Nepali Band Kutumba:
Unifying through music
Unifying through music
By Jonathan Gramling
Tucked away in the Himalayan Mountains is the nation of Nepal,
which until relatively recently, was composed of dozens of
kingdoms. It hasn’t ever been a very unified country with over 60
ethnic groups and three distinct geographical regions: the plains,
the foothills and the Himalayans. And while it has its distinct
traditions, it has hardly been isolated form the musical currents of
the global music scene.
“Most of the younger generation isn’t following folk instruments and
music,” said Arun Manandhar, a member of Kutumba, which will be
playing in Madison October 20. “The younger generations in Nepal
are more into flashy things like Western music and guitars and
drums and rap music. Everyone is attracted to Western music.”
And as Western music took over, traditional forms of music were
Tucked away in the Himalayan Mountains is the nation of Nepal,
which until relatively recently, was composed of dozens of
kingdoms. It hasn’t ever been a very unified country with over 60
ethnic groups and three distinct geographical regions: the plains,
the foothills and the Himalayans. And while it has its distinct
traditions, it has hardly been isolated form the musical currents of
the global music scene.
“Most of the younger generation isn’t following folk instruments and
music,” said Arun Manandhar, a member of Kutumba, which will be
playing in Madison October 20. “The younger generations in Nepal
are more into flashy things like Western music and guitars and
drums and rap music. Everyone is attracted to Western music.”
And as Western music took over, traditional forms of music were
Rubin Kumar Shrestha (l-r), Arun Manandhar,
Kiran Nepali, Siddhartha Maharjan, Raju Maharjan,
Pavit Maharjan
Kiran Nepali, Siddhartha Maharjan, Raju Maharjan,
Pavit Maharjan
fading away.
“My whole family is a musical family,” said Kiran Nepali. “They have known folk music for generations. But I was left behind
and I got into Western music. Later on, I realized that there were a lot of different things in the traditions and the
instruments were dying in my own family. So I picked up my own instrument and started to play. I play the sarangi, a kind of
fiddle.”
About eight years ago, Manandhar, Nepali and four other music teachers came together to learn the traditional music and
instruments and formed Kutumba, which stands for a unique bond among community members.
As they worked to preserve the musical traditions, it became a daunting task due to all of the ethnic groups that call Nepal
home.
“Each and every ethnic group had their own identity, their own music, their own understanding and their own culture,”
Nepali said. “So we had to do something to understand that. We got to travel in the plains and the hills. We also travelled
east and west of Nepal, traveling with our music. When we went to the plains, the basic idea was to incorporate them into
our music and perform together. We performed their music and they also performed our music. So there was a bonding
between two cultures, two traditions and two regions.”
When Nepal was experiencing some ethnic tension and violence, they went to a city in the plains, which is primarily
inhabited by Indians as India borders Nepal to the south. They went to carry the message of peace.
“We really felt that we could do something through our music,” said Pavit Maharjan. “We were there because of our music.
We were asked to make a peace song because they saw all of Nepal in us. It was very appropriate for us to go into places
and talk about peace. Nobody wanted other bands to come and perform for them. We were acceptable for everyone. We
could go into communities and talk about music and translate that to peace. We went there and told them that we wanted
to perform for them. We wanted to learn their music. We went there and started learning. We stayed there for a whole
week. And we performed in front of them, thousands of people. They said that we were first instrumental band in the
history to perform like that in Nepal. We perform some Muslim music. It was an instrumental concert and there were
thousands of people. They used to have a concert there, but something happened, perhaps fighting started. After we
performed the Muslim music, we switched to very popular healing music and everyone started dancing.”
Since that time, Kutumba has travelled the country, learning the instruments and the music of the many cultures and
bringing a sense of unity to Nepal through the music.
Kutumba brought their “traditional music with a rock attitude” to Mills Hall in the UW Humanities Building last October 20.
Proceeds from the show will be used to sustain the Jyotidaya Cooperative School in Nepal.
“My whole family is a musical family,” said Kiran Nepali. “They have known folk music for generations. But I was left behind
and I got into Western music. Later on, I realized that there were a lot of different things in the traditions and the
instruments were dying in my own family. So I picked up my own instrument and started to play. I play the sarangi, a kind of
fiddle.”
About eight years ago, Manandhar, Nepali and four other music teachers came together to learn the traditional music and
instruments and formed Kutumba, which stands for a unique bond among community members.
As they worked to preserve the musical traditions, it became a daunting task due to all of the ethnic groups that call Nepal
home.
“Each and every ethnic group had their own identity, their own music, their own understanding and their own culture,”
Nepali said. “So we had to do something to understand that. We got to travel in the plains and the hills. We also travelled
east and west of Nepal, traveling with our music. When we went to the plains, the basic idea was to incorporate them into
our music and perform together. We performed their music and they also performed our music. So there was a bonding
between two cultures, two traditions and two regions.”
When Nepal was experiencing some ethnic tension and violence, they went to a city in the plains, which is primarily
inhabited by Indians as India borders Nepal to the south. They went to carry the message of peace.
“We really felt that we could do something through our music,” said Pavit Maharjan. “We were there because of our music.
We were asked to make a peace song because they saw all of Nepal in us. It was very appropriate for us to go into places
and talk about peace. Nobody wanted other bands to come and perform for them. We were acceptable for everyone. We
could go into communities and talk about music and translate that to peace. We went there and told them that we wanted
to perform for them. We wanted to learn their music. We went there and started learning. We stayed there for a whole
week. And we performed in front of them, thousands of people. They said that we were first instrumental band in the
history to perform like that in Nepal. We perform some Muslim music. It was an instrumental concert and there were
thousands of people. They used to have a concert there, but something happened, perhaps fighting started. After we
performed the Muslim music, we switched to very popular healing music and everyone started dancing.”
Since that time, Kutumba has travelled the country, learning the instruments and the music of the many cultures and
bringing a sense of unity to Nepal through the music.
Kutumba brought their “traditional music with a rock attitude” to Mills Hall in the UW Humanities Building last October 20.
Proceeds from the show will be used to sustain the Jyotidaya Cooperative School in Nepal.