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Inside The Kathmandu Drift’s DIY studio above a Thamel momo shop
Egg cartons on the walls, a borrowed tape machine and a lot of stubbornness: how Nepal's most-hyped indie band made their second record themselves.
By Kiran Adhikari
Published
Climb three flights of stairs past the steam of a momo kitchen in Thamel and you'll find the room where The Kathmandu Drift made their second album, Loadshedding Lullabies.
"We couldn't afford to wait"
"Studio time in Kathmandu is expensive, and we write slowly," says guitarist Nirajan Maharjan. "So we built our own. Badly, at first."
The band soundproofed the room with egg cartons and old carpets, borrowed a four-track tape machine from a Jawalakhel collector and learned to mix from YouTube tutorials.
The songs
The album moves from jangly, sunlit guitar pop to long, droning closers that recall the city's power cuts of the 2000s — hence the title.
- "Ring Road" — the lead single, already a staple of Kathmandu cafés
- "Candlelight Homework" — a nostalgic slow-burner
- "Basantapur, 2 AM" — seven minutes of feedback and field recordings
"Every hum and hiss on this record is real. That's the sound of this city." — Rojina Tamang, vocals
Loadshedding Lullabies is out on the band's own label, Drift Records.
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Loadshedding Lullabies