Ambong, a project band from Mokokchung found its name from the Ao word, ‘Ambong’ meaning warfront warrior. The band was conceived in 2018 when four like-minded musicians of different bands came together to preserve their love for music.
The band members currently consist of: former Infuse members, Imtisanen Jamir on vocals and Shilumeren Jamir on drums; former Mannequin bassist, Aren M Jamir, and the instrumental artist, Nukshirenba Jamir on guitars.
After winning the ‘Battle of the Bands’ and ‘best guitarist’ award in Musik-A festival held in Chumukedima in February 2022, the band expressed the victory as their ‘greatest blessing’ yet.
“We are all grateful that our hard work paid off, not only by winning ‘Battle of the Bands’ but we also won the best guitarist title. All these have been quite motivating for us and are inspiring us to do better both as a band and even individually in terms of improving our music skills,” Sanen, the front man said.
Speaking about their original singles, the band admitted that they are already working on it but it will take time. “It will take some time for our originals to be released as we are planning to come up with music videos as well.”
The band hails from the town of Mokokchung where music transcended barriers of age and gender. However, currently, the waves of music have simmered down in the town and what’s left is reminiscing about the old glory days.
When asked about their opinion as to why the music scene in Mokokchung dwindled in the past few years, they responded that it is mostly because music is used as ‘free gigs’ and not as a means to obtain a career.
“Musicians are not regarded as paid professionals but rather are used for free gigs. This really discourages the young and upcoming talents from pursuing music.”
Sharing their opinion on what they wish the society could do to revive music in Mokokchung, they hoped that the society makes use of those talents as a resource.
“The society should make use of those talented artists as a resource and help people see that there can be a career in music too,” they concluded.