From left: Sonam Sherpa, Among Jamir and Derek Julien during the press conference held at Niathu Resort, Dimapur on December 4. (Morung photo)
The judges of International Hornbill Rock Contest, 2018 interacted with a section of the press on Tuesday at Niathu Resort, Dimapur. Sonam Sherpa is a founding member of India's oldest rock band- Parikrama. He is the lead guitarist and composer for the band. He was also voted amongst the top 10 guitarist by Rolling Stones. For Sonam, who hails from Kalimpong, Darjeeling and having witnessed Hornbill Festival earlier, he says, “Coming to Hornbill Festival is like a homecoming.” He is hopeful that the rock contest would be a tough one to judge and that there would be a high level of competition and quality. Parikrama did opening acts for bands like Porcupine Tree, Megadeth, Nazareth, and toured extensively in UK with Iron Maiden. Parikrama was also featured in Download Festival at Donington Park, which is the world’s biggest festival for Heavy Metal and shared the stage with names like Lamb of God, Evanescence, killswitch Engage etc. Sonam is a passionate music educator and is the Director of Parikrama School of Music since 2003. Among Jamir is a professional musician from Nagaland and is currently, the official bass player of one of the country's biggest music director, producer and composer- Pritam. He is known for his work with the Indian Rock band Agnee, where he was part of the band for six years. He has recorded, performed and toured across genres with many artists, bands and TV shows around the globe over a period of 12 years as a professional bass player. Among said that one of the reasons why Naga musicians were not known much at the mainstream was due to being culture centric and remaining complacent in their own comfort zones. “This complacency makes Nagas difficult to play with others. Most of our musicians are Youtube and Instagram stars but we do not see mainstream stars,” he pointed. Among said that Naga people need to go out and ready themselves to struggle and explore ways to appropriately fit themselves. Derek Julien is a popular Indian musician who simply loved music at a very young age. “I discovered the British band, the Shadows. I was totally mesmerised by the sound of Hank Marvin’s guitar -the tone, the effect and the beautiful melodic lines. I was sold. I wanted to be a guitar player,” he said. Derek said that his first professional band was the Mystiks which he described it as a “great band” for its day. After that, the band, Waterfront forever changed his approach to music and opened a new musical vista for him. “This is my yardstick to this day,” he added. He considers Azure Hades as the last band that influenced his musical direction and said that the band contained intense instrumental material with unusual melodic content. “Now my greatest joy is playing, mostly jamming really, with an absolutely varied bunch of ‘cats’, some of them excellent players, most of them about half my age,” said Derek who has crossed 50 years.Morung Express News
