Stairs of Cirith | Artists To Watch

Ever since I've known Bhavin Pradhan, I've only always associated his lanky, shabby-haired self with a guitar. So much so that I fear he will live his next life actually being one. Under normal circumstances an obsession with an instrument may seem a little balmy, but it takes knowing people like Bhavin, who are so adherent to their craft, to believe that there can exist a strangely intimate relationship with the instrument one plays.

"Our band was formed when a group of people just like me got together. We love what we play and therefore wanted to help each other exploit our skills further," says Bhavin, guitarist for the band, Stairs of Cirith. Judging by their name, it's difficult to not typecast these 19 and 20 year olds as a hardcore, heavy metal band, but Bhavin laughs about this saying, "The name is completely bogus, we're all great fans of the Lord of the Rings, please don't write about it." He claims they fit best into the 'experimental rock' category considering the variation of music they are influenced by, from classical ragas to anything modern. He adds that it is important for them to accept a wide variety of music because it helps create different types of ideas and sounds.

The Nepali music industry offers very little space to bands like Stairs of Cirith and there are very few who take their kind of music seriously. But it doesn't stop these lads from chasing after their passion, says Yuskey KC, who does vocals for the band, "At least we're not sacrificing our music for air-play and money-oriented purposes like commercial bands are. We keep our work authentic and that's what's important."

Being in a band may have its highs but it also has demerits. Mostly, the pressure takes its toll on them during practice sessions. With all kinds of different ideas floating around the room, wanting to be used, practice can often get intense and sweaty. Says bassist Kritagyan R Shrestha, of this, "In a way, its good that we are feisty and egoistic otherwise we'd just be a mere group of people following someone's lead without thinking and analysing for ourselves."

Everything is going well for the band. They meet, they compose, play, do gigs, and will even be recording soon, even though as students the 'money' part of it all is a major problem. But of the future they don't know. "Our social network consists widely of people we can musically relate to, but the problem is there are very few," says Bhavin, "most new bands that have emerged don't have the same hunger, and vigour we have for music." But whatever the future be, they agree with us that for now Stairs of Cirith is certainly a band to watch out for.