Sanam Bhandari
March 14, 2014
Oral History Interview with Thile Thakali.
Thile Thakali is a Nepalese musician living in New York City. He came to the United States from Nepal in 2008 to live with his family. His involvement in music started when his brother created a rock band. He started playing the guitar when he was fourteen years old. He lived in a village in Nepal and one of his friends had a guitar. Thile gave him his lunch so, that he could take the guitar home and practice. He didn’t play the guitar professionally in Nepal because he did not have the opportunity to do so. There were no platforms in Nepal where he could perform.
In 2009 Thile and four of his friends got together to create the band normal academic. Two of the members are from Nepal and two are from Singapore. The band plays Punk rock music however, they have neither contributed nor have much knowledge about the punk rock scene in New York City. They have performed in New York City, Boston and Texas, mainly in front of a young Nepalese audience. The band gets together once a week on Mondays to practice. Thile says he only practices on Mondays because of his work schedule. They have performed in several events such as “Hiu Bhanda Chiso”(Colder than Snow), ANA (American Nepal association) and several other Nepali events. The band, for now, targets only Nepalese audiences. They love performing in NYC but, Thile prefers Austin, TX because more of the young Nepalese people live there.
Life in New York City can be very hectic and playing in the band is a way for Thile to release his tensions and to express himself. They started the band because they were inspired by the abundance of talent and the different types of music that people in NYC play. Because NYC is so diverse they incorporate different sounds into their music. Their music/songs are also inspired by the political conditions of Nepal. Also, Thile loves playing with his band as it gives him the freedom to express himself and to let go from the hectic life of NYC.
Thile is also doing projects apart from his band. He performs in Himalayan Yak, a Nepalese restaurant in Jackson heights. Because Jackson heights has a large population of Nepalese restaurants, many Nepalese go to Jackson heights to have a good time. Many Nepalese musicians play at these restaurants. They have an album and are working on their next one. They have also made a few music videos that are in YouTube. Their target audience is Nepalese aged 18-26.
There is no punk rock scene in Nepal and many people do not listen to or enjoy it. He told me about one time when they performed on Nepalese New Year and the crowd did not enjoy their music as much as they hoped they would. He was amazed to see so many street performers and by all the different types of music he got exposed to. His favorite bands are Rancid, Trash, Ramones, Green day, Blink 182 to name a few. He finds it amazing that NYC is a platform to so many musicians and that they have so many opportunities to excel in their field.
He says he wouldn’t have had a band and performed in front of a live audience had he not been in New York City.
This is well-timed, as we are reading about the Ramones this week! It’s interesting that Thile plays Nepalese music as well as punk. I wonder if his punk band sounds distinctive due to the influence of Nepalese melodies, chord progressions, rhythms, etc. To my knowledge, not many American punk bands are musically conversant in Nepalese music!