By Mannu Shahi

Mukti and Revival is one such band that needs no introduction to any person with even a remote inclination towards Nepali music. The group has been entertaining the nation since 1992 when their front person Mukti Shakya returned to Nepal from Spain with his wife and kids.
Immediately he formed the group under the same banner with Udesh Lal, Sushil Sthapit and Nabin Tamrakar as the original members. With a number personnel changes the current and most stagnant line-up of musicians remain Mukti Shakya on vocals and guitars, Roshan Kansakar on bass, Sunit Kansakar on guitars and Nikhil Tuladhar on drums.
With evergreen hits like Chaubandi Cholo, Dalli Resham, Kanchi Nani Blues, Nahera Malai and many more classics under their belt the band’s fusion approach of mixing American blues with Nepali folk musical elements has made their music relevant for generations of listeners. Touring in countries like USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, UK, Dubai, India and more their live music set is vibrant and quite captivating for rock fanatics worldwide. And over three decades of experience and six studio albums later these Nepali Blues legends are still vigorously moving forward and indulging in newer ventures to bring forth more variety for their audiences.
And throughout this lockdown Mukti and Revival have remained very active from their recently initiated Official Youtube Channel releasing videos, bootlegs and many more. Just a week ago the band premiered a live performance clip of them playing from Shakya’s yard as a virtual Tihar live session. The video clips are a gift from the band to the people of our country on the auspicious occasion of Tihar, Nhuu Da: ya Vintuna and Chhath. With the help of NEPA Music for sound and lights, Biru Man Prajapati, Nirendra Ranjit, Ujwol Moktan and Yuvraj Shrestha; the audio works were done by the band’s guitarist Sunit Kansakar (Rec Records); Rupak Raj Sunuwar, Bipin Tamang and Arun Gurung on camera duties; the video was published in partnership with Base Camp: Outdoor Lifestyle, Curilo, Kanta dAb dAb and Kutumba.
The release has been well-received by their followers crossing over 20k views in just a week, and a follow-up to this the band also issued one extra short clip from the same live setting with just the cut-out performance of their track Nhuu Da: ya Vintuna. So, do check out the videos and follow this dynamic group on your socials if you haven’t already.