Nagaland Bands: 10 Acts Behind the State's Music Boom

Nagaland bands and artists to know in 2026, from Trance Effect, Abdon Mech and the Tetseo Sisters to Alobo Naga, Moko Koza and metal acts.

Trance Effect became the first Naga act to play Lollapalooza India in January 2026, ThePrint reported.
Alobo Naga and The Band won Best Indian Act at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards with Painted Dreams, according to Rolling Stone India.
Nagaland set up a Music Task Force in 2013, which became the Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA) in 2019, chaired by musician Theja Meru.
A. R. Rahman inaugurated Nagaland's Centre of Excellence for Music and Arts on 1 December 2024.
The Nagaland Chamber Choir won two gold medals at the 12th World Choir Games in Gangneung, South Korea, according to ThePrint.

The Nagaland bands and artists to know in 2026 are Trance Effect, Abdon Mech, the Tetseo Sisters, Alobo Naga and The Band, Moko Koza, guitarist Imnainla Jamir, the Howey pioneers Abiogenesis, the metal bands Diatribe and VERSION2, and the Nagaland Chamber Choir. Between them they cover pop rock, folk, rap, metal and choral music, and several have played Lollapalooza India, the MTV Europe Music Awards and international festivals. This list explains who each act is, what they are known for and where Nagaland's music scene is heading.

Key facts

Trance Effect became the first Naga act to play Lollapalooza India in January 2026, ThePrint reported.
Alobo Naga and The Band won Best Indian Act at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards with Painted Dreams, according to Rolling Stone India.
Nagaland set up a Music Task Force in 2013, which became the Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA) in 2019, chaired by musician Theja Meru.
A. R. Rahman inaugurated Nagaland's Centre of Excellence for Music and Arts on 1 December 2024.
The Nagaland Chamber Choir won two gold medals at the 12th World Choir Games in Gangneung, South Korea, according to ThePrint.

Why Nagaland's music scene is growing

Nagaland has long been known for music, but in April 2026 ThePrint described a "structural shift" in the scene. What was once dominated by cover culture and small gigs, it reported, is being reshaped by original music, local demand, private labels and state support. Singer-songwriter Abdon Mech put it simply: "Nagaland always had good artists, but what has shifted in the last five years or so is the audience coming on board."

The state helped build that base. ThePrint reports that the Music Task Force formed in 2013 under Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio was expanded and renamed TaFMA in 2019, with Theja Meru as chair. Rahman, who first came to the Hornbill Festival as chief guest in 2019, inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Music and Arts in 2024 and returned in December 2025 to announce the Naga International Studio. Kohima hosted the 4th Asia Music Summit in 2024, and Spotify held a Spotify Night at the 2025 Hornbill Music Festival.

The road is still hard. ThePrint notes that Nagaland has essentially one concert-grade venue, Unity Plaza at Kisama, with room for about 7,000 people, and that the state's alcohol prohibition law shuts the state out of the alcohol-brand money behind many Indian festivals. Trance Effect guitarist Temsujungba Jamir recalled, "there are times when I have played in gigs just for fried rice."

For the wider region, see our guide to Northeast India bands and artists.

1. Trance Effect

Genre: pop rock
Formed: 2017, according to Wikipedia
Known for: More Love, Clowns, Come Together

Trance Effect started when vocalist Iuli Yeptho put a band together for an inter-college competition, ThePrint reports, and the current line-up came together in 2018. Their 2020 EP Clowns won the Editor's Choice award for Best EP/Album at the Indian Music Diaries Awards 2021, and the song Clowns won Song of the Year and Best Music Video at the 2021 MG Music Awards, according to Wikipedia.

The band's 2026 has been a breakthrough. On 25 January they played Lollapalooza India in Mumbai, the first Naga act at the festival, and closed with More Love, Morung Express reported. They then opened for Def Leppard in Shillong on 25 March. Their international shows are managed by the Korean label Sound Puzzle, which signed them after they reached the final 32 of more than 900 entries from 58 countries at the Gwangju Busking World Cup. Wikipedia lists Come Together as the official song of the 25th Hornbill Festival in 2025.

2. Abdon Mech

Genre: indie pop, rock and blues with folk touches
From: Thahekhu village, about 50 km from Kohima
Known for: Taking My Heart, Always Be, Dopamine, Noye Lhokuthu Iwu

Abdon Mech taught himself guitar by locking himself in his room for almost six months, he told ThePrint. He opened for John Mayer in Mumbai in front of about 50,000 people and played Noye Lhokuthu Iwu, a song in Sumi Naga. The slot came from a direct pitch to BookMyShow backed by a self-shot video. Mech also represented India at the Artisjus Songbook Camp 2025 in Budapest.

3. Tetseo Sisters

Genre: Naga folk and folk fusion
From: Kohima
Language: Chokri, of the Chakhesang Naga

The Tetseo Sisters, Mütsevelü (Mercy), Azine (Azi), Kuvelü (Kuku) and Alüne (Lulu), are a quartet who sing Li, the traditional folk songs of the Chakhesang Naga, in the Chokri language, according to Wikipedia. They have performed since childhood and regularly represent Nagaland as cultural ambassadors. Wikipedia lists appearances in Bangkok, Yangon, Kunming and Gwangju, and in 2014 Mercy and Kuvelü were part of a Naga troupe at the Royal Military Tattoo in Edinburgh. The cover photo on this page shows the sisters and their brother at Google for India 2022 in New Delhi.

