Candid conversation with Tetseo Sisters - Mercy, Azi, Kuku and Lulu

Music has always been rife and rich in the northeastern corner of India. The legendary Bhupen Hazarika and Lou Majao from the days of yore to contemporary favorites like ‘Soulmate’ and ‘Boomarang’, the lush greens of the North East has consistently produced music that is synonymous with brilliance.

The last decade however, has witnessed its widespread recognition and assimilation in the mainland of the Indian subcontinent, thanks to many upcoming musicians from the region. Among the forerunners of this league of young and ambitious musicians endorsing Northeast India’s music, the Tetseo Sisters have carved quite a niche for themselves. This quartet of four sisters from the Nagaland is devoted to the tradition of vocal folk music of the state. An ‘a cappella’ style of singing combined with storytelling, and the occasional use of one-stringed instrument tati or heka libuh (mithun horn), their compositions are mostly lores on Nagaland. It’s little wonder that they named their debut album ‘Li’, which means ‘songs of the people’.

The Tetseo Sisters - Mütsevelü (Mercy), Azine (Azi), Kuvelü (Kuku) and Alüne (Lulu) caught up with Jim Ankan Deka and spoke about their music, their inspirations aspirations, and their album Li: Chapter one - The Beginning.

Tetseo Sisters

Jim: Tetseo Sisters! One of the most popular female bands from Nagaland. With over 7000 fans on Facebook, hundreds of views of your YouTube videos every week and hundreds of live shows, how does it feel?

Tetseo Sisters: It has been a long but fruitful journey. We wake up every morning with renewed faith and enthusiasm to continue doing what we love to do. We love it…..the whole lot. There is no high like the high you get while performing on stage and getting warm applause at the end of each song.

We feel truly blessed to be a part of the current music scene. What we do is more than music. It is also about preserving and promoting Nagaland’s art & culture and fashion and creativity; and presenting “our best” to the audience every single time we get up or sit down to perform. The most rewarding thing about what we do is the constant learning process, meeting new people and wonderful personalities while sharing our music and also getting a chance to display our Naga culture and helping dispel the myths and negative impressions people have about our Land. We often have elders telling us how happy they are to see us keeping the old songs alive and how proud they are of us; and sometimes very young people walk up to us and tell us we inspire them. Such experiences are so humbling and at the same time a huge morale boost, making it worth all the extra pains and the effort.

Jim: Tell us little about Tetseo Sisters – the band. Like how did it start, when did it start, who were involved?

Tetseo Sisters: We hardly think of ourselves as a band but we have been singing together for as far as we can remember, right from our childhood. We are best known as the Folk singing sisters but we like to project ourselves as modern Naga artistes who are equally at ease performing Western Music and Naga Li, and doing great in both. We belong to the generation of change and adaptation and have coped pretty well, growing with the times and yet embracing our cultural heritage and identity.

We are four sisters and a brother and though you would often see us in twos or threes at shows, we try to perform together as a foursome whenever possible. The girls play “tati”, “bamboo drums” and “khro-khro” (gourd tamborine) and Mhaseve plays the guitar, keyboards and do the music arrangements. We started singing early on in the 90s but made maximum stage appearances in the early 2000s till date. We have appeared often on Doordarshan and performed to exclusive gatherings of State heads, distinguished guests, tourists and at private events; and also at many Concerts/Youth Fests/Cultural Festivals across the country and abroad. Our parents were the driving forces behind us all along and they continue to inspire and push us to do better everyday.

Jim: Your music is different compared to many other groups like you. How do you define your music?

Tetseo Sisters: Our music is simple, melodious and harmonic, focusing on vocals and involves oral presentation of stories. Our performances call for some translation as we sing mostly in the Chokri dialect and there is some storytelling and sharing too. We call our ‘Li’ the ‘songs of the people’ not just to catch attention but because they are truly the songs of the people.

