1974 A.D. Has Been Carrying On A Musical Legacy For Three Decades With The Ups And Downs These are the words that float in the minds of the members of the musical group 1974AD when they remember their 30-year journey. As the popular rock band celebrates its 30th anniversary, its members take a look at the joys of this musical journey and their relentless pursuit of sonic boundaries.
In 1992, with the meeting of Feroze Syangden and Nirakar Yakthumba, the band was formed. At that time, Feroze Gyanodaya was teaching music at the nursery school. The director of the school was Nirakar’s mother Indira Yakthumba. Nirakar was also practicing music. In this case, it was natural that they became close when they met Feroze, who taught music at his mother’s school. Gradually Feroze and Nirakar’s friendship grew stronger, and their meeting became musical. Friends were added. In 1994, they formally established a band and gave their first musical performance in Kathmandu.
The band took shape. Meanwhile, Manoj Kumar KC (guitar), Adrian Pradhan (vocals/drummer), Sanjay Shrestha (percussion) and Manoj Singh (flute) also joined. They are still part of the band. After their arrival, the band became complete, 1974 AD became a standard band of Nepali music. For 30 years, 1974 AD has been established as Nepal’s favorite rock band.
1974 AD has directly/indirectly influenced most contemporary Nepali musicians. Newcomer bands and artists want to be like 1974 AD. Especially the Nepali artists of the rock genre, Anuj Hoon or Agraj, sing and play songs from 1974 AD.
“30 years of collaboration is a big milestone for a band,” says singer-lyricist Vipul Chhetri, “Thank you for showing us the way.”
They say that this was possible due to the equal efforts of all the members of the band. “Despite our personal differences, miracles happen when we are together,” says the band’s percussionist Sanjay Shrestha.
Adding to Sanjay’s statement, the band’s lead guitarist Manoj Kumar KC says that they can create quality music because they follow the principles of music such as sur, tal, raga, and ragini. According to him, the first condition of quality music is to be theoretically strong. Creating quality music is like making a movie. Without a good script, a movie cannot be made well,” he said.
Speaking of creating music, Nirakar also appreciates the band’s collective ability to listen and understand music. “All members of the band are passionate about music,” he says, “we listen to a lot of music and analyze it and learn from it.”
But in 2014, the band broke up due to internal problems. It broke the hearts of millions of fans of 1974 AD for the second time. They were disappointed for the first time in 2009 when Feroze left the band and fled to America.
That’s why they consider it more of a family reunion than a band reunion. They say that after the reunion, they are more mature and their relationship with each other is stronger than before. In the journey of three decades, they have learned to know each other deeply and balance their differences. “The band has become stronger,” says Nirakar.
Along with the transformation in relationships, the band’s music-making process has also changed. Once upon a time, all the members of 1974 AD were in Nepal. But now only Manoj Kumar, Nirakar, and Sanjay are in Nepal. Feroze, Adrian, and Manoj are in America. When the sun rises here, night falls there. When night falls there, the sun shines. Due to this heterogeneity of ‘time zone’, a great challenge has been added to the creation of music.
If we look at the trend of Nepali bands, most of the singers are getting buzz. But in this sense, 1974 AD is completely different. Every member of the band is equally popular among sources. Nirakar says that all members of the band have earned equal publicity, “Our team is democratic.” During the composition of the music, we listen to everyone’s opinion and respect everyone’s opinion.
According to the band, whether in the studio or in concert, they give equal space and opportunity to all instruments. This is happening naturally, not on purpose. They give equal importance not only to music and words but also to rhythm. Manoj says, ‘Leading alone does not look good. We all have to shine together.
