Rag N Roll with Nilesh Joshi (Cobweb)
Rag N Roll with Nilesh Joshi (Cobweb)
(Appeared on KtmROCKS Issue 12)
Q: Which band do you think is the best (past, present, future?) in the Local Scene?
I think Mukti and Revival and Robin N Looza: of the past, Strings and Looza: in the present and Cruentus in the future. I also see a great future in Rohit Banmali as a singer.
Q: What is the first ever album you bought? Do you still have it?
I bought Metallica’s Black album and then bought And Justice for All. I am sure I still have the tape of Black album but not sure about the other album.
Q: Who is your idol as a musician?
It has to be Slash. He’s the one that inspired me actually. But later on when I started to listen music seriously, it was Deep Purple’s Ian Glover and I also have to add Steve Harris of Iron Maiden.
Q: What’s the first ever song that you listened and you instantly thought of learning bass guitar?
I never planned out to be a bass guitarist.. Dibesh told me – oye ta bass baja hai and that’s how I got into playing bass. I was in Class Nine when I started learning guitar and then we formed the band. Dibesh instantly told me to hold bass instead of guitar and from then on, I started playing it. So it was not any song in particular that made me think of learning bass.. but it was the band.
Q: What was the first song that you were able to play bass on?
Born to be Wild by Stephan Wolf – that has to be the one.
Q: Which band are you so over with that you don’t want to listen to their any new song/album?
There are some which I absolutely hate to listen.. even when others insist they are great, like Rod Stewart. I wouldn’t want to here any Rod Stewart song.
Q: Make a Top 5 list of your favorite bass guitarists.
Ian Glover (Deep Purple), Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Flea (RHCP), Billy Shehaan (Mr Big) and Roshan dai of Revival. If I have to mention some more from our local scene, Lakchman Shrestha (Lachu dai) – he doesn’t have any particular band but he’s one of the best. Rajan Shrestha of Atomic Bush is also another great upcoming bass guitarist.
Q: Which band/artist would you kill to play/jam with?
Deep Purple or Iron Maiden.
Q: Which mainstream band/artist in our Nepali scene should call it a day?
I don’t want to name and shame any particular band or artists. I’ve seen so many pathetic bands coming to studio with Rs. 40,000 and they have Dibesh Mulmi compose and arrange and record their albums. And there are so many so called rappers and hip hop artists who are absolute joke.
Q: What is your dream bass guitar/gear or setup?
I would love to own a Fender 5 string bass. I would also love to have a Marshall JCM 66 amp or may be an Ampage. As for gear I normally don’t use any other extra, but sometimes I use an equalizer. I would also love to have a compressor.
Q: Why do you think bass guitarist is important in the band?
In my opinion, a bass guitarist has mainly two jobs – to control the drums and to support the guitars and vocals by laying a foundation for them to play solo or sing along. Now if the drummer is not steady, the whole band will sound stupid, timing gandagool bhai halcha. It’s like the bass is the one which controls the drums and at the same time makes room for guitars or any other instrument to flow. So the relationship between the drummer and the bassist is like that on nail and flesh. If the combination is not working and there’s no chemistry between the drummer and the bassist, that eventually won’t work for the band, band nai gandagool bhai halcha.
Q: What’s the best thing that ever happened with you as a musician?
Dherai chan yaar best things.. malai bhanda pani maile garda mera sathi haru lai dherai ramailo gareko chu.. ma jhyaap bhayo bhaney atti harami cha ni. Hongkong tour has so many good memories, Pokhara Tour has some great moments as well. There are so many ‘best’ things.
Q: And the worst thing?
There are some.. the truth is none of us can play without drinking some amount of ‘rakshi’. Until we have some ‘rakshi’ there will be no mood nor any feel. I can’t even move my hands hahaha.. that’s a joke. Anyways, one time we decided to smoke ‘grass’ instead of drinking ‘rakshi’ and then went over stage to play. I thought we started by playing Highway Star but somehow in the middle Dibesh was playing guitar solo of Rock Bottom. I was playing something I didn’t know and the rest of the band were all in their own universe. That performance was the most embarrassing one in our career and that’s the worst thing that ever happened.
Q: You used to have a long hair, why it’s not long anymore?
Well, I didn’t know how to take care of my long hair. And since I was a huge fan of Slash, I wanted to have curly hair just like his. So I pumped the hair and somehow had it like his. I couldn’t take enough care though. And then the cops had me one day, took me on a trip in their van for the whole day and had my hair cut and let me go. But as you can see, I’m growing it longer again. May be this time, I will make sure I take care of my hair.
Q: Who do you think is a better bass guitarist- You or Riju Tuladhar? Please explain.
Of course Riju. His technique is khatara (superb). I have a very limited skill and since I don’t listen to varied forms of music much, I don’t have wider knowledge. Riju has ear for every form of music, he has much better ideas, obviously, than me.
