Sarad Shrestha a well renowned name in the Nepalese Music industry (Mainstream/Underground). Following his passion he has been active in the music industry for a way long time. We had a short talk with him regarding his this epic long 24 years journey as a Guitarist as well as about his recent band
Tumbleweed. To know much about Sarad you can click on the marked name to follow his official page as well as his band page.
Here is the digital link of the album Do buy and support the local acts.
http://tumbleweedinc.bandcamp.com/album/parichaya
Greetings
dai how are doing these days?
Yeah, kinda hectic. Busy on our
album launch stuff
It
sure is tell us about the progress. I saw in your social media page that the
master copy is ready. How excited are you about the release?
Well, yeah kinda. Satish Sthapit,
the sound engineer for all our stuffs made it possible. The outcome sounds
cool. He believed in us, and we believed in him. At the same time, some kind of
fear inside though. i don't know how people are going to take it, but we are
happy on what we did. Hope the teamwork of us would make some colors though for
sure
For
sure Satish dai is one of the most talented producer in Nepal and we have seen his magic in
the previous albums that he produced. Along with that his sound arranging
abilities in major gigs of Nepal
have shown what really he is capable of. I am pretty sure Parichaya will be a
killer one.
Yup, on topping with that, he
knows what he's doing. Really aware of every kind of sound you make. These kind
of persons re needed in the scene for sure.
For
sure, as we can see that there are limited numbers of trained sound engineers
in Nepal
so it’s a crucial time that more trained producers come on the scene which
ultimately upgrades the quality of the album.
Yes indeed and they should have a
heart in it. A great helping hand.
Dai
you have been active in the Nepalese Underground as well as the mainstream
scene for almost 24 years and you have seen a way lot of changes in this
industry can you share your experience between this time frame?
Well definitely changed a lot. Passion of a few people turned to
industry itself.. At present lots of media houses everywhere. The technology
made it so easy and upgrading like hell each day. It’s not that time when u had
to wait for a songbook imported from Thailand
or UK
to just learn lyrics and chords. YouTube Google ruled everywhere as we can see lots
of good musicians everywhere with great theoretically acquaintances. Despite of
these.. Well bad things that, musicians are being treated as some cheap whores sometimes
these days. Haha yes indeed there was a time, when the distributor does pay for
your album, manage everything for the good band/any artists in the mainstream
stuff.. But its gone now haha mainstream totally sucks. Now the cheap PR with a
help of some bloody paper gas makes the game in this so called mainstream stuff
for sure. Look at the national television, the music videos. All those, there
would be some popular vjs. Vj ley ni
majaaly afnai program ma afai model bhako geet ta kati kati bajaucha haha.
Funny though ll those flashy videos, this is the mainstream stuff. Well anyway
bands stuff were never too that easy for the television stuff from earlier as
well, but these days, its worst. But who cares though it’s a online world
though. Which we feel good , whatever u make, u can give to the public from your
own room and all by yourself. We hardly watch music videos on TV screens for
sure. Everything here online However regarding underground,
well it’s growing bigger for sure. I remember those ktm rocks days, earlier
than those, the rare people who were really dedicated for the local scene
stuff. But yeah its growing bigger though. But i don't understand people having
fuckin' nuisance attitude towards genre stuff and all. Music is music after
all. No need to discriminate/criticize whatever. However, posers are there. Who
think the world is too small, jhyau lagdo ni cha. Organizers take the bands so
easily saying just as the underground bands. Concept is getting really worst
but happy, people are aware of music these days, it’s growing as well, that's a
good thing though.
True
words dai we are aware of what’s happening in the mainstream scene as well.
There was a time when there was a healthy mainstream scene here in Nepal
but seeing and talking with related people its all a mess. So dai coming to
your journey. If i am not wrong your journey started in the early 1990's and
many of us may not know you were involved in bands like Black wizard, Sound
mill before you joined axe. Tell us dai about Black wizard and as well as sound
mill..
Yah.. Right after completing
school, black wizard was my first band i should with my own hometown boys. All
influenced by 70s acts, we used to do covers like CCR, Santana, Deep Purple,
Steppen Wolf.etc. Stuffs. Then i joined Sound Mill, the most happening cover
band at that time, i joined as a bassist, later turned to guitars. nazareth, uriah heep,
pinkflyod and all. We used to do those, our Roshan lama dai was on the vox, who
has really inspiring vocals. Dhruba, later joined Nepathya, on drums, and
really talented guitarist Binod Dai. The band was really tight, that time there
were no such any Nepalese scene for sure. Very limited bands were there like
Dead Soul, Criss Cross, Vampire (Satish), Maneater and Soundmill. These were
the most happening bands at the time. Then comes the scene of nepali songs original
ones like influence, blind faith, crossroads (imandai/binayak dai) they were
cool. Later i joined the axe band and i never forget the band like Paduwas
(asish sinha dai)
From
1995 until 2009 i.e for 14 years you were involved with The Axe band and were
the the part of there 5 album how was this 14 years long journey?
