It wasn't until we changed our name to Monkey Temple, that we gained recognition in the local music scene (I guess Swayambunath did prove lucky for us).
Playing mostly covers of Pearl Jam, Creed, Iron Maiden, Ugly Kid Joe, Fuel and often playing "Born to be Wild," the band has performed in many gigs including Everest on the Rock, K.A.T.H Unplugged, Slam City Jam, Eletric Circus, Metal day out, 25th anniversary of Nanglo café, Rockers on Parade, Spread love not virus concert (organized by FPAN). On several occasions the band has also performed some of their own numbers from their upcoming debut album "Black Bee And The Flower."
Band History:
The history of the formation of the band goes back to their school days. They had small jam up sessions in school between classes where Subodh and Sanjay would strum in the hollow guitar and the other mates swayed and sang to the familiar tunes. But they still hadn't found the vocals that they wanted until they discovered that the new boy in school Sareen had some talent and the band thought that he should be the one to handle the mic for their band. With Sareen taking up the mic and rhythm, Subodh playing the leads and riffs, Sanjay on bass and Devashish on drums the band "Bliss" came into being. They performed in school functions and other events. Later Sanjay grew a liking for the six strings, but with this came a shortage of a bassist in the band. They tried for a while to find a replacement bassist, performing with Nischal first and then with Prajjwal, until most recently settling for Avaya (also the bassist of Albatross). With the addition of Gaurav on the keyboard, the lineup for Monkey Temple, for the time being, was Sareen (vocals), Subodh (lead guitar), Sanjay (rhythm guitar), Devashish (drums), Gaurav (keyboard) and Avaya (bass). At the time, the band recorded a single "Stoned @ 920" which appeared on the Musik Isles Compilation Album. Also on several occasions the band preformed with Sirish (the ex-Albatross vocalist). If they had trouble finding the right bassist then they were up for another challenge as Sanjay (guitarist) decided to quit the band due to some personal reasons. But shortly, Monkey Temple was accompanied by Prashanta (guitarist of the band Mokshya). Prashant had been jamming up with the band for quite sometime and as Mokshya was splitting up, who else better to fit the description of someone to handle the six string for the band. With Prashant came a new music taste in the band as he is genuinely influenced by the progressive and neo-classical guitarist such as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Conrad Simon and so on. But despite the difference in the taste of music of the new guitarist, the band decided to make the most of it by successfully combining the virtuoso rock and the alternative rock and getting on to the jam session to their best. "The band is a team and to get the best out of that team, cooperation and mutual understanding within them is a must," adds Prashanta. Hence the present line up of the band is Sareen (vocals), Subodh (guitar), Prashanta (guitar), Devashish (drums), Gaurav (keyboard) and Avaya (bass)
Music is about our attitude and perspective towards every little aspect of our lives and about self satisfaction," adds Sareen representing purpose of the band, "and with the addition of Prashanta on the guitars, we are able to perform any kind of song on stage. With his speed and accuracy, techniques and apertures, the band has been able to reach new heights." The band indicates their influence as Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilot, Alice in Chains, Candlebox, Nixons, Iron Maiden, Led Zepplin, Ugly Kid Joe, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Silverchair, Goo Goo Dolls, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and so on.
Playing mostly covers of Pearl Jam, Creed, Iron Maiden, Ugly Kid Joe, Fuel and often playing "Born to be Wild," the band has performed in many gigs including Everest on the Rock, K.A.T.H Unplugged, Slam City Jam, Eletric Circus, Metal day out, 25th anniversary of Nanglo café, Rockers on Parade, Spread love not virus concert (organized by FPAN). On several occasions the band has also performed some of their own numbers from their upcoming debut album "Black Bee And The Flower."
Band History:
The history of the formation of the band goes back to their school days. They had small jam up sessions in school between classes where Subodh and Sanjay would strum in the hollow guitar and the other mates swayed and sang to the familiar tunes. But they still hadn't found the vocals that they wanted until they discovered that the new boy in school Sareen had some talent and the band thought that he should be the one to handle the mic for their band. With Sareen taking up the mic and rhythm, Subodh playing the leads and riffs, Sanjay on bass and Devashish on drums the band "Bliss" came into being. They performed in school functions and other events. Later Sanjay grew a liking for the six strings, but with this came a shortage of a bassist in the band. They tried for a while to find a replacement bassist, performing with Nischal first and then with Prajjwal, until most recently settling for Avaya (also the bassist of Albatross). With the addition of Gaurav on the keyboard, the lineup for Monkey Temple, for the time being, was Sareen (vocals), Subodh (lead guitar), Sanjay (rhythm guitar), Devashish (drums), Gaurav (keyboard) and Avaya (bass). At the time, the band recorded a single "Stoned @ 920" which appeared on the Musik Isles Compilation Album. Also on several occasions the band preformed with Sirish (the ex-Albatross vocalist). If they had trouble finding the right bassist then they were up for another challenge as Sanjay (guitarist) decided to quit the band due to some personal reasons. But shortly, Monkey Temple was accompanied by Prashanta (guitarist of the band Mokshya). Prashant had been jamming up with the band for quite sometime and as Mokshya was splitting up, who else better to fit the description of someone to handle the six string for the band. With Prashant came a new music taste in the band as he is genuinely influenced by the progressive and neo-classical guitarist such as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Conrad Simon and so on. But despite the difference in the taste of music of the new guitarist, the band decided to make the most of it by successfully combining the virtuoso rock and the alternative rock and getting on to the jam session to their best. "The band is a team and to get the best out of that team, cooperation and mutual understanding within them is a must," adds Prashanta. Hence the present line up of the band is Sareen (vocals), Subodh (guitar), Prashanta (guitar), Devashish (drums), Gaurav (keyboard) and Avaya (bass)
Music is about our attitude and perspective towards every little aspect of our lives and about self satisfaction," adds Sareen representing purpose of the band, "and with the addition of Prashanta on the guitars, we are able to perform any kind of song on stage. With his speed and accuracy, techniques and apertures, the band has been able to reach new heights." The band indicates their influence as Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilot, Alice in Chains, Candlebox, Nixons, Iron Maiden, Led Zepplin, Ugly Kid Joe, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Silverchair, Goo Goo Dolls, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and so on.
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