Li documents and records the stories and lives of our people, their dreams, aspirations, joys, sorrows, hopes and the happenings of daily life. We have great stage chemistry and our costumes add a lot of drama and color and for all the hard work that goes into it, our audiences love our shows and performances calling it very unique and enjoyable. Our western music performances are fun and we try to bring across a simple selection of covers of enjoyable popular hits, our playlist is carefully put together keeping our audience in mind.

Tetseo Sisters

Jim: ‘Li : Chapter one - The Beginning’ is your debut album. What paved way for it?

Tetseo Sisters: Li : Chapter One is a result of more than 15 years of performing Li and a dream to put our efforts to bring out a visible product. We have tried to showcase a sample of Li that we have been singing over the years. The album has 12 tracks, all sung in Chokri dialect of the Chakhesang Nagas: a track for each month and a Christmas Li to top it all. Love songs, odes to women’s beauty, a lamentation, a lullaby, work songs and dueling duets make up the album. There are thousands of Li and choosing just 12 was not easy and we are very satisfied with the result. The feedback has been very positive and encouraging. People have loved it and want more.

Jim: Apart from music what interests the four sisters – Mercy, Azi, Kuku and Lulu?

Tetseo Sisters: Mercy and Kuku share a love for writing and blogging while Azi is quite the design diva as she loves playing with clothes, accessories and make-up when not tending to her newborn son, our darling little nephew. Lulu and Mercy love reading, surfing the net and watching movies. Kuku loves trekking, bike rides, painting and visiting new places. We are all fond of art, fashion - clothes, shoes and jewelry and dressing up for fun, photography, travelling, reading, shopping, cooking and trying out new cuisines.

We are just four simple girls enjoying the beauty of being alive and making the most of life with our loved and dear ones by God’s grace.

Jim: Do you think singing Traditional Folk Songs will give you the international mileage that you need at a time when people are more interested in rock, hip-hop or pop music? What do you think of the present music scenario?

Tetseo Sisters: There will always be fans for each genre of music. No kind of music is inferior or superior and tastes are as unique as the individuals who enjoy a certain type of music. Every generation thinks his or her time was the best and we also think we are in a very good period as far as opportunities and creativity is concerned. For instance, the worldwide web has made the world very small and has made accessibility to all kinds of music very easy. Everything is only a click away, including recognition and success. So visibility is also much more. The only setback is that this also means ‘clever marketing’ will make one more famous than real talent.

The world is always hungry for fresh tunes, talent and something special and ‘Li’ is all that. People say the language we sing in can be a deterrent to our success but we feel that everyone appreciates good music and language will never be a barrier if the music is great. The present music scenario has loads of talent, immense creativity and very competitive.

We also listen to a lot of different types of music since all of us have different tastes and many different artistes from around the world inspire us.

Tetseo Sisters at Williamnagar, Simsam, 2012

Jim: If any other group of musicians would like to follow your path, what would be your advice?

Tetseo Sisters: Our only advice is “do try and be the best you can be in whatever you do”. We are perfectionists in what we do so we keep doing our homework and it is hard and sometimes frustrating, but striving to be as professional as we can get is a reward in itself. A job well done is always fulfilling and we try to give our 100% every time.

Jim: What are your future plans? Any collaboration with other musicians?

Tetseo Sisters: Our plans are many. We are working on a couple of music projects of our own and also collaborating with other personalities. Collaborations are very exciting and we look forward to working with other artistes who believe in us and respect our work. We just did a Christmas single with Alobo Naga and launched it on YouTube. There is a docu-film by Anuska and Iswar called “Uramili” of which we are a part of, awaiting release. We have a few other projects under wraps as of now and more International appearances soon. A Christmas album, Folk-fusion album and Chapter Two are on their way.

We will continue singing, writing, updating and interacting with people via Facebook and our website www.tetseosisters.com and prepare for more performances, while engaging in art, photography and fashion whenever the opportunity arises.

