Harip Tatwo publishes debut album ‘Baacha’

By Mannu Shahi

Harip Tatwo is a five piece band with members hailing from Patan and Butwal, executing a blend of music influenced by subgenres of rock such as - indie, alternative, grunge and progressive. Although the band had initiated rehearsing and writing music since 2018, it was only after two years the lads surfaced as a musical outfit on digital platforms. 

In the second week of January 2020, Harip Tatwo performed their first ever concert as a group held at Beers N’ Cheers, Jhamsikhel. During this very event the quintet already had a bunch of original tunes in their arsenal and with all the individual members’ prior experience in the local music scene, the band radiated a promising stance 

from day one. 

Comprising Loc Punk on vocals, Monsoon Bishwokarma on guitars, Sudan Bajracharya on guitars, Sanjit Raj Shakya on bass and Bikee Rajkarnikar on drums, the quintet started building their online presence, posting raw snippets of their originals as well as bootlegs from their live shows. A month after their debut gig, the group bagged the opening slot for Rock Tandav alongside prominent acts like Jindaabad, Shree 3, 

ASM and Space.

And things were sailing smooth when the pandemic halted their plans but the group persevered through and released a video for their official debut single ‘Love, Precious’ on June, 2020 amidst the global lockdown. The video crafted by Suban Gurung combines clips of the band members, their friends, family and followers singing along to the tune. The audio is mixed and mastered by the outfit’s drummer Bikee Rajkarnikar.

This was followed by their second release ‘Astitwo Anyol’ published in December 2020, the members from the band are associated with a label called Audio Advent, and thus, all of their releases are publicized through the YouTube handle of the label. Their third single ‘Ahile Nasocha’ premiered in June 2021, featuring Ishan R. Onta (The Elements) on co-vocals and lyrics. A few months after normal life was gradually pacing up and the band was back again performing their music live in venues around 

and beyond Kathmandu.

After a year of partaking in various concerts, Harip Tatwo released their fourth single ‘Mokshya’ in February 2023, a continuation to the prior release ‘Ahile Nasocha’. Subsequent to this broadcast the band also performed in the third season of a live music session presented by Svana Studios in June, where they played a couple tunes. In October of the same year they were also featured in Ghar Ma Sessions presented by Highlander Pure White and Revolution TV. 

And last week on April 1, 2024, Harip Tatwo accumulated all of their released/ unreleased originals in an album and issued it as their debut entry titled “Baacha” (live). The band writes, “This album is a labor of our passion and love that we’ve been on since 2020. This is our story, this is us, this is who we are and this is where we give all of it to you. Naked and blunt, sharing with you all that we’ve learned.” 

The ten tracks of the album exhibit the group’s caliber as a well-knitted cluster of friends narrating their experiences, aspirations and world view in attempts of exploring their inner-selves and making sense of the world surrounding them. A few tracks in this conceptual entry are roughly based on the book The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom. In general all the featured tracks contain their special story and their distinct perspective, molding each track as an equally important piece of the chronicle. So, definitely listen to the album; share and 

support local musicians!