4. Alobo Naga and The Band

Genre: pop rock
Formed: 2010
Known for: Painted Dreams

Alobo Naga, born Alobo Achümi in Kohima in 1984, formed Alobo Naga and The Band in 2010, according to Wikipedia. Their video single Painted Dreams premiered on VH1 in August 2011. Rolling Stone India reported that the song was written for the first International Short Film Festival in Guwahati, that its vocals were recorded inside a Godrej almirah, and that it reached No. 4 on VH1 India's Top 10 International Countdown. In 2012 it won Best Indian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards. The second album, Kini, sung in Hindi, Nagamese and English, was launched in 2017. Since July 2021 Alobo has also hosted The Alobo Naga Show.

5. Moko Koza

Genre: rap
From: Kohima
Label: Infinity Inc.

Moko Koza, born Mvüko Koza in 1996, released his first single in 2013. Wikipedia credits him as one of the first rappers to bring multilingual and folk-fusion rap to Nagaland. His 2017 song One Day (Khunhie Puo) mixed English and Tenyidie, and his first Nagamese rap followed in 2018. He signed with the Dimapur label Infinity Inc. in 2019 and released his debut album Naga Manu on 6 September 2022, Morung Express reported.

Koza told ThePrint he switched from English to Nagamese when he realised his music was not reaching rural Nagaland. His song Aladdin featured in Paatal Lok. In November 2025 Eastern Mirror reported that he performed the official Nagamese theme of the new season of The Family Man, produced by Rylo, and that his songs Naga Manu, Tribally Savage and Made in Nagaland were also featured in the series.

6. Imnainla Jamir

Genre: rock guitar
From: Mokokchung
Known for: an electric guitar rendition of the national anthem

Imnainla Jamir trained at the Symphony Academy of Music and went viral with her electric guitar version of the national anthem at the Hornbill Festival, ThePrint reports. In March 2026 she became the first Indian woman signed by Ibanez as an endorsing artist. ThePrint describes her as one of TaFMA's success stories.

7. Abiogenesis

Genre: Howey, a Naga folk fusion style
From: Dimapur
Formed: 1992

Moa and Arenla Subong formed the folk fusion band Abiogenesis in 1992, The Indian Express reported. In 2005 they began calling their music Howey, a name taken from the "how-ee, how-aa" chant their ancestors used for group work, mixed with blues, pop, jazz and rock. Moa also invented a wind instrument he calls the Banhum. Their 2007 album Aeon Spell was the first Howey album, and the couple told the paper it was nominated for a Grammy. Their motto, they said, is "modernisation and not westernization."

8. Diatribe

Genre: metal
From: Nagaland
Known for: runners-up at the Hornbill Rock Contest 2008

Rolling Stone India called Diatribe "the unsung heroes of Indian metal" in 2009. The band debuted at Theja Meru's Rattle & Hum concert in 2007, won the best band title at the Nagaland Music Safari in 2008 and were runners-up at the Hornbill Rock Contest that year. Its members came out of the prog band Graffiti and Theja Meru's open music group Wave, the same circle that produced the Naga bands OFF and Eximious. Their originals included Hardships and Go Away, written against insurgency in the region.

9. VERSION2

Genre: metal
From: Dimapur
Formed: World Music Day 2019

VERSION2 is a four-member Dimapur metal band founded on World Music Day in 2019, Mokokchung Times reported. Its debut single Surety was named Best Rock Song at Nagaland's 12th Music Awards in 2020, and its second single Walk the Talk came out with a music video on 19 February 2023. The paper compared their sound to System of a Down, Disturbed, Pantera and Megadeth.

10. Nagaland Chamber Choir

Genre: choral
Known for: two gold medals at the 12th World Choir Games

Church choirs are one of the main ways Nagaland trains musicians, ThePrint notes, and Trance Effect's two guitarists still play at church. The Nagaland Chamber Choir took that tradition to the 12th World Choir Games in Gangneung, South Korea, and came home with two gold medals.

Where to hear Nagaland bands live

The Hornbill Festival in December remains the biggest stage, and its rock contest gave early breaks to bands such as Diatribe. Our Hornbill Festival 2026 music guide covers this year's music. ThePrint also points to Rockvival in Mokokchung and the Nagaland World Folk Music Festival at Khuzama village in Kohima, where attendance has grown from a few hundred to thousands. Hornbill's footfall rose 33 per cent in 2024. Naga bands also tour the rest of the Northeast, and our guide to the Shillong music scene covers the next stop on that circuit.

FAQ

Which is the most famous band from Nagaland?

Alobo Naga and The Band are among the best known, after Painted Dreams won Best Indian Act at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards. In 2026 Trance Effect became the first Naga act to play Lollapalooza India.

Who are the famous musicians of Nagaland?

Well-known Naga musicians include Alobo Naga, the Tetseo Sisters, Abdon Mech, rapper Moko Koza, guitarist Imnainla Jamir, Trance Effect singer Iuli Yeptho, Theja Meru and the Abiogenesis founders Moa and Arenla Subong.

Are there metal bands in Nagaland?

Yes. Diatribe from Kohima were runners-up at the Hornbill Rock Contest in 2008, and the Dimapur band VERSION2 won Best Rock Song at Nagaland's 12th Music Awards in 2020 for Surety.

What is Howey music?

Howey is a genre named in 2005 by Moa and Arenla Subong of the Dimapur band Abiogenesis. It mixes traditional Naga tribal chants, such as "how-ee, how-aa", with blues, pop, jazz and rock, according to The Indian Express.

What is TaFMA in Nagaland?

TaFMA is the Task Force for Music and Arts, a state body that began as the Music Task Force in 2013 and was renamed in 2019. Chaired by musician Theja Meru, it scouts talent, runs workshops and helps Naga artists reach audiences in India and abroad.