Define Mental, Redefining Music

The Nepali underground music scene is becoming quite popular with an increase in the formation of and performances by new bands. There are many young music enthusiasts in the capital, Pokhara and indeed all around the country. Four enthusiastic musicians from White House College who previously jammed just for college functions, decided to continue making music together. And with that thought the band – ‘Define Mental’ came into being. First performing one year back at an underground gig, Define Metal has since taken part in band competitions, including a win at last years Qmost of the gigs organised by the local scene.

Here, we catch up with the bassist of the band, Prashant Maharjan, for a quick glimpse into the start of Define Mental’s short career.

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Members:
Samyam Shrestha ( Session Vocals) Dipesh Shrestha (Guitars)
Yudhir Gautam (Guitars)
Prashant Maharjan (Bass)
Surya Pun (Drums)
Past member:
Sulav Nepal (Vocals)
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How did you come up with the band name?

The band name came up an interesting and an easy way. We were just watching Shutter Island and then on a particular scene there’s a line with ‘define mental’, so, there you are.

What type of band are you?

Well, we haven’t exactly specified a genre for our band as we are experimenting with different sub genres of Death Metal. Each song we compose is different in one way or the other so I think it is a bit too early to be genre specific.

What are your major influences?

There are too many to mention actually. All of us have similar influences but if we have to name, Decapitated and Dying Fetus would be the first two names that will hit our head.

Who writes the songs?

As far as lyrics is concerned Sulav (our previous vocalist) was responsible, but now he has left for India. So right now we’re auditioning new vocalists who are also good with words. As far as the music is concerned, Yudhir and Dipesh (the guitarists) come up with a certain riff pattern and we improvise on them during  practice sessions.

Any say on the importance of crowd appreciation? 

Yes, very important keeping in mind that we’re a developing band. And as far as our performances are concerned we don’t think we have disappointed the crowd at any performance on any level. But that doesn’t mean we’re not trying to improve, we are and will certainly get better on each performance.

Is there anybody outside the band members and crowd that have played roles in supporting the band?

Yes, we have ktmROCKS that has been there from the very beginning with us. We also have another group Mortem; these two organizations have been organizing gigs at different periods which are always a good thing to us and other new bands.

Have you toured outside the valley?

No, not yet, but we are planning to play in Pokhara sometime soon and if things get better for us we will certainly go to other places too.

What are the bands future plans?

Right now it’s just practice and perform. We haven’t thought about anything big right now, but we are working on originals to come up with an EP (soon – hopefully).

At last, is there anything you’d like the readers to know?

Just want to say that you are the people, so, support your local scene, support the bands, and support the music. That’s pretty much it.