When The Beatles became famous, the one place that was fascinated by their music and fame was Darjeeling. The sixties saw many talents emerge and everyone wanted to be like the Beatles. So the first band formed here was the "Hillians" a.k.a "The Sikkimese Beatles". For the founder of "The Hillians", Peter. J. Karthak, it was his religion Christianity that was the foundation of his musical learning. He used to sing in the choir regularly in the church which enflamed the fire in him to enter the real music world.

So with the guidance of senior musicians like George Banks, Ambar Gurung, Louis Banks and Indra Thapalia, by 1962 he formed the band with his brother Mark Karthak on rhythm and Lalit Tamang on vocals. Peter initially played double bass (the acoustic bass) at the Gymkhana Club. He later started playing the lead guitars after K. K. Gurung joined in as the electric bass guitarist. The other band members were Ranjit Gazmer in percussions and Phurba Tshering playing the French horn and trumpet. They did Rock and Jazz regularly in the in the clubs and other venues and were great admirers of Cliff Richard. The band used to earn Rs.1000/- a night. These earnings helped them to keep up-to-date with latest records and buy instruments from foreign students. Besides performing Western Music they were also involved in creating and performing Eastern (Nepali) music with the Sangam Group, which was headed by Ranjit Gazmer and Saran Pradhan.

The Gems of Darjeeling

MR. PURAN GONGBA

The first person, who comes to our mind when we think about the music scene here, is Mr.Puran Gongba. He is one musician who was admired then and still admired now. He started playing the guitar out of interest, and learnt it the hard way.

He used to tirelessly listen to the radio, watch movies and teach himself to place fingers and strum the strings. He played the guitar with many bands like Extreme Moderation and Hillians. In between he went to the United Kingdom for a few years. Here he worked and took guitar lessons. That was when he learnt to read music.

He is fondly called "Joey" by the Darjeeling crowd and the foreigners, who visit his pub called "Joey's Pub”, the only pub in town.

He tells us that Darjeeling was a happening place back in the sixties. He cherishes the Jazz, Samba, Ramba dances that used to be held at the Gymkhana Club and jokes that the ball room is now called the Dining Room. People from the North-East used to come to Darjeeling to buy the latest gadgets and ask him about the latest in music, he adds.

In spite of his love for music he stopped playing after his last stage appearance in 1985.We asked him the reason and he stated that guys in Darjeeling have lots of talent but there is one to promote them. So they have to give up their love for music soon and start finding other alternate ways to earn their daily bread and butter.

MR. JEEVAN PRADHAN

He is one of the most important people in Darjeeling who made Darjeeling stand out in the music scene. He is another person who is admired and loved my music lovers of Darjeeling. He is actively involved in the process of making of musicians through the institute, "Melody Academy" founded by his father Mr. Mahendra Lama in 1978. The institute imparts the musical education to its students for as low as Rs. 150/- per month. The institute also helps outstanding students to prepare for exams affiliated to the "Trinity College of Music" in London.

Mr. Jeevan was introduced forcibly to violin at a tender age of 8 years. But then he never looked back. So when he was in the college he started learning the piano, and at 20, he tried his hands on guitar. Soon he was sharing his musical expertise with students in his father's academy. He is a member of the Delhi Symphonic Society, the only symphonic society in India.

He used to play for various bands but now he is more into classical. Some of his very popular compositions are Ecstasy, Sunrise and Snake Charmer. Besides teaching in his academy he is a teacher in Turnbull High School, Darjeeling. He has also directed plays like Le Miserables, Evita, Oliver Twist and Jesus Christ Superstar.

THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT

Perhaps the first band to make news everywhere, this band was the longest standing band in Darjeeling. They had the biggest impact on the Western Music in Darjeeling. Their musical journey began out of personal interests and actually started in 1970 with the original line-up of Paulgose on guitars and vocals, Jivan Pradhan on bass guitar, Robert Wilson on drums and Viveka Wilson on piano.

Western music and playing guitars were a taboo while Eastern Music was accepted those days. It was a forbidden fruit So they had to take a bite by all means and cared less about being thrown out of their homes and their grades going down in school.
The band released the first rock album "The First Bite" in their later years. It was a home recording with no proper equipments. Nevertheless the album did make history as the first Rock Album in Darjeeling.

THE DIAMONDS

The Diamonds formed in the second half of the sixties are considered by some as the first band to start Western Rock in Darjeeling. The band line up had Pemba Lepcha, Bikram Subba, Suren Rai, Pravin Gazmer and Subarna Limbu. They started off playing instrumentals by Ventura and Shadows and went on to play the covers of The Beatles, Santana and the like.

The band broke up in the early seventies, members dispersing to form other bands.
Among the band members, Pemba later formed Prism in Kathmandu. Subarna joined him later. They are still playing in the band. Suren Rai holds a government job and Bikram runs a studio in Darjeeling called Ears Studio.

The Downfall

The Gorkhaland Movement which started in the mid 80s had a major impact on the whole social structure of Darjeeling. During this movement which lasted for a few years, Darjeeling saw the finest of schools closing down for months in a row because of strikes, night life ceased to exist and almost all public activities came to a sudden halt. This also had an impact on the music scenario in Darjeeling and the musicians had to go through the darkest period in the history of Darjeeling.Thus started the downfall of music and the social stucture of Darjeeling.

Despite the political instability in Darjeeling there were a few bands that were active in some way in the 80s too. The U.S Band was one such band. They had a great fan following even in the major cities of India. Their vocalist, Wangchuk played the role of Jesus Christ in the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" and the band members played the music for it in 1989.

Magnum Opus is another band playing in that decade. The band started in 1980 with Mahesh Thapa in guitars, Keshar Subba in bass, Palden in lead guitar, Mohan Giri in drums and Pasang Bhutia in vocals. Deven Gurung joined the band in 1986 in the second vocals and later became the main vocalist. Like other bands in Darjeeling Magmun Opus had several changes in their line up. But the band is very much alive and they play at least two or three times a year. Though the Gorkhaland Movement brought about a harsh social change in Darjeeling, the band members preferred Music to Drugs.

The Scenario Now

Music and art forms, all have taken a back seat .We rarely have musical events and competitions. Darjeeling is no more a happening place it used to be. But even in this grim scenario there are a few young generation wannabes who give us a glimpse of hope. They are Pralaya, Divine Wreck, Destiny, Hell Riders,Damaged Brain, Liviathon and Whitefield Eclipse. So don't stop reading here. Check out these bands and feel proud about them.

PRALAYA

Pralaya is one of the happening bands in Darjeeling. The band was started in 1995 with Rajeev Thatal on vocals, When The Beatles became famous, the one place that was fascinated by their music and fame was Darjeeling. The sixties saw many talents emerge and everyone wanted to be like the Beatles. So the first band formed here was the "Hillians" a.k.a "The Sikkimese Beatles". For the founder of "The Hillians", Peter. J. Karthak, it was his religion Christianity that was the foundation of his musical learning. He used to sing in the choir regularly in the church. This enflamed the fire in him to enter the real music world.

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