Rhythm of Love: In conversation with Benathung Humtsoe

“Music is too good a thing to be wasted only in expressing the negatives in life and I’d rather be found celebrating the feel goods in life, though the former is also as real as the day. Through my stuffs I try to stay aloof from the shine blockers and the drag-downs of life” conveys Benathung Humtsoe the singer/songwriter of today’s Rhythm of Love.
The upcoming Singer/Singwriter’s inspiration is not only limited to people in the music industry but those who can rise above circumstances and emerge with an unscathed and indomitable spirit. His song “We raise our hands up” proves that this young lad explores the opportunity of his love for music.
His songs are available on Indihut and reverbnation.

Eastern Mirror: Tell us something about your musical background. When did you realize you wanted to do music?
Benathung Humtsoe: From my early schooldays my heroes were the people on the record covers, and I learnt mostly from ear playing and singing along. Yes, I did have people I looked up to in the local music scene too. They played an important role during my formative years. I was also fortunate enough to have close buddies who shared my love for music, and away from school hours, we would just spend long hours fiddling with the guitar and learning how to play like our idols.

Eastern Mirror: What are the genres that you play? Are there any influences behind your interest?
Benathung Humtsoe: People say I sound more country, so I must be Country :-)., however with a rock edge I suppose. I listened to a lot of boyband stuffs while growing up so my works, especially in the vocal arrangements still carries hangovers from that segment of time.

Eastern Mirror: You have participated and won some competitions. Which competition opened doors for you? Do you believe participating competitions favour musicians to receive recognition?
Benathung Humtsoe: Winning in the 4th Music Awards of Nagaland in the Best Alternative/Rock Song category gave me the longest stride I guess. On the matter of gaining recognition, it certainly does whether one wins or loses. Just that, one has to be consistent in order to give back something worthy of the recognition.

Eastern Mirror: Talk us through your song writing process.
Benathung Humtsoe: Songwriting is the most demanding, yet enjoyable and rewarding musical activity. However, this is not to say that, I don’t find myself bumping on the’ writer’s block’. Inspirations can get as elusive at times. If an idea hits me, I would toy it over in my head for the possibilities of creating a rhyme with the succeeding lines, while still retaining the concept. If it works then, I proceed to prune it down to get parallels in the syllable counts and what follows is the melody which are then stowed away in the form of voice memos.

Eastern Mirror: What was the inspiration for you song “We raise our hands up”?
Benathung Humtsoe: The song was originally penned to be performed live during the World AIDS Day 2016. It is a solidarity song, signifying love, concern and care for those affected and infected by the HIV pandemic. The lyrics were inspired by a line from Louis L’Amour, “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning”

Eastern Mirror: How do you get people to take you seriously as a musician?
Benathung Humtsoe: I’m not certain of the last time I attempted to do that. But, yes, as much as possible I try to enjoy doing my performances, because you know, you gotta learn to do that first, or I tell you, you can’t expect people to enjoy something you yourself doesn’t find amusing either.

Eastern Mirror: If you could have one wish instantly granted what would that be for?
Benathung Humtsoe: I would ask for two more wishes – One for you, and the other, for me.

Eastern Mirror: What’s next for you?
Benathung Humtsoe: I’m working on some materials to strike up a full-fledged album or maybe atleast an EP in the coming days.