Blues under the harvest moon: Why Arunachali music is trending

Arunachali musicians are preserving their tribal heritage for the new gen by jazzing up age-old folk songs 

This year’s Nyokum Yullo, the harvest festival of Arunachal Pradesh’s Nyishi tribe, began with a bang on February 17 in East Kameng district’s Seppa, and went on for the next nine days. While the daytime celebrations were marked by the performance of ancient tribal rituals, the evenings were filled with modern music. David Angu and The Tribe, one of the foremost musical bands of Arunachal, brought the house down with their performance. Other singers from the State — Delong Padung, Chorun Mugli, among others — who combine elements of modern Western music with tribal folk, gave the audience a much-needed break from the grimness of the pandemic.

Arunachali music is trending these days, with singers regularly getting featured on RollingStone India. The younger generation seems hooked on the new brand of music that mixes diverse musical traditions with traditional folk songs.

YouTube hits

A few weeks before Nyokum Yullo, I had talked music, culture and life with David Angu in an Itanagar café. Born in Aalo in West Siang district, Angu first picked up the guitar when he was in Class II. By the time he was in Class VI, he had formed his first band, Megawatt, which was all heavy metal. But when Angu created David Angu and The Tribe in 2018, he circled back to music that’s close to his Galo tribal roots. How did the switch happen? “When I was in college in Shillong, listening to Galo songs would leave me homesick,” he says. Realising its worth anew, he wanted to preserve the music.

His band’s most popular song, ‘Ho Delo’, with more than 392,000 views on YouTube, is a rendition of an ancient folk song, with a bluesy touch to it. Angu says that the song is about “not forgetting one’s roots, where your forefathers came from, your culture, and to ensure that you visit your villages.”

He wants to popularise Arunachali music in India and among the younger generation of the State. Adding diverse styles to traditional music can be the way ahead, he says, citing the example of Arunachali singer-songwriter Chorun Mugli, whose song, ‘Kala Kala’, in his native Nyishi language, has over a million views on YouTube. ‘Kala Kala’ is almost the unofficial State anthem now, a staple of house parties and picnics where karaoke sessions are a must.

Ancient melodies