Lounge
Stories of music from Meghalaya
Summary
‘The Songs of Our People’ is an anthology of 19 musicians from Shillong, spanning diverse genresPhotographer Anurag Banerjee has been inspired by two things: the photo-books of photographer Sohrab Hura and New Yorker profiles. In 2009, a year before he left his home in Shillong to pursue a media degree in Pune, he discovered the New Yorker. In 2015, when he began a freelancing career in Mumbai, he came across Hura’s photobook, Life is Elsewhere (2015). The former instilled the curiosity to explore the inner lives of people, and the latter the idea to use books as repositories for his photographs. Both come together in his new self-published work, The Songs of Our People, an anthology of 19 musicians and bands from Meghalaya, representing its contemporary soundscape.
Music is woven into the cultural fabric of the state’s many communities—from the Khasis and the Garos to the Jaintias. “I love what Khasi musician Raison Nongrum said: ‘We don’t know what a chord is, but you give us a guitar and we can play,’" Banerjee shares.
The black-and-white portraits interspersed with landscape photography in colour are a close study of the artists and a peek into the places that shaped them. Most musicians in the book are in their 20s and 30s, and themes of belonging, loss and identity bind them.
Also read: How artists are documenting the everyday moments in women's lives
“I am 32. There is a resonance with young artists and their stories because they are closer to my age," he explains. It spans several genres and communities. Hip-hop and R&B, featuring names like Alphiush G. Marak, Daiaphi Lamare and Mejied Kyrpang, form the bulk of the anthology. This is followed by the blues band Quiet Storm from Jowai from the Jaintia Hills, famous as the winners of the nationwide Band Hunt Competition by Mahindra Blues Festival in 2020. There’s heavy metal musician Nangsan Lyngwa and the state’s local popstar Jessie Lyngdoh.
The book begins with musicians who sing exclusively in their mother tongue—the first chapter is on 25-year-old Garo singer Katta Nisa and the last one is on the Khasi folk music group Ka Sur Na Nongkyndong.
In an interview with Lounge, the photographer talks the process of selecting the musicians for his book, the best places for live music in Shillong, and more. Edited excerpts:
When did you start working on the book?
In 2020, I had a mindset shift. It was a significant year due to the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests. As someone who proudly wore the badge of “a photographer from Mumbai", I began to think about working from Shillong to reclaim my home so to speak. Soon after, the lockdown was announced, and I went back and tried to build a community through my work. The easiest entry point was musicians with their thriving community.
I interviewed three musicians—Mejied Kyrpang, Sambok Mawnai and Daiaphi Lamare—and planned to pitch their profiles (text and portraits) to various magazines. But what followed was a long break due to covid-related challenges. By 2023, I decided to self-publish it as a book.
In the interim years, I had gained experience in bookmaking by self-publishing a photobook, I am Not Here (2022), and working on three commissioned books by designer Payal Khandwala. These made me a better editor too.
How did you fund the book?
In early 2023, I approached the tourism arm of the state government, Meghalayan Age, for a grant. I made an elevator pitch with the three profiles and highlighted my experience with bookmaking. They sanctioned a grant amounting to ₹20 lakh, which included printing, fees for the text editor, proofreader, designer, production assistant and my living costs. I had capped the printing expenses at ₹6 lakh but overshot it by more than ₹2 lakh because it needed better paper. The grant has enabled me to keep the book price low: the cost of printing one copy is around ₹820 while it’s being sold for ₹599. The reason for keeping the price low is to make it accessible to more people.
You worked swiftly—the book was ready in a year. What is your writing process?
I have to give myself a hard deadline to avoid spiralling. My commitment to the grant was that the book would be ready in March. It meant I had to finish writing and shooting in December, complete editing and design it in January and send it for printing in February. I approached it like a job, hired a production assistant to coordinate with the musicians for interviews and shoots.
As far as possible, shoots and interviews were not clubbed together on the same day. The artists laid their hearts bare—some spoke of sexual abuse, losing loved ones and struggles with addiction—and I wanted to stay with the interview to absorb what they said. The interviews weren’t transcribed immediately. I would stay with the thoughts. The following morning, I’d listen to the transcription, go through it multiple times and until it was lunchtime.
Then I’d go for a walk to Dylan’s Cafe from my house (in Shillong). Sit there, have a coffee, stay with this thought, come back home and write. I didn’t do anything except for this for 45 days.
Can you share a little bit about the musicians and how you planned their portraits?
The folk group Ka Sur Na Nongkyndong’s performances are infused with such vibrancy and joy that sometimes it feels like it can bring back the departed. To represent this feeling, their photo (below) is shot under the open sky, against the dreamy backdrop of Lynshing, the village they hail from in the East Khasi Hills.
The interview with Garo musician Katta Nissa revealed he is someone deeply connected with nature, and we made a portrait (top) in the midst of Meghalaya’s bountiful landscape.
There’s Daiaphi Lamare, who goes by the stage name Reble. She raps and is studying to be a civil engineer. In 2020, she rescued many dogs and her portrait is with one of them.
To explore the local music scene of Shillong, which places would you recommend?
Apart from Dylan’s Cafe and The Evening Club, there’s Living Root Cafe, Cloud 9 and Shillong International Centre for Performing Arts and Culture.
