An entire modern musical
world of Nepal is of course a positive turnover
brought by the Nepalese singers and musical bands
dedicated to bring up a new musical ethic. Among
these various singers and musical bands there
are some influencing names which are spontaneous
to almost all of us. And in this context “UGLYZ” is an obvious name while glancing the Nepalese
pop music scenario that are so much into embellishing
Nepalese flavor of music. This musical troop is
one of the top rated pop bands in Nepal that came
up with the flashing popularity of their first
and no doubt a best track “aaudai jaadai”
which basically fascinated Nepalese music lovers
towards them.
Uglyz are sarun, sudip
and rockin who started their musical journey with
different inter college level competition that
finally ended up with their debut album "Rush" with sandesh on their first song "Aaudai
Jaadai". Their first album was the
greatest hit of the year 2004 that brought a terrific
craze among the Nepalese music lovers, which acquired
a remarkable business during the year. The second
rocking number “maya” put these music
devotees as a benevolent and impressive singers
which are for sure prolonging to the long term
run in the music field. Their struggle to the
destination brought a new and a worth prominent
identification. Although Uglyz are in different
country their devotion to the Nepalese music has
once again brought them up to the market with
their second album "Rush II",
Which is expected to hit the next great success
of the this year.
Unlike their name suggest, beautiful they are
,talented they are, devoted they are and that’s
the reason why so much appreciated they are.
Here are some excerpts of the
Interview.
When did you start
singing? And can you please tell us a brief history
of your singing carrier?
I don’t exactly remember
when did I start to sing but I do remember the
first time I went on stage, I was may be around
4-5 years old and I went on stage with my brothers
and other kids. We performed a group song composed
by Ram Thapa during an annual function organized
by agricultural development bank. That was my
first stage experience; I enjoyed it very much
and went back the other day as well.
Growing up in school I sang every year in parent’s
night and when I met Sudip, Rockin in class 8
we started to think seriously about forming a
band and
participate in competitions. The first time we
tried to compete in our school talent competition
we were kicked out of audition but with some luck
we did
manage to perform and came 3rd, not a bad start.
After that we just kept on feeding ourselves with
western music and experiment them on people, some
liked it some thought we were trash but we did
carry
on coz music was the only interest that we had
and still does.
I came to Sydney and life became very hard. I
couldn’t enjoy the freedom that I once had
in Nepal but despite everything I didn’t
lose hope and started to write
music. We as a band always knew that we should
do omething together and our quest was answered
in 2005 by RUSH.
Why
"Uglyz"? Despite of being so good looking?
And how do you define Uglyz?
The Uglyz for us is not about looks, it’s
about us. It’s a name that we gave to our
commitments as a singer, song writer, musician
and performer. We had to
give a name to the bond that the band have and
thus “The Uglyz” was born. The name
did incline towards some inspiration that we had
from “Ugly Guys” (Sudip, Rockin’s
brother) with whom we shared stages and practice
rooms.
If I have to define Uglyz then I would say they
are one of the luckiest bands in Nepal who loves
to work like a dog and appreciate life as it comes
and well
they love momos.
What
is music in your view? And how do you describe
your music to people?
For me Music is freedom, expression that grows
with your age. Whether you are young or old everybody
loves music. As a musician I find it as a tool
to modulate
life. You can literally write a song about anything
and anyone. I wrote a song called Sathi for my
dog.
Our music is simple and mostly realistic. We love
to create contemporary rock or slow rock songs.
We love to experiment on languages and try different
elements.
Who are your
musical and non-musical influences?
Talking about early influences it all started
from home. If my parents hadn’t had guitars,
drums, piano, harmonium, madal, tabala, sitar,
cup plates etc I would have been reading someone
else’s interview here on Neprocks.com right
now.
My brothers taught me how to play guitar. I watched
them play and sing, I listen to all the songs
they recorded on cassettes and stole their money
to buy
some more. I listen to my dad playing drums with
his band at a restaurant in Thamel which he recorded
on a cassette and I preserve it like my favorite
toy, I
still listen to my mom’s songs now and then.
Growing up my musical influences broadened towards
western music as well as Nepali bands and singers.
