By Mannu Shahi
Formed in 2016, The Elements is a cherished experimental/art pop trio contriving trendy yet meaningful and evergreen tunes in a manner unlike any of their contemporaries. With a devoted pack of followers bedazzled by their mesmerising tunes, energetic live shows, and awesome band chemistry, the trio comprises Ishan R. Onta on vocals and guitars, Dipesh Gurung on drums, and Raunaq Singh Adhikari on guitars.
Their debut single ‘Tesaile Hidey Ma’ was a sensation initially airing as a part of the Arbitrary Original sessions exposing their music to a wider demographic. Their stance as visionary creatives has only escalated higher as the group continues to foster and sophisticate their sonic palate further
with time.
The trio established their official YouTube channel in 2020 and have been releasing most of their music from this space. The band’s discography comprises nearly two dozen singles and their latest 2021 EP “Urja”.
This five-track masterpiece is one of their best-released works from my personal perspective; each track is just as powerful, honest and captivating, showcasing some of their best compositional, audio and visual work. Exploring collective songwriting over a span of two years between 2018 to 2020, in the serene landscapes of Kau Dada, Pokhara, the band isolated themselves to manifest these tunes.
Their electrifying concert experiences serve as an asset to magnetise their audience, and the trio aspires to enhance their performances further by introducing more visually engaging strategies. Their album launch event held at Studio 5150 in December 2022, included a prelude of this concept with the designed stage and theatrical ambience. Apart from this, their crowd-engaging techniques change with songs, such as story-telling, interactive conversations, intro monologues and overall presentation.
Coming from an ethical creative community the group strongly believes and follows a certain code of conduct and tries their best to give credit to the people who influenced their musical journeys. Drummer Dipesh and guitarist Raunaq have long been associated with the underground DIY Punk culture of Kathmandu, while vocalist Ishan was associated with the underground art-music scene as a solo performer pre-pandemic.
The trio describes their writing process as like their relationship with one another, where every person has a different role to contribute and instead of wrangling around with individual notions, they try their best to compliment each other. Ishan primarily pens down the lyrics and melody, Raunaq beautifies these ideas with his harmonies, additional hooks and counterpoints, Deepesh welds the dots together with his rhythmic vocabulary and directs the band towards a more refined final structure.
And The Elements are all geared up to bestow their magic on the stages of the UAE with two back-to-back performances next weekend. Their first ever performance in middle-east, the group is playing in Abu Dhabi, this coming Friday, June 30 in Manila Bay Club, Emirates Plaza Hotel; and the very next day on July 1 in Dubai in Club Yak & Yeti Everest, Astoria Hotel. The show is presented by Team Palaz Events and both concerts have an entry fee of AED 100 per head.
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