Albatross
was born in the year 1999, when a couple of school boys from Tahachal
surrendered to the call of their pin up guitar gods and came together with
rusted guitars and other old instruments to transcend the sound of the Nepali
music scene. Evolved from a three-man school band, it has witnessed many many
line-up changes, each of which has significantly influenced the music which the
band creates.
Recorded at
Sacred Sounds (which was later known as BMI Sounds), the band’s first song got
some airplay in the local FM channels.
When Shirish
came on vocals, the band began to experiment with a different genre, covering
songs from Pearl Jam to Third Eye Blind. Albatross also recorded the song
“Hells Kitchen” for a compilation with other local bands and new acts titled
“Music Isle”. The song got a very positive response from listeners.
When Shirish
also left to go abroad, Diwas and Anurag (Raag) joined the band and recorded
its first demo album “Hi:Fly”. With Diwas’s wicked riffs and solos, combined
with Raag’s uncompromising vocals and occasional raps,
Albatross
were successful in accomplishing the sound it needed for the ten-track demo.
(Check out our discography to listen to the songs from “Hi:Fly” – its killer!)
After ‘Raag’
and riff master Diwas both left for America, the band experimented as a
three-man band for a while. They playing gigs with Inside 2 Stupid Triangle,
Nastik, Brutal etc all over Kathmandu and occasionally Pokhara as well, as the
underground scene started to emerge. During this phase the band merged with
Zakee and Saugar from Nastik and formed “Abbatoir”,a metal project, and
recorded five demos which are still unreleased.
After
Abbatoir, the band remained inactive for a while until Shirish’s return to
Nepal. It was then that “Jo Jus Sanga Sambandid Cha” happened; the band’s first
venture into Nepali song writing. The songs were recorded without any intention
to be released or marketed. But after its recording, the band was assisted by
Hamro Records and album was released. The public’s response to the album was incredible
and overwhelming. The song “Sacred” won the Hit’s FM’s Music Award for ‘Best
Foreign Song’ category that year.
However, the
band went into hibernation again as most of the band members left to go abroad.
During this time, Sunny played with “Shadows” for a while whereas Avaya gigged
with “The Joint Family”.
Now five
years later, with Shirish back on vocals, Sunny on guitar, Avaya on Bass and
new man Niraj on drums, Albatross has now come together to give their second
album “Atti Bhayo”. It is a collection of eight songs initiated and inspired by
each of our musical influences, our aspirations and our interests. We hope you
enjoy the songs.
