Rhythm of Love: In conversation with Arshilu Ozukum

Arshilu Ozukum is a young independent artiste enthralling listeners with his melodious and versatile songs. He is on a mission to carve a niche for himself in the music industry.

The 24-year-old opens up about his music idols, dream collaborations and much more in today’s Rhythm of Love.

Eastern Mirror: Could you introduce yourself to our readers?

Arshilu Ozukum: Hello, my name is Arshilu Ozukum, I’m from the Ao community from (Yimjen Kimong Village), and I’m currently 24 years old and living at jail colony, Kohima.                      

Eastern Mirror: Tell us a bit about your journey into music.

Arshilu Ozukum: I was once given the opportunity to perform on De White Chilli, and it was after that event that my musical journey began. I used to sing a lot at home but wasn’t very serious about it…it wasn’t until that gig that I became serious about it and decided to make music my full-time job.

Eastern Mirror: What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?

Arshilu Ozukum: I guess for me personally, it will be about the story telling and the melody. I love how music can lift your spirits when you’re down, and how you can jot down your feelings on paper and sing them so others can relate.

Eastern Mirror: Who or what was the inspiration behind your song ‘Last Goodbye’?

Arshilu Ozukum: It’s a little embarrassing but the inspiration for Last Goodbye was my personal experience going through a toxic relationship and having trust issues with an intimate partner. The perfect relationship that we envision with our loved ones can sometimes go wrong and to the extreme until it leads to a dead end where we are left with no option but to bid farewell and part aways, it is indeed heart wrenching to say the last goodbye. If you want to know more details check out my song Last Goodbye the lyrics speak for itself.

Eastern Mirror: What strengths do you have that you believe make you a successful musician?

Arshilu Ozukum: It may come off a bit cheesy but I consider myself to be a hard working and dedicated person when it comes to music… I’m one of those guys who give it their all to achieve my dreams and I’m willing to dedicate my whole life to it…just hoping and praying for better days to come.

Eastern Mirror: What type of musician would you like to collaborate with?

Arshilu Ozukum: If I get a chance to collaborate with someone, then it will be my own friends who are great musicians and artists-  Joshua Shohe, Megh, Kulhu Ringa, Heka yepthomi, Inavito shikhu these are some of my favorite artists  from Nagaland that have made a huge impact on my music.

Eastern Mirror: What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music?

Arshilu Ozukum: Some of the main problems that I had faced personally in the music field will be discrimination and favouritism. I was put it many situations where I never got the opportunity to perform at places just because the other performers had some connections with the higher ups and even if I did get the opportunity the payment was too low compared with the other artists even though I performed more songs than them.. Sometimes we were made to practice more than 30 to 40 songs a day and perform them all and at the end of the day our expenses would be more than what we earned.

Eastern Mirror: Where would you like to perform if given the opportunity?

Arshilu Ozukum: If I was given an opportunity to perform on a higher stage I would love to perform at the Hornbill Festival and Cultural Hall Kohima that will be my biggest dream.

Eastern Mirror: If you could change one thing in Nagaland’s music industry, what would it be?

Arshilu Ozukum: I guess the main problem for most of us struggling artists would be the payment… And not only that

I see many of my fellow brothers and sisters who are really talented struggle to come into the spotlight just because they are from a financially unstable background and have poor connections.

Eastern Mirror: From your perspective what will it take for a musician/artiste to go all in as a full-time musician?

Arshilu Ozukum: The most important thing will be the mindset and dedication..We have to know that we can’t achieve success through one song or even a year or two of hard work…it really takes a lot of patience.. sometimes I even wonder if it’s all worth it and just want to give up when things don’t work out the way I wanted even after all the work, time and money I put into it but we just have to remind ourselves the reason why we started this journey..

Eastern Mirror: What are your interests outside of music?

Arshilu Ozukum: Besides music I really love cooking, playing with ingredients and creating new dishes.

Eastern Mirror: What are you looking forward to in 2022?

Arshilu Ozukum: This year I’m cooking up some new songs and I’m really hoping that this year will be my year, fingers crossed though, just hoping and praying for the best, whatever is God’s plan.