Yeah it was good. We worked our
ass off that time for those albums for sure since our vocalist shiva does have
such a typical pure Nepali tongue, i couldn't synchronize other kinds of tunes,
so tried out some funk , and it really worked. People loved us. I remember one
gig, we were invited in one concert in Dolakha, where all the acts were folk
song, dohoris, and the same people sang most of all our songs that time. It was
awesome.
The
Axe is one of the most successful band in the Nepalese mainstream scene and did
some massive tours in and out of Nepal and all of a sudden in 2009
end we heard your departure to Hongkong. A few months later got a message from
a friend that you started Kathmandu Mayhem and Intellectual morons during your
2 years stay in Hongkong and even today when i did a research found out you
were involved in 2 more bands Quasar and Red Shift, even found out that
Hongkong Nepalese Rock Forum which was established on your participation during
your stay. Dai tell us about it our viewers would love to know about it.
Yeah i left for hongkong may b'
round 2009 i guess. There the music scene was not that good for sure when i
went there. The busy people hardly could manage the time for music for those Nepalese
people out there i just found sanjiv gurung through website hkunderground, he was doing his band
quasar, I supported him for some time. Then after I met Dhanesh (maneater, ktm)
and lost boys from dead soul, Hem, Bishal, and Min Gurung , Rosan Thapa who
used to have bands here in Nepal before. I formed a cover band Kathmandu Mayhem
with Dhanesh. The hk bars were all dominated mostly by philippinos musicians
out there. Kathmandu Mayhem was the only nepali band, and yeah it was good
times bar hopping 'round there playing. then i met joul the French friend and
involved with his band Dr. Eggs. We toured Taiwan,
Macau. The band was interesting with ska punk flavor,
loops , energetic on stage, fun for sure. With the bassist friend Ben, we
formed another one Redshit, an acoustic project by which we performed 'round
small bars 'round islands of Hongkong. I
was always fond of beastie boys stuff, rap metal stuffs and luckily Dipen
gurung bhai who has really a great rap flow, i met him, and we formed
intellectual morons together. We were invited to university concerts, hard rock
cafe and all. It was fun. When i was there, i saw lots of young Nepalese guys
who really play good , has passion of music. But due to workload, hectic time
schedule, they were limited on their own. Hk busy life sucks indeed. So i
formed one forum, Hongkong Nepalese Rock Forum for the sake of making some
performing platforms for all of us. Then at 2010, i organized one show, Rock
till you drop' as well, which went really good. Lots of philippino bands,
british, chinese and all really supported us for this. Min Gurung, of Extrement
Entertainment is really doing good at present times at HK scene which annually
organizes the event Alive series although HK scene is really limited in comparison
with our Nepal.
It sucks sometimes for sure haha.
Coming
back to axe dai if i am not wrong then you won the best lead guitarist and even
the Shikhar Music all Nepal
band competition back in the early 2000?
Yeh i did. haha. It was Shikhar
beat contest which was held in tundikhel. That concert i could never forget lots
of people, really big crowd till now i have seen that time.
Coming
to Tumbleweed how did the journey began.
Well after coming back to Nepal, i found
Suwas, and Prashant at silence entertainment and Gautam came over. We started
to jamming over later Gautam left, and we found robin on the drums. From there,
we are here. The journey is wonderful despite of all those obstacles, unwanted
problems and all. The main thing is the chemistry between 4 of us, really
clicked, and we are here with our debut album Parichaya,
Parichaya
Tumbleweeds debut album tell us about the album.
Well its an album of our two
years teamwork and hardwork being together and all. The album, PARICHAYA, is Tumbleweed Inc.’s first
studio work after their 2 years of togetherness, passion, hard work and
dedication towards making something which they love to do. This was made possible
with all the support from Satish Sthapit, the sound engineer and Bishal
Manandhar, the band manager. The album all done by the band itself, and
recorded at Studio Underground, Bhote Bahal, Kathmandu The album consists of 15
tracks
1.
Intro
2.
Face Apart
3.
Social Parasite
4.
Massive attack
5.
Vicious animal
6.
Supremacy
7.
Vision
8.
President
9.
Funk that shit
10.
Badlido samaj
11.
Usko Katha
12.
Kathmandu
13.
Parichaya
14.
Local thito
15.
Geda
The
album, PARICHAYA, is all about the voice of every individual, the changes of
nepali society, the imbalanced political system, the perception of a minor, the
hope, the belief for betterment, the songs about regression, suppression. An
ode of an outlaw, the belief on self. Parichaya, depicts a minor’s survival for
the sake of his/her own identification. The album cover depiction: We all are
minor, the little ones. Ants. The symbol of oneness, the dedication, the
loyalty, the self-sacrifice, hardwork, team work, patience. Despite their tiny
size these little spirits are immensely strong, great strength of will and
accomplishment can come even in the smallest of packages
So
when we post this interview Parichaya shall be launched best wishes for the
launch dai.
