Track: Syndicate. Views: 3,527,781
Track: Asaar. Views: 2,651,424
Track: Ram Sailee. Views: 1,823,311

DO RE MI...

Bipul Chettri, 35

Hometown: Kalimpong

Now based in: Delhi

Besides music: Heads the arts department at the Vasant Valley School in New Delhi

Degree: He holds an LTCL (Licentiate of Trinity College, London) degree in classical guitar

Affiliation: Gibson India

Stream now: Syndicate, Asaar, Ram Sailee, Wildfire, Deorali Darah

Bollywood trailers often fail to manage these YouTube view rates. But a 35-year-old from Kalimpong — singing “simple human stories” — inhales-exhales such YT figures with every other track. If you have not streamed Bipul Chettri, you’re missing out on some great music. He sings in Nepali but his appeal is universal. His pop sounds are all that you need to hear this weekend, either live in Shillong at Bacardi NH7 Weekender, in association with t2, or through your earphone. 
Here’s more from the man (he has already toured the US, the UK and Australia) t2 is streaming for the last couple of weeks.

How come you don’t perform in Calcutta? When was the last time you visited the city?
That’s because we have not had any invitations to come and play in this beautiful city yet. We would love to perform there as we have a lot of following in this part of the country as well. The last time I was in Calcutta was in 2012 to attend the Calcutta Classical Guitar Festival. I love the old-school vibe and buzz of the city.

All your songs are in Nepali. How do you connect with non-Nepali audiences?
I honestly do not know. But for me, music is not only in the lyrics but the melody, which is universal and does not need interpretations. We love listening to African and Latin American music without understanding a word of the language… mostly. So I guess it works in the same way with Nepali music as well. I have no plans to record any English language tunes as yet but one never knows.

Your music comes across as folk fused with contemporary elements. How would you define your sound? 
I don’t deliberately sit down to write the kind of music I am making. It usually comes across as such, so I can’t define it myself. At the moment, like you said, it sounds like contemporary folk but the next tune from me could be something entirely different. 

Political turmoil and the hills. Does that find expression in your music?
I am only two albums old, songs from which are mostly simple human stories and mostly apolitical.

Love, the rains, the hills....
That is the part of life I left behind to look for work in the city so all those elements of life are the ones I miss the most, which is why I have written about them. The freedom to roam and walk the hills is what I miss about my childhood.

What was growing up in Kalimpong like?
Life in Kalimpong, especially during my growing-up years, was much simpler and uncomplicated. The Internet had not reached us as yet.

On a lighter note, which would you recommend to tourists — Kalimpong or Darjeeling?
Darjeeling has been the queen of the hills and everybody, and his brother and sister, has visited it at least once if not more. Kalimpong has always been ignored, mostly. So for once, I will have to be biased and say Kalimpong, because tourists usually give it only the cursory day visit and head off to either Sikkim or Darjeeling, while it surely deserves much more than a day.

Do you think Darjeeling is overlooked by concert organisers?
The mainstream music media has overlooked Darjeeling for a very long time considering the number of quality musicians it produces. The organisers know the kind of requirements and logistics needed to put up a festival of this magnitude.

You will perform this weekend at Bacardi NH7 Weekender. Do you remember the first time you attended the festival?
The NH7 Weekender festival for me means the biggest music festival in India. I have not seen or attended anything that is organised on this scale. The first time I attended it was during the 2015 festival when we performed in Delhi and Pune.

Your progress from Sketches of Darjeeling (2014) to Maya (2016) means....
The past two years between the two albums has been a life-changing experience for me. I would have never imagined that our music would be listened to by so many. I think working with musicians with their own different styles has also helped me tremendously apart from the experience of travelling and performing live which is why the second album was so much easier to produce... I had the confidence and support of some great people with me.

Stories behind the hits

Syndicate: It was written after a trip back to Delhi from Kalimpong. The vehicle reservation office in our part of the hills is referred to as the ‘Syndicate’ which is where I got the idea of writing this story of a person being infatuated by someone he sees at this place. It works as a metaphor of all of us travelling our own paths and seeing or meeting someone that just catches your attention for a brief span of time. 

Asaar: The sound and clatter of the raindrops on a tin roof during the monsoons in the hills was something I wanted to capture in a song, which is how Asaar came about.

Ram Sailee: It was a piece written by my father, who passed away when I was quite young. I only knew the lyrics for half of the song so I had to write the rest to complete it.

Wildfire: It was the first tune I wrote in Nepali. I grew up seeing wildfires in the hills and the sight of it, especially in the night, gave me a feeling... sometimes visually stunning yet surreal and sometimes scary. So that is one of the images I carried in my head for a very long time and used it as a metaphor for that song.

I listen to Bipul Chettri because…. Tell t2@abp.in