Picture Courtesy: Rahat Poudel

Nepali blues band Mukti and Revival launched their new album, ‘Swotantra’ at Patan Musuem, Lalitpur on Saturday. This is the band’s fifth studio album after ‘Kalanki ko Jam’, ‘Bujhhai Deu’, ‘Dekhdai Chhu Ma’, and ‘Sadhai Bhari’.

During the launch event, the frontman of the band Mukti Shakya said that the album is an outcome of constant support from friends and family. “There are fans but family is what we should count on,” he added.

Likewise, the bassist for the band, Roshan Kansakar shared about the band’s early starting. He compares, “We started from the ground floor. Now, we are somewhere on the middle floor. And I hope we will be able to see what top floor looks like.”

7 years after ‘Sadhai Bhari’, the group released their new album. Clarifying on what took them so long; Shakya said the band was touring around the globe. “We were touring internationally for five years. And in the last two years, we shifted our focus to this album. That’s why it took us some time.” Shakya also said that this album is a tribute to rock and roll while answering the question about using the name of legendary rock band AC/DC in their song.

Guest musicians Inap Shrestha (saxophone), Basantapur Sunam (trumpet), Kirtipur Dhime Khala, Manish Gandarbha (sarangi) and Milan Ghimire (flute) also joined the blues band on performing their album songs.

Mukti and Revival is a Nepali blues band formed by Mukti Shakya in the early 90s. The band features Mukti Shakya on vocals/guitars, Sunit Kansakar on guitars, Roshan Kansakar on bass and Nikhil Tuladhar on drums.