The Standberg Boden Standard 6 guitar with the D'Addario products. (Photo Courtesy: Arenlong Longkumer)
Kanili Kiho
Dimapur | December 6
Arenlong Longkumer from Nagaland grew up in a home filled with music. He has been playing the guitar since the age of 10 when his father bought him an acoustic guitar and showed him a few chords. It was there that he fell in love with the strings.
Growing up in Alichen under Mokokchung district, a normal day for Arenlong as a child included listening to a lot of music, the vinyl record collection which the family has, to this day. He says that passively built a sort of musical sense, another reason he was able to play the instrument.
Now at 31, Arenlong’s musical prowess has won him numerous accolades not just in the country, but across the globe—the most recent being the International Solo Guitar contest, organized by renowned United Kingdom (UK) guitarist Jack Gardiner in the month of August.
In an online conversation with The Morung Express, Arenlong shares his excitement over owning the NEURAL DSP (the prize), which he really loved. “With a lot of great entries, I did not think I would make it to the top 3 winners’ list,” he adds.
Earlier in the month of May, he also won the ‘Standberg India Guitar Contest’ held online. Considering himself a ‘guitar enthusiast,’ the former band member of INFUSE has taken part in a number of contests in the past few years and won a fair number of times. Arenlong shares that the internet has definitely opened up a whole new portal of opportunity. At the same time, it has also raised the bar so high that one has to really try and catch up to it.
His musical journey started taking shape as he actively took part in the Praise & Worship team at Shillong Ao Baptist Church. He continued performing from there.
It was in the year 2013 that Arenlong began to make the headlines, winning three titles that year – Axe’s Power National Guitar Contest; Best Guitarist for Rock Reign 2013 (his green card to get to play at the Hornbill International Rock Contest); and Best Guitarist at Hornbill International Rock Contest. He also went on to win ‘Hammer’ (an online guitar contest) the following year and ‘Boss Guitar Maestro Contest’ (India) etc.
Like any normal kid, the image of a rock star fantasy was always there, he shares, adding, “Every time I learned a song or play the guitar, there would be an imaginary crowd in the head.” The eldest in the family, the guitar talent however, did not pursue music as a full-time career. He had some responsibilities to shoulder, which also meant giving his education “the top priority,” he states matter-of-factly.
He has an M Phil degree in Linguistics and took up classical guitar lessons till grade 3. However, Arenlong figured it wasn’t his thing, so he went about learning his own way.
Two months ago, he became a part of the D’Addario family, adding another exceptional feather to his cap. Arenlong is the first guitarist from the Northeast states of India to be endorsed by an elite brand – D’Addario, the other being a drummer from Guwahati, Assam. The company is one of the largest manufacturers of musical instrument strings in the world. As he looks back, Arenlong shares how some of his fancy ideas were actually unfolding right in front of his eyes, without him noticing it.
Sense of fulfillment
Success, for Arenlong is ‘a sense of fulfillment,’ no matter how big or small the goal is, with his motive always being ‘try for it.’
“The instruments (prizes) I now own only add to this sense of fulfillment,” he shares, while quipping; “I entered contests for obvious reasons. If I could afford it, I would never have entered so many contests.”
Now done with contests, Arenlong is focusing on songwriting and having his own materials. He adds that though he never really worked on his music career, his love for the instrument never left him. “I’m always glad I learnt how to play.”
On music scene, unemployment
On his views of the music industry in Nagaland, Arenlong shares, “The first thing we need to build is a music community. If that thrives well, industry can grow, in a sense.”
In matters of unemployment among the educated youths including him, he says while there are a lot of factors involved, “one big reason is probably the education system, from what we are fed and taught, while the reality is very different.” He goes on to add, “And in this process, we lose a lot of potential in other fields.”
For him, the “biggest resource you can ever find is yourself. So be resourceful, is the best advice I give myself. Hopefully that can be related to others as well.”
Happily playing the guitar at 31, he is looking forward on “building myself with an open mind, embrace ideas, and look out for inspiration, make mistakes, correct them and live in the moment.”
When it comes to learning, there is no strict routine, he says, adding “I just play when I want to, and sometimes that can go for hours or a few minutes.” While he is not playing, Arenlong loves to paint, discover artistes on YouTube and find new materials to listen.
Arenlong also has good news for the guitar enthusiasts. “So I actually have another endorsement deal,” he states. With everything else set and done, he will soon be announcing it after the products reach him. One can reach him on his Instagram account @arenlong_lkr, Facebook @Arenlong Longkumer and his YouTube channel @Arenlong Longkumer.
