Alobo Naga & The Band Win Best Indian Act At MTV Europe Music Awards

Alobo Naga & The Band. Photo: Betoka Swu

Pop rock singer Alobo Naga couldn’t be busier. He’s currently working on his debut album as his manager is busy working out touring dates for his band. “It’s amazing considering we are just two years old. We are performing at Shillong Autumn Festival next weekend. Then we have four concerts in Singapore, a pre-Christmas concert with Avial in Delhi and we’ll be playing at Hornbill as guest artists,” says the frontman of his five-piece Nagaland act, Alobo Naga & The Band.

The band’s music video “Painted Dreams” recently won the Best Indian Act at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA). The other nominees in this category included Indus Creed for their track “Fireflies,” Bandish Projekt and Monica Dogra’s “Lover,” Oliver Sean’s “So Good” and Menwhopause for “Easy.” Alobo Naga’s video with its straight plot was an unlikely hit and features the band jamming on a terrace along the lines of Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ 2011 release “The Adventures of Raindance Maggie”[closer home, it’s similar to Bombay Bassment’s “Hip Hop (Never Be The Same)” minus the girls dancing]. Naga adds that their video was made for YouTube. “Not many bands make videos and most of them look at YouTube to get noticed. When our song was picked by VH1, we were like ”˜Wow’. God has been working so amazingly for us,” he says. Soon enough, “Painted Dreams” featured at No 4 on VH1 India’s Top 10 International Countdown and was even voted among Top 50 music videos of 2011. “We wrote the song for the first International Short Film Festival 2011 in Guwahati. They asked me to write something on a man who dreams big and I thought, ”˜Hey, that’s my story’ and wrote it,” he says of “Painted Dreams.” 

The ample branding of a national mobile phone network as well as clothing brands, Naga adds, was unintentional. “We have never shot a video before, so we didn’t realize. It was made with the help of our friends and we aren’t professionals except for our cameraman. It’s only when people asked us whether the brands had paid us that we realized what we had done,” he says.
The recording of the song too was no easy task. “We recorded the audio for the song at my home studio. Since we didn’t have a soundproof room, I recorded my vocals inside a Godrej almirah! I went inside with my condenser and mic. It’s really hot in Dimapur,” he adds.

The band is currently working on its debut album, slated to be released in December. “We are still working on the songs. Most of them revolve around Christian values or social issues. I’ve just finished writing a track on female infanticide and anti abortion called “Let Her Live” which will be part of our album,” he says, adding, “We plan to release another music video next month, so the fans can look out for that.”

For now, the Naga band is hoping that fans continue to support them by voting for them. “Even winning for India is great, we could have never imagined that, but it will be great to go there and perform,” he says.

To vote for the band, click here 

Watch Alobo Naga & The Band’S “Painted Dreams”: