The co-owner of Fuzz Factory Productions, a production company, he has his hands full of work producing music videos, documentaries, sound designing and film scoring for movies. He talks to Republica about Jindabaad, their new album and his thoughts on the Nepali music industry.[break]
What are the factors that make Jindabaad an Art–Rock group?
Jindabaad started as a collective platform to play different genres of music. However, from the first rehearsal we clicked on the Alternative Art Rock/Metal sound. For us the "Art" in our music generally gives us the creative freedom to add any other elements from other genres.
What makes Jindabaad different from other bands in the Nepali music scene right now?
We tend to go the Do-It-Yourself way. We write, record, mix, master, produce, make our videos (and act in them too). We also handle the distribution and publishing for Jindabaad ourselves.
You are also a music producer. What differences do you find while working with other artists and Jindabaad?
Playing in Jindabaad brings out the aggressive/technical side of me. It lets me project my visions in a more "Rock Guitar"-oriented format. On the other hand, working with an artist like Astha Tamang-Maskey draws out a more soulful side of me. I´m a big sucker for Pop music and you will find a range of pop tunes from "Lilly Allen" to David Bowie on my playlist.
What kind of music do you like? Any Nepali artists/bands you like?
I listen to as many genres as possible since I have to work on different projects like Electronic, Acoustic, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Avant-Garde, etc. These days I’m interested in Alternative Experimental Hip-Hop music of J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Little Dragon, Mount Kimbie, Four Tet and Burial. Talking about Nepali bands, I´m influenced directly or indirectly by everything that’s happening in the scene.
Jindabaad has been known to sing in English. Don’t you think that makes you unavailable to certain sections of music lovers?
Jindabaad´s first EP ‘Plastic Heart’ comprised six English songs and we got an overwhelming response for each one of them. We had no clue that the first video for the single ‘Rewind’ would become so popular. We just wanted to put out a few songs for English listeners in the local scene. There was no reason for us not to take out an all-English album. Currently, we’re working on our first full-length album where we have three Nepali songs written by our close friend and musician Bibhushan Basnet. We hope our new Nepali singles will break the ice for Nepali listeners as well.
What hopes do you have for the Nepali music industry?
Our Nepali music scene is divided and in most cases biased. We don’t know where we are in this present scenario but we’re pretty sure good original music will definitely be appreciated in the long run. Nepal has more of One Hit Wonder phenomena. The media doesn´t always filter the quality of the artists or the music itself. If that can change in the next 10 years, when everything is saturated, then maybe the public will choose good artists and their art.
You’ve celebrated your second anniversary. What can we expect from Jindabaad now?
This October we’ll be playing in the Metal/Rock Silence Festival in Kathmandu and we’ll be opening up for the headlining band Textures from the Netherlands. Currently, we are also recording our first full-length album which will be out in a few months. Our keyboardist, Abhisek Bhadra, left for Holland last month, so this album is more guitar/riff-oriented and will definitely be a little different from our previous releases. It has a theme that runs throughout the album more like a conceptual storytelling. We hope that we’ll receive positive reviews on the new heavier sound of Jindabaad.
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