) and supported by Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA).

The winning band received cash prize of INR 1 Lakh.

The second position was won by ‘Off The Records’ from Hope Academy, Dimapur and received INR 50, 000. While ‘After Life’ from G. Rio School, Kohima secured the third position and received a cash prize of INR 30,000.

Also read: Two-day Nagaland World Music Festival from Nov. 6

Consolation prize winners were The Gears (Model Higher Secondary, Kohima); Sonic Sailor (Mayangnokcha Govt. Hr. Sec School, Mokokchung); LM Stars (LM Higher Secondary School); Escapism (Bethesda Higher Secondary School) and Humble Heights (Government Higher Secondary School Phek) and were awarded with INR 10,000 each.

Chief Engineer PWD (Housing), Hozheto Shikhu who attended the valedictory function as special guest encouraged the students to take advantage of the infrastructure and facilities provided by the government for its citizens. He exhorted the students to discover their talent and acknowledge God in order to make the best use of it.

Shikhu stated that, Nagaland besides being known as the land of festivals, can also be called the land of music and encouraged the students that music itself has a lot of potential to make one grow and become famous while sharing that the richest people in the world are all musicians.

Dr. Hovithal Sothu, Project Director, TaFMA in his short speech informed that ten bands from across the state came forward to compete for the ultimate band battle, beat contest for High School and Higher Secondary School Students.

Furthermore, Dr Sothu said students with talents they can climb the ladders in the music industry and that music can be a full profession.

Chaired by Naroenla, Youth Resources Officer (YRO) the NCS Band gave the opening act, while K3M band that has recently won the Best Regional English Rock Song award at the Clef Music Awards 2025 in Mumbai made a special appearance.