Follow Tetseo Sisters on Facebook and Reverbnation. 
(Edited by Parmita Borah) 

Candid conversation with Eric Mouquet - frontman of Grammy Award winning Deep Forest

French duo Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez from the Grammy Award winning ‘Deep Forest’ are all set to perform in Bangalore. World music and Electronica enthusiasts can watch them live at The Deep India Concert on December 13, 2012 at Vivanta by Taj (6.30 PM onwards). Deep Forest is celebrated in the world music scene for fusing ethnic music with dance and chill-out beats. Their albums have sold over 10 million copies and they are also the recipients of the World Music Awards - French group with the highest 1995 world sales.

Eric Mouquet and Parmita Borah (© Jim Ankan Deka)

We managed to catch hold of the charming Eric Mouquet, a day before his performance at Vivanta by Taj, Bangalore, and spoke about his two decades long musical journey and his collaboration with Indian musician Rahul Sharma; and dig this – made him sing a Hindi song! Here’s an excerpt of our brief yet fun filled conversation –

Parmita Borah: It’s been twenty years that you’ve been associated with the music industry. How has your journey been?

Eric Mouquet: It’s been fantastic and adventerous. I didn’t imagine when we began, that we would come this far. I consider myself very lucky because I continue to travel, meet musicians, do shows and concerts. The beauty of this whole journey is that you get to meet new people and always have the inspiration to make new projects. So it’s been an amazing adventure.

Eric Mouquet of Deep Forest (© Jim Ankan Deka)

PB: When we say ‘electronica’, mostly trance and mash ups come to mind; and there’s ‘ethnic eletronica’ which seems to have folk elements.

EM: It’s hard to say. When I was a teenager, electronica was preferred, it wasn’t dance at all, it was ambient music. Today it’s all about club and dance. I think every generation has it’s own taste (laughs). For me electronica is a way to use the synthesizer, and the sequencer and a way to compose music using technical things like sampling, analog and digital sounds. Ofcourse, trance is a part of it, and we will play trance at our performace tomorrow, but the scope of electronica is much wider than that.

PB: Of all your global collaborations, you’ve have recently collaborated with Indian musician Rahul Sharma. Tel us something about that.

EM: To be honest, I didn’t know Rahul Sharma before this project. Sony Music asked me to listen to Rahul Sharma’s Santoor works, it’s a very beautiful instrument and Rahul’s a very good musician. It’s always easy to work with a good musician because we speak the same language. Our project is supported by Vivanta by Taj, and therefore we will be performing in Bangalore and Coorg.

Eric Mouquet and Parmita Borah (© Jim Ankan)

PB: About your association with Vivanta by Taj, would you like to tell us something about that?

EM: Actually Rahul was in Vivanta by Taj, Madikere. There he recorded some nature sound effects, drum beats and vocals and sent them for me to get a feel of the place. Later we worked on the sounds, wrote a song and now we have a song called Viva Madikere, inspired by the beauty of the land.

PB: Did he teach you any Hindi song?

EM: None as yet.

I broke into the song ‘Pyaar Huwa Ikraar Huwa’ from Shree 420, and Eric Mouquet pretty much got it right at his second attempt, making me his first Hindi Teacher! Deep Forest will be performing on December 13, 2012 at Vivanta by Taj, 6.30 PM onwards. Catch them live at The Deep India Concert if you want to kick start your weekend in a cool way.

- by Parmita Borah

Candid chat with 2Blue - the lead singer of Zedde

Truly reminiscent of a rock star, his awe-inspiring stage presence is always met with thunderous applause and gorgeous ladies swarming around him like bees. And, despite being a lighthearted conversationalist, and what I’d like to describe as a ‘fun guy’, 2Blue is a true blue musician with viable love and dedication towards music. Along with his Mumbai based band Zedde (one of India’s leading Rock bands), 2Blue is committed to making original music that rocks the worlds of many.

2Blue talks about his band, Zedde, his upcoming album with the band, his connection with North East India, and holy cow – his wacky name …

2Blue - lead singer, Zedde

Q.   Zedde – fan base from all around the globe, more than 5000 likes on Facebook and counting and many prestigious awards. How does it feel? 

