Some take up an instrument while others love to sing and others still appreciate good music and can’t live without it. [break]
Music is one of the most important aspects of youth culture that drives them forward, and be it heavy metal music or jazz, every youngster loves blowing off steam to a song that s/he absolutely adores. And even Kathmandu has seen its share of young musicians or aspiring artists trying to make it large in the music scene.
Even though there are many young artists in Nepal who love making music, making a full-fledged career out of it seems pretty farfetched and many of these young artists end up waving their musical careers goodbye and move on to more important moneymaking businesses.
BARTIKA RAI
Whatever the cause, musicians in Nepal have a lot of hurdles to cross and being a female musician in Nepali society seems to be even worse.
Parental pressure and gender bias seem to account for a lot for women musicians which make it harder for them to make it in the music scene.
“Many musical events take place at night and parents don’t usually want their daughters going out at night,” says 21-year-old Bartika Rai, an aspiring musician who also played at the recent Women in Concert.
Bartika will be going to Wesleyan College in America for further studies this year. Bartika who has been playing music for 2 years after her studies at Budhanilkantha School plays a host of different types of songs and because of her love for Jazz music, loves singing Jazz whenever she gets the chance.
“It’s the whole society that puts a black mark on women if they go out at night and parents forbid it as well, which makes it very difficult for women to stay in music. Also the financial aspect of music isn’t that appealing which leads to parents labeling musical passion a waste of time,” she adds.
Many young women have trouble financially as well. “It’s very hard to make it in music without a side job,” says Bartika. Even when young artists go out to perform at events or at musical bars, they tend to get paid very low or even end up not getting paid at all.
Putting all that effort into their music and still not getting paid also seem to be one of the many hurdles that these young artists have to face.
Some event management organizations even tend to deceive these young artists and disappear without paying.
NAVANEETA AMATYA
Also the fact that these young artists are aspiring artists seems to affect their pay scale. Event organizers seem to be willing to pay artists who have made a big name for themselves but not to aspiring new artists that make up the future of Nepali music.
“There is lot of competition in today’s music scene and this competition also works to our advantage financially,” says Navaneeta Amatya, 21, a young artist who has been involved in music since grade 10 is also involved in a lot of different things from event management at Kgarira.com to working as an RJ at Hits FM.
Navaneeta also host a lot of different events and can be seen playing at many events around Kathmandu. Navaneeta plays both English and Nepali songs and plays alternative rock pieces most often.
“Paying young artists also depend on the people who are hosting the events. House of Music in Thamel is very good place to young aspiring artists because it’s run by musicians who know how important music is. They try to provide a platform for all new artists by giving them a chance to perform and an audience that actually listen to their music. They pay their artists as well. I guess musicians know how difficult it is being an artist and that is why they try their best to support new artists financially as much as possible,” she adds.
As a woman, security is one of most important factor because playing at pubs usually gets uncomfortable because of the many men drinking. Many drunk men tend to come up to the stage where artists are playing and tend to behave in a manner that’s uncomfortable for most young women artists.
City security also plays a big part in the freedom of women artists in the city as eve teasing and harassment are rampant, even during the day. This concerns parents that restrict young girls for venturing out into the night.
ANUPA THAPA MAGAR
“No matter how you choose to look at it, the city at night is a very dangerous place to be, especially if you’re a girl and our parents know that but music is something that we’re so passionate about that we tend to forget about everything else and just play,” says 18-year-old Anupa Thapa Magar, a high-school graduate that just radiates with her passion for music.
Anupa also performed in the recent Women in Concert and takes inspiration from her musician father. Anupa has always been involved in music because of her father and has affinity towards playing musical instruments rather than singing.
“I’ve even had times when I’ve run away from home to play at a gig. I think the youth are so driven by musical passion that everything else just fades away. My father is a musician who understands my musical passion but even he refuses to let me out at night but I go, even if I have to get into a heated argument with my parents or if I have to sneak out. There are a lot of hurdles but the passion helps us get past all that,” she says.
Young people are very passionate about things that they really enjoy doing and they tend to overcome any kind of hurdles to create or be part of something that gives them satisfaction.
It is clear that young artists have a lot of hurdles to overcome and as a young women artist, even more hurdles to conquer. But the question still remains, if people aren’t supportive towards young upcoming artists that shape the future of Nepali music, where exactly is Nepali music going to be in the next few years?
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