N.B. Nair
Moa Subong from India’s north-eastern Nagaland is a musician with a difference. He made Naga tribal music popular, with the creation of an innovative genre blending modern English music. Moa also created two new instruments – Bamhum, and Tizkzik, both using bamboo.
Bamhum is a simple wind instrument made from one of the sturdiest bamboo. It is a durable, medium-sized, flute-like bamboo instrument, handmade by Moa. The name Bamhum is derived from the two words – bamboo and humming.
“The mechanism of Bamhum is totally different from the flute, which is one of the most difficult musical instruments to play. Bamhum is simple and can be played instantly. Depending on individual skills, it may take some time to master it without much of training; one has to simply hum a tune into the hum hole that produces a melodic tune,” Moa told Inspirational India. Bamhum was handmade by Moa to support his wife Arenla Subong’s style of singing. It takes six to seven months to finetune the instrument.
“The guitar, violin, and piano sounded too Western. This prompted me to develop an instrument with an indigenous sound that could be played instantly. And that’s how the Bumhum was born, through many rounds of trials and errors.”
Another exciting innovation by Moa is Tizkzik – a percussion instrument, resembling a drum that does not drown the music produced by all other instruments. It produces four distinct sounds.
Moa and his wife Arenla, whom he met as a teenager, formed their band called Abiogenesis in 1991. Initially, they were playing rock music. The word Abiogenesis means the original evolution of life or living organisms from inorganic or inanimate substances.
“We wanted to create a fusion music of Naga and modern and started playing in public since 2005,” he explained. Since then, a lot of people got fascinated by it and started playing it, including Indian bands like Parikrama. Many musical groups in India and abroad have since bought it from Moa.
The player can use Bamhum as the lead instrument or in accompaniment with other instruments. It blends with other musical instruments for any genre of music. It can be used from right to left or left to right or even top to down or vice versa.
Arenla is a vocalist and taught music to youngsters at a cultural centre. Together with her, Moa improvised and contemporized traditional music and songs.
Moa said Bumhum has helped preserve and reinvent Naga tradition and folklore. “The original sound produced by Bamhum has brought about a huge change in how Abiogenesis sounds today. It blends with the Howey style and makes our music stand out.”
“Each song or music explains untold stories of Nagaland. It is not only entertaining but also a learning experience. Our exploration and experimentation resulted in evolving a new form of world music called Howey music,” said Moa. Howey is a fusion of Naga and other Indian folk music with various forms of modern rhythm.
Abiogenesis has performed in seven countries besides India – Finland, Estonia, Thailand, Russia, Bhutan, Tunisia, and Myanmar. They also had an exclusive performance for Bhutan’s Royal family in 2011 and 160 diplomatic representatives at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai in the same year.
Moa Subong’s contribution to preserving Naga tribal music and its fusion with modern has been recognised by the Government of India and conferred the fourth highest civilian award – Padma Shri in 2023. He was also the recipient of the National Biennial Grassroots Innovation Award in 2017. In 2007, their album ‘Aeon Spell was pre-nominated in the 50th Grammy Awards in the Best Contemporary World Music Album of the Year.
Married for 44 years, Moa-Arenla couple has three sons and eight grandchildren. While Moa plays Guitar, Bamhum, Harmonica, and Tikzik, his wife is the vocalist in the band and lead player of Bamhum.
Images/Video/Music Courtesy: Moa Subong