2Blue: It sure feels good to have a growing fan base and the awards. But an artist needs to live in the present and not bask too much in past glory. While Facebook likes and fancy awards may put his name out there, they should not be used as a certification of his talent... because there will always be many out there with far more talent and far less luck. The funny thing is: the vice versa is equally true. Switch on a radio or a television set and you will see what I saying (winks).

Q.  What is the connection between Zedde and North-East India?

2Blue: I was born and raised in Agartala, Tripura. Two of my friends from Guwahati, Assam — Akashdeep Gogoi and Deepu Saikia — handle bass playing duties for the band depending on their availability. So that’s one half of the band with its roots in the North-East.

Q.  2Blue! Very unusual name.  What is the story behind?  We would also like to know your alternate name, if any.

2Blue: Here are a few other ‘unusual’ names: Skrillex, Bono, The Edge, Sting, Eminem, 2Pac, Slash and Babul Supriyo. Just wait till I get famous enough for ‘2Blue’ to sound really cool (laughs out loud). Okay, on a serious note, Tublu is a very common pet name amongst the Bengali community that I come from. I just like its alphanumeric incarnation better. Had this article been for a business magazine, you would have been addressing me as... wait for it... Tirthankar Poddar. You can now laugh all you want (smiles).

Q.     Vayu to Zedde. How did it happen?

2Blue: All things come with an expiry date, no matter how good (or bad) they are. So soon after the Vayu album ‘Wings Of A Dream’ was released, Zedde was founded. One phone call was all it took. Guitar player Claver Menezes, who was at the other end of the line, readily agreed to come onboard. That’s how the nucleus of the band was formed.

Q.     Tell us something about Zedde’s members and the gears they use.

Claver Menezes - guitarist, Zedde

2Blue: Zedde (pronounced zēd) is essentially a 4-piece rock band featuring Claver Menezes on guitars, Akashdeep Gogoi (and sometimes Deepu Saikia) on bass as mentioned earlier, and Trevor Berchman on drums. While each member of the band keeps upgrading their gear, the last time I checked, Claver used Ibanez guitars with Tech 21 Liverpool Distortion, Tech 21 DLA, Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, and a Boss GT8 processor. Of course I can’t resist the urge to mention the Makita drill machine he uses on our recent single ‘Blame It On Her Youth (The Electric Drill Song)’ which is now available for free download on our website www.ZeddeLIVE.in (smiles sheepishly). Akash has way too many bass guitars to mention: right from a 6-string Ibanez SR3006 and a 5-string Fender Jazz, to a headless Steinberger and a Asbory rubber bass. His choice of pedals includes (but is not restricted to): Boss Super Octave, Boss Bass Equalizer, Hartke Bass Attack, and EBS Micro Bass II. Trevor is a fan of all things Zildjian. When recording in the studio, he likes his Yamaha and/or Roland virtual drums. When touring with the band, he settles for whatever the event organizer has the budget for (laughs out loud). When it comes to my personal favourite, I like to use a Shure SM58 cordless along with a Boss Digital Delay pedal. And of course, I like my megaphone (smiles again).

Q.     What/who inspired you to create your milestone project ‘Mumbai’? How did you promote it?

If you pay attention to the lyrics, you’ll see it’s about taking the “one-way train” to the city with “just a bag of dreams”, “knocking the doors”, “chasing the sun”, “until she hears your silent screams”. Then “she puts her wings around you”, “takes away your crown of thorns”, “nurses your wounds”, “washes you clean”, and “saves you from the howling storm”. So in more ways than one, it is the story of my life... of the small town boy who moved to the city for a better tomorrow. How did we promote it? Well, the initial plan was to debut the song at the erstwhile south-Mumbai night club (Not Just) Jazz By The Bay on Saturday, November 29, 2008. Then all hell broke loose on Wednesday, November 26. The city bled for days. Innocent lives were lost. It was no time to celebrate music. So we cancelled the show. Then on November 26 the following year, the music video for ‘Mumbai’ debuted on VH1. It may not be the fanciest thing you’ve watched on TV but it managed to climb to #1 position on the YouTube India charts within 24 hours of upload. It sure has emotions that run deep.

