The front man of the prominent rock band Mukti and Revival, Mukti Shakya is busy preparing for his fourth album, which he says will release in mid January 2011.[break]
Born in a family where people loved music, Shakya, 50 is often labeled Nepal’s Mick Jagger for his consistent contribution to Nepali rock music. Because Shakya was brought up in Jhonchhe, popularly known as Freak Street, where hippies lived during the 1960s, Shakya was familiar to different genre/s of music since his early childhood. While he was in his early teens Shakya already knew how to play guitar and was capable of singing cover songs of international artistes. He first played guitar when he was only fourteen.
“People hardly knew what rock music was when I started. It was only Nepali modern songs which had a huge fan following. But I didn’t give up,” Shakya recalled.
After passing out his secondary level education, Shakya became part of a band and joined Radium in 1979. Though he never thought he would leave Radium, Shakya, however, decided to form a band on his own and formed Elegance group. As the lead vocalist of Elegance, Shakya started singing cover songs at various concerts in and around the capital city. Though people mostly liked him singing cover songs, he knew it from the beginning that he had to start composing originals to give Nepali rock music a new direction.
During 1970s, music was not taken as a commercial business; it was more a passion. Very few Nepali bands like Kathmandu Cats, Prism and Brotherhood were also doing their best to establish rock music in Nepal.
Exactly when Shakya had thought that he would give Nepali rock music a new definition with his lineup of Elegance, his band members however decided to split from the band because all of them had their career priorities. Shakya saw his dreams falling apart and like his friends, decided to start a career.
“I never took music as my profession. It has always been a passion to me. And there’s a huge difference between profession and passion,” Shakya made it loud and clear.
Shakya tied his knot and settled in Spain with his children for sometime until he came back to Nepal in 1992 and reassembled people to form another music band Revival. In the meantime, he opened a travel and tour company.
“When I came back to Nepal in 1992, I was really happy to see Nepali youngsters getting into music. There were many bands and even pop music was popular amongst many. It was pleasing to see the growth in recording company,” he added.
He immediately decided to stay back and continue his musical journey. While the audiences wanted to hear the covers of Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Deep Purple and Jim Morrison on the voice of Shakya, he however prioritized originals and started composing Nepali rock music on his own.
“It was really difficult then because musicians were not as privileged as they are today. I remember knocking at business houses to provide funds for concerts and I still remember pasting posters on streets and walls to promote gigs,” Shakya recalled.
Even his initiation of Revival did not seem working out promisingly. So he decided to take the mantle as the lead vocalist of Newaz band, a promising band from Basantapur, which had huge fan following in Kathmandu. He promoted more originals while he represented Newaz and finally branded his own band as Mukti and Revival in 1995. Musicians like Binod Shrestha, Robin Shrestha and Roshan Kansakar joined hands with him and established Mukti and Revival as one of the most sought-after rock bands in Nepal.
Decades down the line, Shakya is a proud composer of successful records like “Kalanki Ko Jaam”, “Bujhaideu” and “Dekhdai Chhu.” What made these albums successful was their powerful lyrics and tight composition. Shakya not just sang for his band, he often wrote lyrics on himself and composed music too. All his songs are rich with social messages and parodies. His first album was a satire against political crisis of the time. “Bujhaideu” was composed to relate people’s frustration towards the system and through his third ensemble “Dekhdai Chhu” he tried to relate the hope people fostered for a better life. His upcoming album “Andhakaar” is once again his style of portraying frustration towards the unending cycle of violence in country.
“Gone are the days when musicians were given so much respect in the society. Concerts used to take place and all of us into this field really worked hard to survive in a fiercely competitive scene. Today the scenario is completely the opposite,” Shakya enunciated.
He added humorously, “There’s nobody to compete with today. The young boys in the field are really uncompetitive. I don’t see people devoted into music. People no more worship music and the whole scene is deteriorating.”
Shakya is deeply saddened to see how the number of concerts that take place in town has gone remarkably down.
He said, “There are hardly any concerts happening here. Bar gigs cannot be regarded as concerts. And the security forces are acting cruel and stupid by forcible stopping concerts taking place during evening hours.”
“It’s like worst nightmare come true to see security forces mishandling and thrashing musicians in Thamel and at other gigs because they were playing music at 7-8 in the evening. It’s pathetic to stop concerts during late hours. People like to listen to music, when they’re off their work and are in relaxing mood. And, that’s only possible during evening hours. Concerts loose their original charm if they take place during daytime,” he elaborated.
Like any other singers in town, Shakya is equally frustrated to see how Nepal still has not understood the importance of music industry. He is equally upset to realize how commercial videos matter more than music notes today.
“If you pay Rs 400,000 for a music video, you’re a star overnight,” he bluntly said. “I no more trust distributors in Nepal. I don’t trust here anymore. I’m not seeking to make money out of music at this age. I already have a different profession supporting me and my family. Music has been my passion so far and I’ll keep working for it in some or the other ways,” the rocker who is highly inspired by The Rolling Stones concluded.
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