Nepali rock

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The rock music scene of Nepal originated with the arrival of Hippies in the Kathmandu valley. The prime scene of Rock as well as Rock and Roll during those days used to be Jhochhen aka 'Freak Street' notorious for its marijuana and narcotics which attracted many a psychedelic rockers during the 70s. The first recorded Rock and Roll song of Nepal is "Diunlaa" by Kumar Basnet. The pioneers of Nepalese Rock scene were Mukti Shakya, Dev Rana (drummer) and various other singers and bands who emerged in the Freak Street scene in the Hippie era. With the advent of time, the rock scene in Nepal changed from the early rock to Punk and Metal. However, most of the bands that performed during metal era didn't produce much originals and covered the songs of the West. Most notable of these bands are Wrathchild who were deeply influenced by Iron Maiden. The present scene music of Nepal includes several popular rock and roll bands, including Nepathya, Robin N Looza, Mukti and Revival, and the long-running Cobweb. There has also been a surge in local rock/metal bands with the emergence of numerous bands like Nastik, X-mantra and Albatross and more recently Cruentus, Atomic Bush, Blood Blisters, HMG's Ministry of Rock, Vhumi, Arachnids, Night, Angel Dust, Cryptic Violence, Ushma Beg and many others. An indie rock scene has also emerged, with punk bands like "Rai Ko Ris", with singer and bass player Sareena Rai, leading the way to a nascent DIY movement. Further more, an alternative rock band like VEDH has emerged in Nepali rock music scene.

The Kathmandu valley is the musical center of Rock and Metal scene in Nepal. The Nepali rock scene has been directly promoted and enhanced by a new organization KtmRocks which produces Magazines for the promotion of Nepali Rock and Metal scene. Many new bands has emerged around in Kathmandu valley since the KtmRocks started. Most of these bands are highly influenced from foreign metal scene. These bands play gigs and concert from time to time in the underground scene. The rock and metal scenes are evolving in Nepal with much improvement in quality and performance, but the metal and rock music are still not as popular as pop or traditional Nepali folk music. Many bands emerged after the 20th century with genres like alternative, progressive rock, punk, etc. but most of the bands are unable to exist in the musical environment of Nepal.

The most prominent Rock artists/band in Nepal are 1974 AD, Nepathya and Mukti and Revival. New artists are emrging with the emergence of media. Rock music is played in most of the colleges and concerts in towns.

On December 18, 2006 RockMandu.com organized the event "Kathmandu Blues 2006" for the promotion blues and blues based rock. All together five bands performed in the show: viz. Looza: Jocose, Spirits, Nekhvam and Resonance. The Spirits opened the show with a blues melody and the show was ended by a jam session of various artists present there.