Spoon 'N" Fork. Their Story!
Reuben Akham plays guitars, Robert is on bass, Kumar is the skins-man and Michael is the vocals. Together they are called Spoon and Fork. None of them have attended any formal course in music and their respective musical instruments are self taught. But they have a common passion called New Age Metal and a name they go together by - Spoon n Fork.
Spoon 'n' Fork is an amalgamation of two earlier bands "On the Verge" and "Slakjam". Reuben had even had been on both the bands. Even though their music journeys started in their respective schools, it was not until 2005 that they came together.
Elangbam Kumar Singh (aka Zazu) has been practising since 1995. In his own words he 'started playing drums through own will and through own instinct'. His close friends supported his crave and this empowered him to nurture and express his talent. His parents Elangbam Kuber Singh and E Ongbi Leirik Devi had been supportive too. His first performance dates back to the year 1999 at Manipur Public School for the farewell function. With his earlier band, he has expereinced winning of the best band in the state level Roots contest in 2001 and the first runners-up at Benarus Hindu University in the same year. He did go ahead to complete his own graduation and is now helping out in his family business. He owns a TAMA Swing star, Orion and Paiste cymbals. He feels he has much more in him than what people has seen of him. After all he believes in "showing off my own attitude in style".
Gurumayum Michael Sharma (son of G Shamcharan Sharma of Khagempalli Panthak) also goes by nick names Mikey or Mike. And yes he wields the microphone for the Band. Mikey loves Phil Anselmo (of Pantera) vocal and singing style. He would like to emulate his idol. A picture of his idol keeps him going. Mikey have been dreaming of music and performances where crowd go wild. Still studying in the final year of the graduation, he has taken part in quite a few misical events within North East India. He remembers the second day of Beat and Solo contest at Aizawl and the Soar high music fest where they rocked the crowd. Mike has the attitude to take forward the passion of music and he says "I'll do whatever it takes for it with a new age metal style". His parents had been supportive with his music. We asked the inevitable question if a rock music career would be a sustainable choice in Manipur. "In Manipur it will be a difficult task to earn my daily bread with such kind of music." Mike feels the sponsors are not forthcoming as it should. He adds up a little philosophically "a good musician will never fade away". At the moment his challenges are studying, earning, going for tuitions besides practising with the band.
Michael also is a national champ in BMX riding. He loves riding and practising on his BMX and MTB bikies and has been part of many big events throughout Asia.
Reuben akham is from Sagolband Moirang Leirak. His first brush with music was listening to 'The Teens' which his dad Nilamani Akham owned a Vinyl EP. Music is an art that comes from the heart and Reuben feels this is what is in his blood and is his second nature. He found a channel to unleash this with Spoon 'n' Fork. His tryst with the guitar was driven by instincts. There were no gurus who imparted the know-how to him. His early years were filled with jam sessions with friends who teaches each other anything new learnt by any of them. His first stage perfromance was at Don Bosco while still in high school during a Teacher's day celebration. But he remembers the first time he got onto a stage with the band "On the Verge" for the first time. According to his own words, he almost pissed on his pants facing the crowd for the first time. He likes this kind of rush. He has been part of the college fest circuit while still part of his other earlier band Slackjam. His parents initially did not like the idea of their son getting into Rock and Roll. He justifies their stand. "Parents, to my knowledge, still perceive rok music as a taboo. They still go with the saying Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll. What more need I say". "My intentions eventually made them accept me for what I am". He still feels the way ahead of him as a musician is long and winding. "There's lots to prove but so little time".
He feels being a Musician in Manipur has less prospect and that a musician might not be able to survive with music alone. He is in search of a job that can give him enough space to let him persue music too. He had dropped out of Architechture course but now want to study Soung Engineering. About Manipur and Rock, he says "The Manipur society itself is the biggest hurdle. The mindset of our people cant grab the right idea of a Rock n Roll revolution."
Spoon N Fork are currently working on recording few more singles and hopefully they will put together a 5 song EP. Lets keep our fingers crossed for that.
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