Q: Generally in a band, there is a huge chance of a member turning out to be a real jerk. Usually, who is the jerk in the band – guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, drummer or the vocalist?
I think bassists are the jerks in the band most of the time; I am the jerk in Cobweb hahaha. I am the super-thish in the band. In other bands, it’s the vocalist most of the times. Keyboardist haru chai teti thish hudaina jasto lagcha – praya keyboardist haru sabai sojho sojho lagcha. And then most of the drummers are also jerks.. a different kind of jerks – like stubborn jerks, eekohoro thish. Ani chaal napai kana chai lead guitarist haru pani huncha thish, especially if the guitarist and the vocalist is the same person. (Sarcastic laughs all around.)
Q: Do you ever get annoyed that you don’t get to play any bass solos in the songs?
The truth is I don’t know how to play any bass solo. May be little short ones while jamming but I really don’t know how to do solos. One of the best I’ve seen who can play solo on bass is Roshan of Revival. Riju ra ma eutai dyang ko.. Riju is better than me in fact. He can play bass solos but I really can’t.
Q: We’ve heard that you once practiced playing bass with violin bow, why don’t you do that in live? Is it because that Dibesh Mulmi will get pissed with you?
How come you know about this incident huh? This has happened once in our practice room and no one ever knows about this. (I assured him that this was just a big coincidence.) Yeah I once tried to play bass with the bow. I had my bass through the Distortion and was fiddling with the bow and then Dibesh came right to me and snatched the bow – “khoi mero bow le, taile bigari dinchas”. He was really pissed off. Ek choti bow diyera tesko ke bigrincha ra? Maile bow bigarcha re hahaha. Aba tyo sadhey (bull) le po khet jotcha, wild elephant lai khet jotna layo bhaney ke huncha? Tahas nahas nai pari dincha ni. Testai parey ma pani. So I think he should play with bow. But I have that desire to play with bow some day and I’m sure Dibesh will get pissed if I do.
Q: Which song do you always listen to when you are depressed and lonely?
Some times I listen to hindi songs as well.. but my all time favorite songs to listen when I’m depressed and lonely are Ozzy Osbourne’s She’s Gone and Changes. Ekdaam ekdaam ekdaam nai maan parcha. And also Mama I’m Coming Home, whenever I’m not just sad but feeling dull. She’s Gone jasto ramro slow type ma ta sayadai kuani aru geet suneko chaina hola maile.
Q: When do you get depressed and lonely?
Two reasons – one when my girlfriend scolds me and because of dance bars in Thamel. We cannot play live even past 10 pm because of those dance bars. Ani depressed hudaina ta? And naturally my girlfriend fights with me or scolds me, I get depressed – whole day nai depressed hunchu ni. There are some more reasons but I can’t say that on this interview, if my girlfriend reads it, I am dead.
Q: Are there any songs that make you really horny? If yes, can you recommend us some?
Katara Katara Katara.
Q: What?
La.. don’t you know this song? It’s of this hindi movie “Love in Nepal” with our Miss Nepal Jharana Bajracharya. Yesto babbal geet cha yo, teshai horny bhai halcha ni. Jaal raha hai mera badan.. la ekdam famous geet ho ni. It’s not because of that girl I must admit, it’s the song. Geet sunna satha maan ma umanga ko fuul fulcha bhanya. Atti horny banai dincha. It’s like when you fall in love, you see roses everywhere but when you listen to this song, different khalko fuul fulcha.. kadhai kadha umardincha ni.
Q: If you were threatened for your life and had to play bass guitar in the backing band of options a) Nabin Bhattarai, b)Sugam Pokheral, c) Kamal Man Singh – which one would you choose?
I would rather die than play with any one of these people. If I don’t die, I would quit playing bass guitar. I’ve had enough of playing bass for the backing band of Sanjeeb Pradhan, Prakash Shrestha, Kumar Basnet, Deepak Bajracharya and so many others but now I’ve had enough. We’ve even played for Kandhara.. the worst we ever played with.
Q: Isn’t Kandhara a band itself?
Naam po band ta.. tish hajar (30,000) pay gara, timi pani band. I hated playing for Kandhara. And I prey that I would never have to play for Dhiraj Rai, I would die one more time.
Q: What do you think you would be doing in 20 years time?
I would still be in music if I don’t die in another 20 years. I would be learning guitar with Riju.
Q: Any regrets that you picked up bass?
Not at all.. no regrets at all. When I picked up bass, I didn’t know what it was. After all these year, now I think I am learning to play bass guitar. Me and Riju play to each other whenever we are free and I have never even bothered to think – hya kina bass bajako hola maile. This has been the right thing for me.. no regrets.
Pics/Text by : Umes Shrestha