Q.   The new Zedde CD is currently being recorded. What would be the name? Any collaboration with any other musician or band?

2Blue: We have 10 original songs that have been tried and tested at several venues across the country. As soon as we have a couple of more songs that all members of the band are happy with, we will start knocking a few doors again (smiles). We haven’t settled on a name yet, and since this is going to be our first full length album, I think it is best we exploit the band’s intrinsic talent pool to create it so we can grow organically.

Q.   Are you satisfied with the present music scenario of India? Do you want the industry people and the Government of India to change anything?

Claver & 2Blue, Zedde

2Blue: The music scenario in India is definitely a lot more promising now than it used to be say about 10 years back. The focus has shifted to originality and in spite of the steep uphill climb, a lot of self-respecting musicians have embraced the Do-It-Yourself model. Musicians today are not afraid to be their own publicists, producers, distributors, and managers amongst other things. The success stories are quite a few. But the thing about success is that when some milestones are met, a whole new world of ambitious milestones gets created. So some more support and appreciation from mainstream media would help motivate, spur, and channelize creative efforts. Another thing I would like to mention is the lack of adequate attention for the ‘artistic middleclass’. Music companies, promoters, journalist et al are all busy promoting either fresh talent or iconic acts, with brazen lack of concern for those that don’t fit into these extremes. Let the aforementioned people be reminded that it is the artistic middleclass that connects with its audience at a very personal level. It is the artistic middleclass that builds long lasting relationships with their fans and supporters via social media and intimate club concerts. Fresh talent does not have that luxury while iconic acts have way too much going on to maintain that personal touch. So the artistic middle class is what brands and music business people need to take more interest in to push the right kind of marketing communication out to their target audience. As far as the role of the government goes, cultural exchanges beyond the realm of domestic pastures should be encouraged more vehemently. Entertainment taxes should be made more reasonable too. 

Q.   If a new band or a singer wants to follow the footsteps of Zedde and 2Blue, what will be your advice? 

2Blue: I am not sure if I would make an ideal role model but I sure have had my share of good and bad times to know that it’s a brutal world out there. But if you are armed with talent, passion, ambition, and faith, nothing can stop you. So follow your heart. You stand to lose way too much if you don’t.

Follow Zedde on Facebook, Reverbnation and Youtube

- Jim Ankan Deka

Candid Conversation With Joi Barua

 (Click on the play button above to listen to the interview)

Singing sensation Joi Baruah may be a new name in Assam, but he certainly has been a sought after vocal talent in the world of ad jingles and has worked with some of the most renowned music directors of Bollywood. Parmita Borah finds out about his debut Assamese album ‘Looking out of the Window’, his inspirations, and his journey as a musician.

Parmita Borah: Welcome to EF News International. 

Joi Baura: Thank you for having me over, Parmita

PB: Let me start with your debut album, “Looking out of the Window”. Weren’t you nervous about introducing Rock Music to Assamese lyrics? 

JB: No. I was not nervous at all about introducing rock to Assamese music.

PB: Quite confident out there... 

JB: Yeah, Assam as a place, and the North East as a whole is a curios mix of folk and rock, for many different reasons. So I knew this would go in very smooth.

PB: What inspired your debut album? 

JB: There were a couple of experiences in the sense, I was wanting to do original music for a long time. I was making tunes, and I was making melodies in Mumbai, then the day came when we were clear on my language. It was my own language and we decided that you best express your stories in your own language. That was kind of a turning point in this album when we decided to do this in Assamese. At the same time I was coming out of a huge personal loss, I lost my brother in law, who had been kind of a mentor and a guru for me. Bothe these reasons, together combined, kind of went into the making of the music and making the album.

PB: The song tejimola has a great piano solo. Do you want to tell us something about it? 

