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Notes from Arunachal

Fingerstyle guitarist and singer-songwriter Taba Chake says he likes to explore performing in different Indian languages

Taba Chake had a fever when he performed recently at BFlat as part of the LVNG tour, presented by RECK, but the audience would never have guessed.

Notes from Arunachal

The 26-year-old fingerstyle guitarist and singer songwriter from Arunachal Pradesh enthralled audiences with his lilting vocals and emotive lyrics, inviting the audience to join in his performance.

Taba, who hails from a small town called Doimukh in Arunachal, has achieved superstar status in his state. There is good reason. He writes songs in various languages, including in his tribal dialect Nyishi, other than Hindi and English.

Notes from Arunachal

“My generation is forgetting their indigenous languages. I am the first musician from Arunachal who started this,” says the soft-spoken Taba in a post-show interview, adding he can speak multiple languages. “These include Assamese and Nepali. I can even sing in Nagamese. That is why I wanted to put out this whole different vibe: most artistes are not doing something of this nature. Assamese is very easy. Every Arunachali speaks Assamese, and we know other languages too,” he says, adding, “Languages in Eastern India are similar. I want to now learn Marathi.”

Taba adds writing lyrics in Nyishi was far more challenging than Hindi and English. “Nyishi is not a language, it is a dialect. It was hard to find the right word for the right meaning. But the reason people relate to my songs is that the lyrics are simple. I don’t put words that are tough, so that everyone can understand, so it becomes relatable.”

He says his inspirations range from nature to tribal folklore. Discussing his creative process, he quips: “Everyone asks me this and I have no answer. I just write my songs, that’s it. It is the same process for any artiste. There is no unique process. It depends on the person too. If you find my songs unique, then they are so.”

He has the same approach to musical styles as he has to language: unfettered and non-judgemental. “I listen to songs from every country — Indonesia, South Korea, China, everything. Sometimes I don’t even know the name of the artiste I listen to. I just listen. Sometimes I don’t even know the name of the songs. I have so many songs on my playlist.”

Taba says he discovered his love for music as a child. “I started writing songs sometime between 2007 and 2008. I used to have a Hindi band back home. We formed it in 2009 and continued performing in 2010 and 2011. We released two songs in 2011. One is called Sun Le Meri. I have touched every genre. Before the Hindi band, I played the guitar and composed for a metal band. I have performed technical metal too.”

Following the break up of the Hindi band, Taba decided to become an independent musician. He has come a long way: from playing in small Mumbai clubs to performing at packed music festivals, such as Ragasthan and Ziro. Taba has mastered the acoustic guitar and his lyric writing too has evolved along the way. His first album Bond With Nature, was released in 2016, his second album Bombay Dreams, released in 2019, is an ode to Mumbai where he moved to last year. “I remember when I came to Mumbai in 2014, I found it impossible because it is a huge city and I hail from a small town. The challenge of negotiating with the city is fascinating. Bombay Dreams took me almost a year-and-a-half to record and release. There were many songs. I removed five songs and then two more later. Later, I wrote two more new songs.” He stresses that every composition is unique. “Bonds with Nature had no instruments. It was just the guitar and vocals. Bombay Dreams, on the other hand, is very different.”

One of the tracks in Bombay Dreams, ‘Shaayad’ has been a huge hit “The success of a song depends on various factors. It first depends on the song, then on how it is marketed and promoted. But Bombay Dreams did not need any promotion. I did nothing to promote it.”

Taba’s music breaks barriers, traverses genres and addresses multiple themes: hope, loneliness, success and even his family life. “It would be accurate to say that my music defies categorisation.”

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