Ashish Poudel has always been artistically inclined. He mentions that he wrote his first poem when he was in the third grade and has been painting and drawing for as long as he can remember. And now, this artistic ardor of his is getting a musical outlet.
It’s pretty surprising that someone who is so passionate about and so well versed in different fields of art would study or pursue something other than it but Poudel mentions that academically he is more inclined towards studying about business management. Poudel recently finished BBS and is currently applying to universities for postgraduate studies in the same field. He also left his job at a Nepali entertainment magazine as a content developer and writer and is currently putting all his energy into music.
In a month’s time, Poudel is planning to release his debut EP or an extended play, which is a record that is longer, more intricate, and has more number of songs than a single but not enough to be labeled as a full-length album. He mentions that audio-wise almost everything for it has been completed but there are still verses and parts of some songs that he wants to rework and polish.
Budding flower
Besides singing and rapping for this album, Poudel reveals that he is the one who wrote the entire lyrics for it too. “I’ve always loved writing poems and that slowly transitioned into writing lyrics. Right now, I enjoy doing both,” he says. He further adds that this – writing lyrics – is actually his favorite part about pursuing music in general.
Although he admits that he can’t properly play any instruments and didn’t contribute to that aspect of the production of his album, he did compose a lot of the songs included in it. Poudel also reveals that this album mostly comprises sounds in hip-hop and rap genres and emphasizes the fact that his style of rap delivery is more laid back than violent and hyper.
“It’s almost slam poetry-esq,” he claims adding that people might even mistake it as one since he has a light melody playing in the background while the main focus is on his rapping and singing. He also reveals that the whole EP was created around a single narrative and the lyrics reflect that. “If you pay close attention to it, the lyrics of all the tracks are very connected to one another. They tell the story of my life, not in a very in your face kind of way but my perspective of life is very prominently woven into the lyrics,” he says.
During his free time, Poudel mentions that he likes traveling and exploring places in Nepal. He claims that although he does not travel that consistently, he really enjoys going to new places. His most memorable trip was when he traveled to Gosainkunda on his own. Poudel mentions that it was a very eye-opening experience for him because he learned a lot about himself. He reveals that he has even written a song about his experiences on the trip.
Right now, Poudel is working to finalize the details of his album since its release date is so close. “We are also planning to film a few music videos to accompany the songs visually but we haven’t started working on it yet,” he concludes.
