Rajesh Nepali, ‘Changes’ Star, on Being a Maestro Voice in Nepal’s music industry

An artist who changes the music industry is not someone who has the number of likes on a video or someone who is the first one to do something. An artist who changes the industry is someone who dramatically, and irreversibly, reshapes the industry. The artist from the margins carries his art to the mainstream and practically obliges people to pay interest or face expulsion. Rajesh Nepali is the maestro who gained popularity through the internet for his high octave vocals. Nepali is one of those artists that once you pay attention, then there is no going back.

Kathmandu Tribune’s Dikshya Koirala recently got to talk to Rajesh. Get to know Rajesh more with this conversation that he had with us. 

• You work in different genres compared to most contemporary Nepali singers. What do you think was it that drove you towards where you are today?

It perhaps goes back to my childhood. I grew up in a church. Back then in church, we had choir groups and sometimes groups from other countries came to the church and sang gospels, pure R&B, and classics. Those experiences had tremendous influences on me. My mother used to sing too. I guess these very experiences drive me even today to become who I am.

• I wanted to go a little back to history and ask the reason you started. How did you start and what gave you the support to write in the beginning? Who did you play your initial songs for?

Honestly, I don’t really have anyone so specific or anything so exact. Music has been something very personal to me, and maybe that is why I didn’t really need anyone. Yes, I had friends, people who cheered for me, but it is also something I have worked on my own for myself. It has got a lot to do with my will. I sang in different bars for almost 10 years, which is what helped with the popularity. I initially did covers, but I started writing songs about 5 years ago. When I began writing I was nervous and had my doubts. I released my song “Changes” which gave me the courage to move forward.

• You recently released your album “Walk Again”. When I listened to your songs, I realized that each song had a peculiar emotion from the other. Are these songs closely linked to personal experiences? Could you tell us a little about the thought process of when you were writing these?

Yes, I have 13 songs on my “Walk Again” album out of which 4 is unreleased. I believe songwriting doesn’t always have to be your own personal experience. I enjoy writing and I try writing a lot of stuff. We have people around us who also experience a lot of things. Songwriting to me has been a journey where sometimes I have written looking at it as a third person and I also have songs that emanate from my hearts, from my personal experience.

My song “Gone” was something I wrote for my mother. My other song “Enough is Enough” transcends self-expression that I was feeling about the world and the system around. So yes, some are personal, some are from observation, it really depends. My song “Life is toxic” was also profoundly personal, but also something very universal. Songwriting, I feel, is a voyage on its own.

• What has been the biggest or most enjoyable moment in your music career?

I originally set out doing covers in my career. In the beginning, writing lyrics was something I didn’t excel at. Melody had always been my strong point and lyrics were my weak point. I had and still have a lot of melodies prepared by playing the guitar, drums, and piano all on my own. I like fusion as well and have always looked forward to different styles. However, I did really struggle with music writing at the outset. Few years forward there came a time when I started becoming better at it. The time when I realized I don’t struggle with lyric writing anymore and have improved was my happiest moment. I am not saying I had become perfect, but the fact itself that I didn’t struggle with it anymore and had come that far was my happiest moment. I now upload spontaneous compositions, which I come up with within a few minutes on YouTube. This accomplishment has been my biggest, and the most enjoyable moment of my career.

• The music industry today runs like a cut-throat corporate business. Art today stares at being a replacement by commercial attribute. Today, labels do not take chances and prepare a business model that makes a profit. What do you think, as an artist, mollify the industry in Nepal and globally more welcoming and fair to new raw talents? 

True, there are labels and management companies globally, and in Nepal, where the demand for musicians is as a figure for money. The motive of making music, to some, is ultimately making only money. This also makes it difficult for artists who want to make music on their own ideas and not follow the mainstream trend of only catering to pursue profit. Many artists with so much potential disappear in the air because of commercialization.

I have throughout my journey tried not to focus on this aspect of the industry. My personal growth is what I have always tried to invest in. My popularity has never been a concern for me. The only thing that really matters is that I want to make and my faith is in it. However, this does not blunt the fact that art is jostling for the top-notch place against commercialization. It is the need of the hour for the industry globally and in Nepal to introduce different arrangements and values in music.

Music is a powerful tool and much more than just grabbing a guitar, playing the same common idea repeatedly. Diversity and authenticity are what we need.

• How has pandemic affected you? 

I had several tours, but all of them came to a halt because of the pandemic. I have been giving vocal lessons for over 4 years now, one in one and online classes. I was planning to start a music school this year. Something specific for vocals, a friend and I were planning; however, it stopped because of the pandemic. I am hoping for it to happen.

• You like traveling and have been to Annapurna Base Camp. Could you please share more about your experience or any amazing travel experience you had?

Annapurna Base Camp was a memorable experience. It happened maybe also because I hail from Pokhara. I had earlier tried to trek to ABC, but I reached only till Ghandruk. The second time it was unplanned and just happened. It was a fun time.

My favorite travel experience has to be Bali. Some people like mountains while some like oceans. I like the ocean. I love the sound of the waves and the tides. I enjoy spending time alone in the ocean, but sadly we don’t have one in our country. I have been to beaches in Thailand, but I preferred Bali a lot more. I guess it is their folk music and dances. The music and instrument were like eastern classical fusion, but it was different in its own way. It had to be one of the best experiences. I want to go back again and will definitely go once the pandemic settles down.

• On a lighter note, if you had a choice of superpowers, what would you want?

I think I would want to have something related to the ocean. The ocean is grand and wonderful. I want the power to explore it. I hope to have a superpower where I will breathe in the ocean and the land.

•  What are your upcoming plan and advice to the upcoming musicians?

I have loved exploring new music. Folk music is something I have been quite interested in recently. There are so many musicians and musical instruments in Nepal which have never been in the limelight. Sometimes my foreign friends got astonished looking at the folk, tribal Nepali music, and their instruments. I really want to learn these new instruments and styles. It is easy to learn the mainstream style and instrument, but I really want to learn the ones which are great but overlooked. I also wish to create a fusion by mixing these mainstream and non-mainstream traditional instruments together.

Everyone has their own journey, and I wish all the upcoming passionate artists success. I want to share a bit of my experience; I initially began my career doing covers which kind of had a backslash on me. I so depended on my practice of cover songs, I had a tough time to bring my authentic writing and creativity out. It helped me in some ways, obviously, but I regret not expanding my creative boundaries since the very beginning. So to the upcoming artists, instead of trying to follow someone’s styles, try expanding your own horizon. It is important to learn from others, but also important to make your own road. I just hope others don’t have to go through what I had to.