Rhythm of Love: In conversation with Gabriel Changlim

22-year-old Gabriel Changlim is a multitalented musician and vlogger from Tuensang, who has captured the attention of listeners on various social media platforms. The artiste has sung many original songs both in local dialect and English.

Eastern Mirror shares his musical journey in today’s Rhythm of Love.

Eastern Mirror: Could you introduce yourself to our readers and share your musical journey so far?

Gabriel Changlim: I’m Gabriel Changlim, 22 years of age from the Chang community and currently taking a software engineering course in ICTE, Tuensang. Apart from that, I spend the majority of my time at my studio, working with various clients.

It’s been a few years since I started creating songs, which I truly enjoy. I suppose the best way to define my musical journey thus far is “Neutral.” The most exciting part is still to come.

Eastern Mirror: Who was your first musical influence, and what did you learn from them?

Gabriel Changlim: There isn’t just one person, but many of my Gabriel Ministry elders, friends, and huge stars like 1D, Ed Sheeran, and Justin Bieber have influenced me towards music. I pick up on tidbits from everyone’s particular opinions, style, approach, and suggestions, and I implement what seems to work best for me.

Eastern Mirror: Please tell our readers more about your song ‘Welau’ in Chang dialect.

Gabriel Changlim: Life doesn’t stay the same always, and it isn’t the same for all, ups and downs are part of it. I believe failure, discouragement, struggle, rough days and so on are what makes us worthy of living with God in prayer. “Welau” translated as “Prayer” speaks about the reality of our life. Sometimes we give our best but still, we fail, we keep praying and waiting but it takes decades and more, sometimes we feel like we’re all alone with no one to share but after all, our prayer to Him is never in vain because He is faithful. He sees us as we walk all these roads. And I strongly believe that His timing is the best timing to receive what we deserve, as the end of the chorus says. In the end, if we only hang on to Him with prayer in faith, He is our hope and He’ll let us walk through it all.

Eastern Mirror: Since you wrote, composed, and recorded the song “Zilch,” how difficult was it to accomplish it all by yourself?

Gabriel Changlim: I wanted to come up with something unique that I hadn’t tried before, so “Zilch” was born a few days later. It was interesting to try new things, as well as demanding in terms of music arrangement. It took me two nights, but I didn’t realise how quickly time passed. Before I started writing, the word “Nothing” was all that was in my thoughts, and I ended up with “Zilch.” You know, I didn’t like how my own voice sounded in the beginning, so I changed it to something bizarre, but it worked for me. And there you have it!

Eastern Mirror: A favorite original song you’ve released so far?

Gabriel Changlim: For that, I’ll go with “KüSanounyu” (My Love).

Eastern Mirror: Can you recall the moment you thought you could be a musician? What do you think motivates you to continue singing?

Gabriel Changlim: I’ve always liked singing and have been self-conscious about my voice since I was a child. One of my sisters from my colony took me on stage for the first time to sing with her, and several people started to applaud for me to continue. That’s when I realised I could make a small contribution to music. In the year 2015, I was 16 years old when I composed my first song, which I am yet to share. People began to enjoy my small works after I began publishing my raw recorded originals in 2019. That’s how I found out about my current obsession.

Friends, family, and everyone who support my art are without a doubt the driving force behind my desire to continue singing.

Eastern Mirror: If you had to pick between making music and Vlogging, which would you choose?

Gabriel Changlim: It’s 100% Music.

Eastern Mirror: Describe your favorite and least favorite part about being a musician.

Gabriel Changlim: My favourite aspect of being a musician is that there is no age restriction. And having the ability to express thoughts, feelings, moments, or anything else in the shape of melody is simply delightful. And you can bet you’ll be ecstatic and cool when your music is played loudly at a party or somewhere else.

The fact that music is so pricey is my least favourite aspect of being a musician.

Eastern Mirror: What are some challenges that artistes face in Nagaland?

Gabriel Changlim: In my opinion, the fact that the majority chasing western style of music is challenging for most of the Naga artiste, because western music is way too advanced. As I observe, I believe that those western songs shadow our hard work to reach out to a larger audience. A lot of people talk about the platform which is true but lately, I see things changing in this area. And about the platform, I believe it’s about being at the top list in the game, because the platform obviously will need you if that’s the case. And there’s one important thing: consistency, which is where many artistes fail, and where we’re chopping down our own ladder.

Eastern Mirror: What according to you would be the best approach for musicians to adapt to the ever-growing digital music industry?

Gabriel Changlim: As a musician, I believe it is not a huge problem to experiment with as many genres as possible. In this generation, I believe that not staying with one genre but trying to adapt or coming up with the music that the audience are interested in will be a smart concept. One extremely essential issue on which I believe we musicians should concentrate is choosing the music or genre that best suits our personality and character (which is exactly what I’ve been trying to figure out lately). It will help to reflect our uniqueness in a song, which is something that everyone expects from an artist.

Eastern Mirror: What message would you like to send out to the readers?

Gabriel Changlim: Firstly, thank you so much Eastern Mirror for this prodigious opportunity, it means a lot to me. To all the readers, like a plant won’t grow without water, musicians won’t grow without support, so please keep supporting. Lately, I’ve been working with some of my originals which will be out anytime soon, hoping it’ll be pleasing to your ears. Your support will encourage me to keep going and to dig out more of me. Continue to support and know that any piece of advice will be appreciated. God bless you all!