In one of my life & career highlights, last November we brought Goa Music Lab to Nepal, for a month-long tour. It was about making connections and community, and a shared learned cultural exchange.
During our time in Nepal, we co-created a pair of five-day boutique knowledge/arts festivals. The first was Atma Taal (“soul” “beat/river/rhythm”), at lush Begnas Lake, near Pokhara. This was a little more offline.
From November 22-26, we brought Robots & Animals to Kathmandu. There were five days of workshops, art installations and showcase live music performances. There was one challenge on the tech side. Due to the illegality of cryptocurrencies in Nepal, we could not delve much into crypto or NFT. Instead we featured an array of emerging technologies, and witnessed live demonstrations, such as a global remote hybrid VR space-enabled party.
Here is the premiere of our mini-documentary on Robots & Animals Kathmandu.
Every week in these rainy summer monsoon months, we’re sharing featured performances from across our Nepal & Thai visits. Find @goamusiclab on YouTube and Instagram, for episodes released each Thursday evening, Goa time (IST).
Our warm thanks to NEAR Protocol and CreativesDAO for helping us realise our vision. And best wishes to all involved - may you already be well underway with your latest inspirations.
Nepali fusion band, Stotram, closed the main stage of Robots & Animals Kathmandu, on the evening of Sunday November 26, 2023, at Courtyard Pujan Hotel in Thamel. Stotram is an Experimental Ethno-Fusion band from Kathmandu, exploring Roots music. This was their first performance in some time, as they prepared for releases and touring.
Delhi-based modular synth wizard, Psychopanda, dropped an invigorating live set at Robots & Animals Kathmandu, on November 25, 2024.
As with most great art, the reception was divided, between those who considered the sound to be “noise”, and those who greatly appreciated the piece as bold and innovative. Lab leans heavily towards the latter opinion, and we’re proud to share Psychopanda’s excellent performance at RNA KTM.
Latest episode from GLOA / Goa Music Lab, supported by CDAO.
Top Kathmandu-based downtempo / trip-hop producer, Ommood (Armenia), drops a 3-hour chill out set, on the final evening of Robots & Animals Kathmandu (Sunday November 26, 2023).
Latest episode of our live performances from NEAR-supported Robots & Animals in Kathmandu, November 2023: The Bohemians (Brazil / Argentina). They’re a jazz / swing / folk duo, who played twice at our little 5-day boutique festival.
A few more videos in the NEAR-supported series of concerts at Robots & Animals, Kathmandu.
On Friday November 24, 2023, we opened the weekend’s musical proceedings at Courtyard Pujan hotel in Thamel, Kathmandu.
Sandwiched in between our DJ headliners, was Deep East (formerly Noble Luke), hailing from India. Luke builds up his hypnotic #analog rhythms & #beats using an array of #volcas#multifx, #bassguitar and #loopers.
Latest, penultimate episode from November 2023’s Robots & Animals in Kathmandu.
This was the very first performance of opening night: Nepal’s MusicMan. He performed various classical and modern instruments, over electronica beats and soulful traditional samples.
It looks like GLOA will be returning to Nepal in early 2025, and we’ll be looking for future support to help take these events and broadcasts to the next level.
Here’s our final episode before these forums fade away, into read-only mode, forever.
At experimental festival, Robots and Animals in Kathmandu (November 2023), we added several hybrid event components, including workshops from Turkey, poetry from the UK, the official DJ afterparty streamed from Miami. This short video shares some behind-the-scenes coverage, and offers a glimpse into the production of hybrid events.
Thanks again, NEAR, for helping make Robots & Animals happen in Kathmandu. And good luck in the future, with love from GLOA.