Thank u bhai
Moving
on dai Parichayas artwork shows an ant, does it have some meaning or story
behind it?
We all are minor, the little
ones. The Ants, the symbol of oneness, the dedication, the loyalty, the
self-sacrifice, hardwork, team work, patience. Despite their tiny size these
little spirits are immensely strong, great strength of will and accomplishment
can come even in the smallest of packages. So here we are. After our 2 years of
working hard on this, our debut album 'Parichaya' would be out soon.
Hardwork
does pay for sure. Tumbleweed what does it mean. Dai tell us how did the name
came?
After we started jamming, we were
looking for name for this. So i thought about tumbleweed. It’s a plant which is
easily found around desert. A diaspore which detaches away from the stem after
it gets mature and tumbles away in the wind dispersing spores as they go. That's
tumbleweed.
It’s
your release after 6 long years i am quite sure the album shall be a success.
Haha thanks bhai.
Dai we
are almost at the end now i have few more questions in my pocket. Dai any message
to the young bands esp to guitarist?
Well, tei ho as usual, practice
hard. Identify on which kind of tunes you are best. The most important, whether
you are enjoying your own tunes and yeah, regarding guitar, don't just play as
its some cheap trend, treat it as your intimate one, a friend indeed and yup,
say no to drugs.. The chemicals believe in yourself.
Message
for the fans.
Well, finally im back after 6
years with my own project tumbleweed inc with my boys, and studio album
Parichaya. Hope you like it or else, do send us yourur
feedbacks/comments/criticisms/ or whatever u feel towards my band and the
music. You have supported me since the past and looking forward to see you thru
my entire musical journey. Thank you all for all those immense support to me.
Thank you.
We
hope they will. Dai this is a questions which i usually ask bands beyond
Kathmandu, Pokhara and Hetauda. We see that the bands both rock and metal
usually focus in these 3 cities and many bands beyond these cities says that
they are not given proper exposure and are deprived from opportunities as
seniors bands usually don’t tour to other cities beyond these cities. Do you
accept that the scene here in Nepal
has become much centralized?
Well i should say, its not. Well
as for my exprience, with my band before, i had performed such places like Pashupatinagar,
Illam, Urlabari, Jhapa, Mahendranagar, Nijgarh, Birgunj, Dang, Baglung, Palpa
and all. Its not any artist/band wants, only the city side. it all depends on
the event organizer as well. Yea i have seen, these days, those places are not
that event-go-go for the artists/bands, may be due to poor event management, as
well as poor sponsorship. However, on the other hand, the media is also
responsible for this i guess. All the the big name events, national level
events are building some monopoly structure since they always take the same old
names and travel to various parts of Nepal. The same shits every time. It might
be the artist/bands' strong PR stuffs. Well even the new promising, the real
deserved bands/artists don’t' get in their list. This way, the places like
those never get to see us perform in front of them. But somehow, the local
event people especially youngsters are doing these things on their own, which
is obviously good.
We can
even see that the bands are not given equal opportunities and chances back
their. Coming towards the end dai. A space for you to ask us if we had
forgotten to ask you . Space all yours..
Well tei ho yar. Local scene
bhanya cha, underground rey, ke rey mainstream rey it all sucks. Though sabai
ko khutta tanne, aru ko herera ris garne prabidi band haru ko, it sucks bekar ko attitude afu prati yo generation ko
bands ko that fuckin' sucks a big time.Scene bhandai ma je payo tei bhairahcha
for sure. Some are pretty good, some are just there to make a presence for
their own. Passion is lacking for sure tei ho. Since every one of us are
nepali artists/musicians all should be united to chase away these fakism, jun
tv ma dekha parne katiko bekar ko music related stuff haru sab hataunu parcha. They
are sending wrong msgs to those people outside the valleys. united bhayera gayo
bhane, nepal
musicians would be playing all around the world. tei ho ramro lai ramrai
bhannu, naramro lai naramro. Respect the music, that's all.
Thank
you dai for your precious time.
Thank you bhai
First rock
bands I've ever started to really get into were AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin
- and all that classic stuff, I was about 14 back then. Then came the time for
something heavier - I've got into bands like Metallica, Pantera and the band
that pushed me more into this music was Slayer, and I mean when I attended
there concert. Before Big 4’s concert I was something like pre-Thrasher, but
when I witnessed these guys (luckily with Jeff Hanneman) they just blowed my
mind. I thought "wooow this is it!". And then I started to look for
some more Thrash bands heavier and heavier. The othre big step in my taste was
Morbid Angel. The two people who really pushed me to start playing drums were
Dave Lombardo and George Kollias (almost peed my pants after meeting him). I
was 18 then so as you see my journey with drums is quite short.
Yeah
I’ve been seeing you guys from almost the beginning and trust me you guys have
go a way far ahead and my jaws were literally open when i heard you guys
covered Blood Splattered Satisfaction of Kraanium in Buried Alive at Pokhara
and Devourment's cover Baby Killer at Valentine massacre II.