I listened to a lot of late 80’s and 90’s
artists. My
parents always talked about The Beatles and I
did a lot of research on them and listened to
their greatest hits. “Crossroad” was
the first Nepali band that I
ever admired and “Maya Meri Maya” was the first Nepali song that I learnt to play
on a guitar.
How is Australian
life?
Like for all Nepalese living overseas it was a
rough ride in the past but I guess it comes with
the package. It’s a very busy life, you
hardly have time
to think about anything apart from your scheduled
daily life
I got my family and loved one here, like they
say home is where your heart is so I’m very
happy and satisfied.
How often do you perform in Australia? When and
where was your latest performance and what was
the public response?
I do not perform in Australia, I am very busy
with my work and social life and to be honest
I don’t have time to practice with other
players. I do intend to
perform but I’m waiting for the right time
and atmosphere. People do ask me to perform on
track but I do not follow that trend. I need to
have a proper band
to perform. The last performance that I did in
Aus was for Help Nepal 2006, a charity show organized
by Help Nepal.
How do you
feel when you are on the stage?
Performing on stage is fun.
I love to put on a good show and like I said I
don’t go on stage if I’m not prepared.
I would wait for the right time and give my
best rather than just go and sing a bunch of songs.
How do you promote
your self and shows?
I sing few songs and at the end of the show thank
the audience and that’s it haha. I’m
not good at promoting myself to be honest; I’m
not a good talker. I have had shows where I just
go on stage sing and thank
audiences.
Your band is not
together so how and when do you compose new pieces?
I’ve composed few tunes for the next project.
I normally make a demo and send it to boys. They
listen to it and comment. Sandesh is in the States
and I
haven’t had contact with him for a while
coz we work on different time zone but we will
get there someday.
What is your out
look on the record industry today?
Well to be honest I don’t think I’m
the right person to answer this as I am not in
Nepal right now. But overall what I hear from
them is that the situation is
bad and it’s very hard for them to survive
coz of piracy and political situation of Nepal.
Well you have
Japanese song in your first album "Rush",
does it mean that your are inspired by Japanese
songs?
I love to experiment and I don’t know much
Japanese singers or bands but I do love couple
of them. Its always good to practice international
music.
Could you please tell us something about your
popular track "Audaii Jadaee"?
Well first of all it’s a very old track
haha when I was young I composed it at 2 in the
morning. Jems dai put lyrics on it and I spent
3 months to sing the song
as it was my first recording experience.
How has your
record label helped you promote and how did they
first react to your first album?
My record label did help me to promote the album,
the figure of sales that we got was quite mind
blowing. I already had a record company while
I was recording coz they loved Audai Jadai so
it was smooth. As for Rush +, I don’t get
much information on the album sales and promotions
so I guess its going well.
Your new album
is "Rush Plus", how did you come up
with that and could you please tell us about some
of the tracks in rush plus?
Rush + is an interactive cd. Basically we spent
so much time and effort on Rush, we wanted to
put them together in a cd as a package so that
it won’t be
forgotten in the long run. It’s got interviews,
photo shoots, music videos that we have done so
far except “Rojdai Chu” a new song that I wrote for my Pallu.
What do you
think are the leading roles the Nepalese music
artists staying in abroad are playing for the
promotion of Nepalese music?
If life was smooth in Nepal I don’t think
anyone would stay abroad. I do believe that it’s
definitely has done some damages but we have to
look at the brighter
side and hope for the best. We can still make
music or may be even better music with good technology
and experiences from abroad.
How do you find being in relation with former
miss Nepal and how is she supporting you in your
life and musical carrier?
Well I am very happy; she is one of the best people
that I have ever met in my life and I’m
very proud of her as well. People look at us a
nice pair and I thank
her each and everyday for being with me and loving
me. She supports me in every way not just music,
I got a piano as my birthday gift last year. To
sum it up she completes me.
Is
there any message you want to give to your listeners
through our website?
Thanks for your time and hope to see you soon.
Dashain saki sakyo teso bhae ni Happy Tihar, may
God Bless each and everyone of you with Love luck
and good life.
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