JB: On piano we had a friend of ours, Litton, who is featured on this song. He’s a part of a band and a very good Assamese musician and a very good pianist. So, we kept him in mind while doing the song and it was handed over to him, he kind of composed a rough scratch around some sketchy vocals that I had sent. Keeping in mind the mood and the melody, he came around a nice, very effective solo that it was. It’s not that we wanted to create a great piece of music, it’s just came in very naturally with the sequence of things that he was working. And I guess, that’s the reason it stands out because he wasn’t trying too hard-he just understood the song and he tried to do justice to the lyrics and the story behind the song, and that manifested in the solo turning out really nice.

PB: Who wrote the music and who wrote the lyrics for the album? 

JB: In terms of music, I composed the songs for the album. I arranged the music and later sat down for additional arrangement. The overall programming has been done by Pawan Rasaily, my friend on guitars. So I’ve been responsible for the musical content that’s the melody and the arrangement. I wrote some of the scratch lyrics myself, but then I sat down with my friend Ibson Lal Baruah, who is very well versed in the Assamese language. I expressed my scratch lyrics and my plans to him and he took the whole thing much forward than I had intended. But songs like Tejimola and Tumi were written entirely by him.

PB: Joi, you have had a long stint with ad jingles. How long ago was that? 

JB: (laughs) I still work on ad jingles by the way.

PB: *blush* *blush* (Embarrassed!) So you do plan to continue on that note as well... 

JB: Yeah, as and when it’s interesting I’ll do. I started working in jingles way back in 2003 when I had landed in Mumbai. That happened suddenly, I was working on a film called Khakee with music by Ram Sampath (Ram Sampath is one of India’s best know ad guys). He heard my voice on the soundtrack of the film and immediately called me for a jingle that he was doing for Sunfeast cookies. I kind of hit it off well with him and that in turn led into me being tried out by other music directors. That has resulted in a lot of jingle work coming in my way and that’s where I learnt a lot of the music that I do.

PB: What about your work in Assam? 

JB: My work in Assam has begun with my album. I’ve never worked in Assam before, in any capacity. My professional life began in Mumbai. So the album, in ways, has endeared itself to the Assamese people and the land. Post the launch of the album, there is this one song that I sang for a mobile theatre, called Kihidki. I’ve sung the title track for them and done an acoustic version as well. So apart from my album there is this song that I’ve been involved greatly in Assam so far. I just planning a few things here and there, let’s see how it goes.

PB: So for an Assamese singer, your journey has been the other way round. People start from Assam, go to jingles and Bollywood. For you it has been the reverse direction. Why is that so? 

JB: Life takes you around the way it wants to take you around. Things happen. I think the most practical reason being I went looking for work in Mumbai, I never looked for work in Assam. I was a student there and I was part of a band and we played in various college festivals. I looked for a career in music in Mumbai. That being the practical reason I got work in Mumbai. I’ve lived for the past few years in Mumbai and then I decided to do something in my own language, and that has taken me back home.

PB: Joi, what has influenced you as a musician? 

JB: My Dad gave me a violin when I was very young. I didn’t know that I would love music, but I got a violin when I was very young and that kind of triggered something, an understanding of the instrument, of the way it could mend itself to various moods. That’s number one. My principal in school was also a very strong influence on me. She encouraged me. Those were two inspiring instances, besides, people, who would kind of give me a reason of why to sing. Secondly, I used to listen to a lot of music, when I was growing up, in the radio and some records that my dad had. I realized early on that I have a deep passion for music and I didn’t know what to do with it because I was primarily drawn to the western music scenario, mostly rock and stuff like that. So I didn’t know if I could make an effective career in India, but yes, it was the only passion that I had and the only thing that I could be really good at, I think.

The Snappy Round

PB: So I am going to ask you a couple of quick questions and you have to answer me in one or two words.

JB: Sure

PB: Who is your favourite vocalist? 

JB: It would be Sting.

PB: Who’s your favourite band? 

JB: Sting, Maiden and Beatles.

PB: What kind of music do you hate? 

JB: I hate very sugary Pop.

PB: Pick one- jingles or movies? 

JB: One at a time

PB: Playback or live performance? 

JB: They are different things. Cannot be compared

PB: Thank you very much for joining us.

JB: Thank you for having me over

PB: And we look forward to seeing you perform live, as well as more albums on their way. 

