The Nepalese Metal scene has been struggling for more than a decade. It’s not a scene yet but for the past few years, a number of bands have been serving as the fuel for the fire. Nepal has been growing as a place where metal is relevant. Bands like Vader, Napalm Death, Decapitated and Nervecell performing here obviously opens up the way for the metal scene in Nepal and the capital holds a number of talented young musicians who are really into metal and want to do something here. But, still there are people who take Metal in a negative way. If you're a metal head walking down the street with your long hair and your tattoos, you are identified as a criminal of some sort. In this kind of an environment, metal musicians have been striving and surviving to create a stable music scene. There is no proper venue and festival for metal bands in Capital, also only a few bands get paid from the shows, sometimes even the biggest bands are not paid, but that's metal. None of the bands play to get paid, that is why Nepal has a dedicated number of musicians playing metal only for the respect and passion for the music. Power failures also tend to suppress these bands, as they are not blessed with electricity from 8 hours up to 20 hours a day. Also there are no record labels for metal bands, this has also been a factor why a majority of bands do not have recorded material in their resume.
In April 2012 a band named “Wakk Thuu” started to make a noise in local metal scene, bringing the Grindcore and Death Metal influences in their songs. Their song “Sabai Dhwasta Parne KT” which barely lasted four seconds amazed the entire Underground Scene and a young musician by the name of Jay has quickly been embraced by the Nepalese metal crowd as one of the best drummers in the Country. Jay has come a long way from being a nobody to being "Jay" for the Nepalese metal lovers. The quick success of Wakk Thuu already made him one of the best drummers in South Asia, and he was appreciated a lot by Indian and Bangladeshi bands during the tours.
Jay Ram has been playing drums from the past 2 years. The 20 year old drummer has switched a lot of instruments until he found himself behind the kit. Initially Jay never thought he'd be seriously making music but when he was determined to play drums, he decided to join drum classes. Because of his poor economic condition, he couldn’t collect enough money to continue his classes. He couldn’t afford to buy a drum, so he used to set a pillow and practice on that. He used to get help from his friends to pay for his practice, he was also associated to local bar bands and musicians so he could get paid from them. He utilized all his little incomes to improve his drumming and also he started browsing videos on YouTube to hone his drumming skills. A year later Jay started playing in a band called Fall (apparently the first Pornogrind band of Nepal). Later on he went to form one of the most talked band of Nepal “Wakk Thuu”, after the completion of a small Nation Tour with “Wakk Thuu” , he nailed the audition for one of the biggest Death Metal bands of Nepal, Binaash. Since then Jay Ram has been pounding the drums for Binaash, Waak Thuu, Fall and Viral.
Like every other Nepalese kid trying to be a musician, Jay has faced a lot of financial problems to reach where he stands today. As his parents refused to buy him new drum pedals, Jay used to bang his feet on the ground like he'd be doing on actual drum pedals just to get the feeling of pedaling. After a while of pedaling the floor, Jay couldn't stop until he got the real thing. To his dismay, the pedal couldn’t handle his drumming style, so after a long time of saving money he bought his first DW7000 series pedals. Since then, he has improved his pedaling skills and has been headlining almost all of the shows he plays, leaving him with some money in his pockets. Jay has been actively working as a musician in the Nepalese metal scene. He uses flying finger technique and later on he went to discover his own technique which he calls, hybrid technique.
With his new band “Viral” he has been covering songs of Origin, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Nile. It was one of the most proud moments for the metal heads here as their cover of the song Finite was shared by the mighty Origin themselves on their Facebook page and also Jason Keyser said to him, “it was faster then the original one.” He takes influences from drummers like Bikram Shrestha, Kiran Shahi, Kishmat Shrestha and Abhaya Shrestha to name a few locally, he has also been influenced by Derek Roody, John Longstreth, Flou Mounier, Pete Sandoval and Franscesco Paolil and many more from the international stage.
Jay Ram had been using DW7000 series double pedals until recently he had to switch to Pearl Eliminator pedals as Axis Vector pedals are not available for purchase in Nepal. Speaking of drum kits, you don't need to have an expensive kit to play heavy metal. Jay has been using a Chinese drum kit which has been serving him with a great sound. After conquering Nepal and certain parts of India, Jay has been saving up his income to buy himself a new drum kit. He has been racing back and forth with TAMA and Pearl sets, unsatisfied with the toms and low-end kits in Nepal, Jay has been waiting for something new to come his way.
Bands like Ugra Karma, Kalodin, Dying Out Flame and Broken Hymen are Jay's personal favorites as they have brought their own brand of metal to this growing scene. Nepalese metal is slowly circulating around the world and has been gaining respect from a lot of people and will be growing more into the global stage. His band Wakk Thuu was invited to play in GUT FEST 2013 and many other International fests, but due to Visa issues they cannot make it to such fests. Yes, Jay has been following his passion for Death Metal for years now, but there has been no limit to his drumming style. He plays from grindcore to rock n' roll to earn his living and has been successful due to his undying passion for extreme drumming.
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