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Sunita Gurung on bringing the sarangi to the festival main stage
The Pokhara musician talks about learning from Gandharba masters, remixing lok geet and why tradition should never be kept behind glass.
By Prerana Shrestha
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Sunita Gurung first picked up a sarangi at eleven, taught by a Gandharba musician who played for tourists on the Pokhara lakeside. Two decades later, she's filling festival main stages with a sound that fuses lok geet, dub basslines and field recordings from the Annapurna foothills.
On learning the instrument
"My teacher never wrote anything down. He'd play a phrase, and I'd copy it until my fingers bled. That's how the music survived — person to person."
On fusion
"People ask if mixing electronics with folk is disrespectful. I think keeping it in a museum is more disrespectful. These songs were always meant to move."
What's next
Sunita is recording a new EP, Ghatu, with Bhairav Beats and plans a residency programme that pairs young producers with traditional musicians.
She headlines the first night of the Jhamsikhel Sessions this November.
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Ghatu (Dub) — Sunita Gurung