Courtesy of Surendra Man Singh

Biography--Prawin Adhikari

Surendra Man Singh hails from Kirtipur, the old city south of Kathmandu. Although he started his schooling at James Harvey School in India, he joined LRI School from the fifth grade and then continued his education at Manjushree School.

He had grown used to the music program at James Harvey School, where he found both the passion and the skills for music. To his dismay, Nepali schools were lacking in such opportunities. Surendra simply devoted himself to regular studies, keeping his musical inclinations and ambitions on hold for the while. After finishing the 9th grade, he moved to Birgunj with his parents who were employed there.

Birgunj showed Surendra how an active community could contribute to the musical growth ofan aspirant—locals in Birgunj seemed more involved in singing and music in general. Surendra got opportunities to watch bands practice and perform. But he was a reserved person, at least initially—he couldn’t muster the courage to tell these bands that he too was interested in performing.

About the members of his band—Surendra Man Singh, who would have been a businessman if he hadn’t gotten into music, is the Executive Director of a company named Chroma Multimedia. Basudev Shrestha and Prashant Maharjan, the remaining two of the trio, are students. Although they all took up music as a whim, their seriousness and dedication made them form a band. Surendra Man Singh has been actively involved in music since 1996.

Surendra thinks that it is a good thing that so many bands are coming up in the musical scene—it makes for a more competitive and diverse market, which only helps make the music industry better. As artists get pushed creatively by the challenging competitiveness of the market, the musical creations become better and better. It is especially good for the Nepali music lovers, as more and more of the upcoming talented artists come with training and knowledge, and not simply raw enthusiasm.

Surendra finds that the recording facilities and technical quality available to artists in Nepal have improved greatly in the past 10 years, although, obviously, it isn’t up to par with the best recording industries globally. This is still encouraging to the artists, he says, as added edge of quality also helps the artists find greater reaches of their creativity.

It helps for a band to keep a good working relationship with other bands, as the music scene in Nepal throws many bands together for performances. “Karma” band enjoys a healthy relathinship with other bands.

“Karma” writes music that is informed by Nepali folk, but is played with western influence—so, their music is a blend of Nepali elements with western influences. “Bit of a fusion,” is how Surendra likes to characterize his music. His hit song “Hukka Mero” is a Tamang Selo played with Blues pattern. It is meant to entertain everyone—like the folk duets of our indigenous lok-dohori. “Karma” spent two entire months in the recording studio to come up with their first album—everything was recorded live from acoustic instruments, as opposed to the hordes of synthesized tracks that hardly take three or four days to compose and arrange. Surendra Man Singh like the song “Hukka Mero,” but that isn’t his only favorite—he also likes Maunta and the title song Karma.

Although he is a popular music personality through his songs, very few people on the streets of Kathmandu recognize him. That should be remedied by the release of his next album titled SMS—for Surendra Man Singh, or Short Message Song, or the SMS of mobile phones—you take your pick. After a few of his band members left, Surendra Man Singh has been working with his friends Prashant and Basu to complete this album, and he gives a lot of credit to them for their hard work and talent.

Copyright of intellectual property remains a hot topic among artists in Nepal. Everybody thinks introducing copyright legislations to protect the interest of the artists would help develop Nepali music, and Surendra Man Singh is no exception. He is worried about the lack of legislation to protect the artists, which results in piracy of musical works, leading to the loss of earning for the artist, and consequently, for the state. The sooner such legislations can be introduced, the better, he says.