Favorite nepali song.Dedicated to my nepali friends
ABOUT THE BAND MEMBERS
Abhaya Subba
Band leader / Manager and singer of the band, Abhaya has been singing on stage since her school days and also featured as a moonlighting singer with Parikrama in India and was a member of Red Skywalkers and Punchtatva in Kathmandu. Besides singing she is also a decent pianist and a songwriter. Her inspiration and her driving force is her father who taught her everything she knows about music today. Her husband Kai Weise has given her luxury of being honest with her music giving her his undying support both financially and in spirit – If she seems uncompromising towards her music and the music industry – Kai is the one person who will not let her compromise.
Sanjit Tuladhar
He joined the band later when the bands drummer Sarik Bogati had to opt out due to time constraints. This young drummer had been playing with the band Pralaya which had disbanded about the time the Steam Injuns had a vacancy. His interest in music was initiated by his grandfather who was a classical musician. Sanjit learnt how to play the violin at a very young age but abandoned the instrument for his love for drums. His table tapping turned to real passion and soon he bought his own drum kit. His dedication and commitment towards the instrument makes him one of the drummers to look out for.
Rinchen Palzar
Having played as a lead guitarist for a well known band in Darjeeling, Rinchen was taking a break in Kathmandu and accidentally chanced upon Abhayay and the Steam Injuns who were looking for a bass guitarist. In an adventurous moment he decided to join the band as a bass guitarist. After playing the bass in the band for two years, the band members discovered how adept he was on the guitar and he now plays the lead guitar for the band. On a tour in Delhi for the SAARC band festival – A member of the Indian band Indian Ocean commented on his smooth guitar hand ‘He makes it look easy but we all know it ain’t’. He does not speak much but his guitar does all the talking.
Rajesh Shrestha
He has been playing bass for several bands such as Elysium, Cadenza and the outrageous Atomic Bush before he joined the band. Besides being a bass guitarist he has several interests such as photography, theatre, films and writing. His various interest enrich his understanding of music as a result of which his bass grooves are not only intelligent but also very emotive. He joined the band particularly given that they all had an insane passion to be part of the evolving process of nepali music.
NEW ALBUM:
Abhaya and the Steam Injuns have dedicated almost three years to come up with a new sound not only in view
of their rock image but also in context to the general Nepali music scenario. To those who have listened to their album recently released in Nepal and very soon to be released in Darjeeling, much has been made of their new and innovative sound. This band aspires to get Nepali melodies and instruments heard on a global stage. They believe that their music assumes s hybrid style, with Nepali melodies and rhythm dominating their sound.BAND HISTORY
The band began its musical quest on January 2nd, 2003 playing live gigs in hotels and lounge bars. It was essentially an acoustic blues band before it kicked off as a rock outfit. Lead singer Abhaya Subba Weise is the founder member of the band, while Rinchen Palzar who now plays the lead guitar joined the band in early 2004. Rajen Shrestha on the bass joined the band mid 2007 as also drummer Sanjit Tuladhar.
Abhaya had always been featured in well known bands such as Parikrama, Red Skywalkers and Punchtatva but what she had been seeking for was a band that would tilt towards her vision of making groundbreaking music. Their first self titled album, released in February 2005, was a runaway success and though the music was not exactly cutting edge the band managed to carve a niche for various reasons particularly given that they had a lady fronting the band who was having a marvelous time of it.
After much reshuffling of various band members it has come to pass that the current line has already released their second album in Nepal and soon to be released in Darjeeling Having met similarly inclined young musicians who are hungry to do more for the cause of Nepali music – Abhaya and the Steam Injuns are raring to blast off with their second album “NAYAN”.
SOURCE: BAND
Compiled by Diwaskar Chettri