JB: Thank you so much Parmita.

Candid Conversation With Kalpana Patowary

 (Click on the play button above to listen to the interview)

She’s an Assamese lassie who sings in Bhojpuri. When most musicians vie for contemporary forms of music, Kalpana Patowary headed in the direction of folk and has established herself as a sought after Folk Music vocalist of our time. Parmita Borah talks to the lady herself about her rendezvous with music.

Parmita Borah: Although you’re from Assam, you have voiced more songs in Bhojpuri language. What inspired you? 

Kalpana Patowary: Frankly speaking, being from Assam, we Assamese artists have a very dangerous ‘accent’ problem. Even I face it. However, much before me, Dr. Bhupen Hazarika paved the way when he made a traditional Assamese wedding song into a Bhojpuri song (bursts into as song by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika). People like Dr. Bhupen Hazarika made it large even with Bhojpuri songs. Similarly, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was from Rajasthan but took on Assamese music and gave a new direction to it. So they have all inspired me. 

PB: You’ve mentioned that Assamese artists have trouble with the accent. So when it comes to mastering the ability to sing in Bhojpuri and getting accepted by the Bhojpuri people themselves, was it a challenge for you? 

KP:If some tells you to write in Gujrati or Bhojpuri out of the blue, you will face a problem. Be it the literature perspective or grammatical, it’s bound to be a challenge. But I simply went with the flow. Currently I am singing in 23 different languages, somehow Bhojpuri clicked. I don’t know how. 

PB: It’s destiny... 

KP: Yeah. I am doing a research, a thesis sort of work on the legacy of Bhikhari Thakur. He is like Assam’s Dr. Bhupen Hazarika or Bengal’s Rabindra Nath Tagore. Bhikhari Thakur is a personality of that category. About hundreds of years ago, during the British Raj, a lot of people from UP and Bihar were taken out as labourers, to places like West Indies, Trinidad, Tobago and Fiji. Now, I’ve been called by the Government on West Indies because the people over there want to their roots, their musical roots. They know that they are basically from UP and Bihar, but don’t know much beyond that. It’s an irony that an Assamese girl will introduce them to their own roots. It’s actually very interesting. 

PB: Tell us something about you upcoming album Mai-re. 

KP: Mai-re is a Hindi album. About three-four years back, when I began to taste success, there was also a vacuum forming inside me simultaneously. I was searching for something inexplicable, that search led to Mai-re. The emptiness that was around despite the rush around me, that’s Mai-re. The whole world, its global warming and its negativity, everything that’s going on, Mai-re is all about that. 

PB: Let’s talk about JUNOON…..Kuchh Kar Dikhaane Ka. The show shot you to nationwide fame. How was the experience? 

KP: Thrilling! It was a where I discovered more of myself. Basically I was called for the UP/Bihar group. “Maati Ke Laal” was its name. But I spoke to the production team, that being from Assam; I wanted to show the Assamese folk as well. Finally I managed to represent UP/Bihar and Assam. Assamese music was widely accepted and liked on the show. 

PB: You made quite a splash with Billo Barber and Khatta Meetha. Are you planning to focus entirely on Bollywood? 

KP: Bollywood is not that important for me now. Work keeps coming and going, but I am not concentrating only on Bollywood. 

PB: Northeast has many talented singers and musicians. Do you think they have been successful on a national level? 

KP: Ofcourse, Northeast guys are very talented-not just musicians, but technicians as well. But somehow we lack a certain fighting spirit and the will to promote ourselves. It’s not possible to survive only on talent- one has to market herself/himself properly. The mindset that that we are from Northeast, we are backward is very negative and we need to lose that to succeed. 

PB: I was about to ask you for a message for aspiring musicians, but you’ve already covered that. I’d like you to leave a message for our readers now. 

KP: Explore yourself. The world of music is very interesting. Don’t restrict yourself, shed your inhibitions and get out of your comfort zones. Music has only one language and that is the language of feelings 

PB: Thank you so much for joining us.

KP: Thank you.