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Meet 19-year-old Nzanthung M Ezung, a gifted budding music composer, from Sunglup village in Wokha district. Ezung has already earned a title for composing biblical songs for choirs out of which -- “Ayo Nzan” and “Ana Limhae Rolam” -- have been given over to Wokha Town Baptist Church.
Read on to know more about the singer.
Eastern Mirror: Share something about yourself as a musician for readers who are not familiar with you yet.
Nzanthung M Ezung: I am Nzanthung M Ezung, 19-year-old Church music composer from Wokha district, a student of Bailey Baptist College Wokha awaiting my 10+2 result. I started singing when I was five years old and I began to write Church music at the age of 18.
Eastern Mirror: Tell us something about your musical background. When did you realise that you wanted to do music?
I started singing when I was just five years of age. Visiting my neighbours and entertaining them through my singing just to get back some edible things; I earned sticky rice in abundance (laughs). This routine brought me to realise that God blessed me with the talent to sing. Gradually, my singing started from the neighbourhood to Sunday school, from school to Church and then to public gatherings. I joined as a choir member at Wokha Town Baptist Church in 2017 and also started composing Church songs using staff notation when I was 18.
Eastern Mirror: Talk us through your creative process in making music.
Before I started composing songs, I prayed and asked God to give me the strength to handle the music notation in a creativity way. As I started composing, it took months and weeks to complete one song, and so wherever I am, I keep thinking about my ongoing song, so as soon as I remember any melody that comes into my mind, with no time I’ll take my phone to record that sound. And this is how I sum up the songs using the notation into composed songs.
Eastern Mirror: What have you been up to lately as far as music is concerned?
Since I’m presently a choir member of Wokha Town Baptist Church and a music student of Bravo school of music Wokha, it still boosts my musical skills in a required way. Being a choir member, I could feel how Christian hymns give us a joyful heart to live as a good believer. And as a music student, I sing contemporary and gospel country songs.
Eastern Mirror: You have written two songs in your dialect titled “Ayo Nzan” (Mother’s love) and “Ana Limhae Rolam” (The second coming of Christ). Tell us about the songs and the inspiration behind it.
The first song “Ayo Nzan” (Mother’s love) was written and composed when I was 18, took 2 weeks to complete with the full set notation. It consist of 4 stanzas, the first, second and third stanzas talks about our mother’s love giving us full support in every way she can, leading us to a Christian life, her care and love are unconditional, the 4th stanza talks about when our beloved mother dies, it will be grieving days, remembering her love, but having hope that we shall meet her again in heaven through our almighty God.
The second song “Ana Limhae Rolam”(The second coming of Christ) was composed recently, taken out from Matthew, took 40 days to complete. It’s about the second coming of Christ, the angels blowing the trumpets where only the believers will hear the sound, the son second coming will be as similar as during Noah days where the flooding water vanishes the people lives unprepared.
The first song “Mother’s love” was an inspirational song because I have been loved, cared, and led to a Christian life by my mother. The second song ‘The second coming of Christ” is a source of inspirational from the Bible passage, reaching out to the lost souls troubling in some wondering life, through this song.
Eastern Mirror: Why haven’t you written songs for yourself like many other Naga musicians?
I wish to write my own song and release one fine day. Being honest, I don’t have any instrumental materials at home so it gives me a little disappointment to manage to release my own song. Not forgetting, I had composed two songs through a piano app downloaded from the Play Store, and notate app to make the tones suitable.
Eastern Mirror: How do you balance your music with other obligations as a student?
Since I am still a student, I have assignments and other things to do but I manage it according to my daily routine where I have a time table set up and make sure that music and my studies do not clash.
Eastern Mirror: Do you have any other musical projects in the offing
Since, composing biblical songs with staff notation is my hobby, I pray and hope that, if God’s will, maybe after 15-20 years I will have my own composed gospel song book.