NepCali is an experimental rock band that has a “fun to be around” vibe and the band loves to joke around with each other.
One example of their jokes was when they posted on TikTok that they got “arrested” but, it was just a little prank on the fans.
NepCali had a show out in Oklahoma and had to drive from Colorado to Oklahoma but they have to go to Kansas, which has strict rules against marijuana.
To keep a long story short [the full story is on our Instagram], they took some marijuana with them and got pulled over.
Lucky for them, the cop was nice and Karki thought of pulling a prank by pretending to be arrested for TikTok.
NepCali has four members which are, Vocalist (Arpan Karki aka AP), Guitarist (Sunny Shrestha), Drummer (Scott Collins) and Bassist (Josh Buckley).
Sushant Amatya is the co-owner with Arpan Karki and both of them (including Sunny) were from Nepal.
“From the garage of my homie, we were like, ‘let’s make a band,’” he said, “We created NepCali as a hobby and later on it became a passion.”
Down the road, Karki bought the studio from a guy named Paul Grasham, who they shouted out.
During that time, Shrestha came in with his guitar in Karki’s garage, “We [both co-owners] were looking at each other like, okay, damn who is this because he was shredding,” he [AP] said.
Shrestha didn’t think they were serious but two years later, after they kept on hustling, he said, “You guys are terrible, you probably a guitarist can help you out a little bit,” Karki said as the group laughed.
“For me, my brother used to play guitar and I loved to see how he played,” Sunny said, “I started with the bass and then my friends told me, ‘no, just play guitar, you’re good on that.’”
Karki fired two members of his band because of disagreements one week before a show, “Something happened and I just snapped and fired them but I didn’t have anyone to replace them.”
They needed a drummer and Collins was referred to them, according to Karki.
Collins then came to the studio to play some tunes with the band, “he fucking nails it,” Karki said and long story short, he joined the NepCali band.
The drummer said that he started as a guitar player and played ‘Guitar Hero,’ “But towards the end of high school, everyone started playing guitar and I was terrible at it so I switched to drums.”
Karki illustrates how he met Buckley, “We saw him [Josh Buckley] live [band was Gag Tusk] and Scott was like, ‘we should talk to him.’”
“I saw them and they were like, not even kidding, [they were] the best band I’ve ever seen play with us,” Buckley said, “Fucking Scott texted me and he was like ‘do you want to audition for the band?’ and I was like, ‘are you kidding me, yeah.’”
“I moved to LA and then I grew up and my roommate wouldn’t stop playing the fucking guitar while I’m trying to watch TV,” Buckley said.
“So then I was like fuck you, I’m going to play bass so I played bass out of a joke.”
“I grew up with guitar lessons and [I learned] from Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and I heard my mom listen to ABBA,” he said, “I started listening to heavier rock and learned my guitar through 19-25.”
The band made it clear, they don’t make music for the top charts but they make music that strikes all four members.
“Sometimes, you just got to play in the studio and the sound just feels right,” Buckley said.
The music they create is a time-lapse of how they feel at the moment and Karki said, “If you listen to the first album and you go through our singles, you can see the mindset we’re in.”
Sunny, the Guitarist, would find multiple “weird but special” rifts for the band to look at and the band would build off it, which makes the band different from other bands.
According to Arpan, the first album was more experimental as most of the band members were just getting started near the halfway point of the album.
The second EP [which isn’t out yet] is more focused on what sound, both them and the people, love.
“We would rather be in the studio making a song [and] creating music than to hang out,” Karki said about their chemistry, “We build a bigger chemistry playing music and doing shows together.”
The band would love to reach a wider audience, start playing in different countries across the world and continue to make great music.
“This is something I’m going to do forever,” Buckley said, “I don’t know how it is going to play out but NepCali is fucking awesome.”
Karki told TalonMarks that he’s going to pick up their newly bought RV next weekend and they’ll have a website up at the same time.
Follow their Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok and NepCali’s music can be found on all streaming services.
