Temjen Yanger
KOHIMA, JUNE 23: Kohima may not be the ultimate proving ground for musicians like Nippon Budokan in Japan but it sure was the place to be on for any music lover at the celebration of World Music Day (WMD).
Of the talented artists lined up to perform for the evening were The Wishess from Imphal, Manipur.
Performing in Kohima for the third time, The Wishess, Winner of Shirock 2017 and 1st NE Multimedia campaign 2019 held in Kohima, the progressive rock band based out of Imphal, Manipur didn’t disappoint concert goers as they performed their original If I Could fly.
“The song was penned during the pandemic. Everyone was stuck at home for the past two years due to the pandemic and we thought of writing a song that’d lift everyone’s soul and spirit”, Bishi said.
The Wishess further followed up with their mesmerizing act with Your Way, one of the songs that won them the 1st NE Multimedia Campaign 2019. As a prelude to their stellar performance, Bishi said, “This song is all about your dream and what you want to do in life. You’re going to achieve anything if your heart decides to, don’t listen to anyone.”
This was followed by their rendition of Kodaline’s All I want and received a great response.
Speaking to Nagaland Page after their performance, Bishi informed that the band was formed in 2010.
“We started out as a metal band, and along the way we’ve experimented a lot. Eventually, we took the decision to focus more on melody so that people can reach out to us”, he said.
Bishi also shared that the band had gone through lots of changes in the band’s line up and only two original members are in the band. The Rock act out of Imphal now has Bishi on vocals, Lammingou Kipgen on Bass, Bona So on rhythm Guitars, Chingkhei on drums and Izzy Naw on lead guitars, Bishi informed. .
“The reason why we named our band The Wishess is because we fulfill someone’s wish. Whatever you dream, whatever you want from music we’ll fulfill that”, Bishi added.
Queried on how The Wishess as a band feels about its future considering the initiatives taken by the State Government, Bishi said, “We’ve got lots of hope now, because even in Manipur and Mizoram, a lot of promoters have come. The promoters don’t care about what language a band sings in. If the song is good, they are ready to promote us. For example, we are here for the third time in Kohima.”
Sharing the band’s overall thought on music, Bishi said that music for us is a universal language. Music brings people together and that’s why we are into music. The band is from Manipur but we are performing in Nagaland, that’s what music is all about, Bishi added. (Page News Service)
