Most of the 90s kids had the privilege of growing up listening to Atomic Bush in their teenage years. They started out as an underground progressive rock band in Kathmandu and soon became more popular than the other mainstream bands. This legendary band was formed back in 2005 and went on to set the bar high in the progressive rock music genre in Nepal. While the rest of the world was tuning up to Hip-Hop and Electronic Pop Music, Atomic Bush was experimenting with rock music to give it a completely new meaning. Even though the band is no longer active, the milestone set by the Atomic Bush still continues to inspire generations of music to come within the country and beyond. By the way, do you know what happened to the Atomic Bush? Let’s find out!
NEW UPDATE on Atomic Bush!
Atomic Bush is definitely getting back together, this time for sure. They are working on the comeback album, and Bibhushan Basnet even played a few lines from the song “Jhilimili” as treat to the fans.
Need a Proof? Thank me later!
Ballad of ‘Sano Prakash’
Atomic Bush hit the underground music with its groundbreaking, head-banging epic progressive ballad ‘Sano Prakash’. The song keeps you mesmerized for the complete 7 minutes and 20 seconds with everything you want in progressive rock music. The first 60 seconds is the legendary riff played in ¾ beat that transitions into another 25 seconds of lead before opening up with the first verse. The lyrics are profound in meaning. If you have contemplated the lyrics of the song, you would feel it. The second lead starts around 03:15 which sets the mood for the next verse of the song to reach the climax. The final lead is the most amazing part of the song.
If you have been to the live performance of ‘Sano Prakash’ by Atomic Bush organized by ktmRocks, then you must know what I mean. Bibhusan Basnet, the lead vocalist of Atomic Bush plays the second solo so smoothly and then makes the crowd go crazy as he starts to shred and do vocals for the outro part. It just gives us goosebumps. Back when Rock and Metal Music were trying to grow up and get recognized in Nepal, ‘Sano Prakash’ by Atomic Bush set the standard for the genre. The guitar solo of ‘Sano Prakash’ is the most sought-after guitar lesson in Nepal. It is one of the best guitar solos ever created in the history of Nepalese Rock Music.
In a sentence, ‘Sano Prakash’ is the anthem of Nepali Rock Music.
Back to Atomic Bush
When it comes to Atomic Bush, Bibhusan Basnet (Guitar/Vocal) and Sunny Tuladhar (Guitar) come to the scene, along with Rajan Shrestha (Bass), Abhisek Bhadra (Keyboard), and Alec Sciamma (Drums). As mentioned earlier, Bibhusan stole the show at ktmRocks with his simultaneous vocals and shredding skills. Besides ‘Sano Prakash’ the band has composed other popular songs like Unfiled, Dance the Night Away, Cool Corny, EG, Men at Work, Thai Chhaina, and a few others. The band had recorded their EP ‘P Jam’. The band was the winner of the Rockheads 2005, a nationwide band competition that featured underground bands from Nepal.
However, the fans didn’t get to hear enough from the band. In fact, the single ‘Sano Prakash’ is taken as the only song that most people identify Atomic Bush with. Then there came ‘Jindabaad’.
Is Jindabaad the new Atomic Bush?
Many people claim that Atomic Bush is Jindabaad and vice versa. This is true to some extent because most of the members of Jindabaad were in Atomic Bush. Sunny Tuladhar, Rajan Shrestha, and Abhisek Bhadra were joined by Rohit Shakya (Vocals/Guitar) and Kiran Shahi (Drums) to form Jindabaad. The only this band seems to miss is Bibhusan Basnet. Otherwise, Jindabaad could be called the new Atomic Bush, but it isn’t. Is it Atomic Bush if the band doesn’t perform Sano Prakash? And Rohit Shakya doesn’t wanna do Sano Prakash. If you have been to one of their gigs and when the crowd asks the band to do Sano Prakash, they respond calmly saying that “we don’t do covers”. And Rohit Shakya only does his originals!
Following their journey to the Global Battle of Bands (GBoB), the band quickly became popular among Nepalese audiences and gained heights with its singles like Rewind and Shades of You. In 2011, Jindabaad released its first EP Plastic Heart. Even though the band took an unofficial hiatus, the band members were still active in one way or another. Later, they reunited in 2017 and started doing shows. In 2021, Jindabaad released their second EP titled Ulto Chalachitra.
Sunny Tuladhar went on to start his own line of business making custom guitars named ST Custom Guitars. Maybe that’s what keeps him busy these days. He has shared his experiences on ‘The Storytellers’ which can be found on YouTube. Bibhusan Basnet is engaged in filmmaking as well as music. He has been working on documentary films to express social agendas among the public. “The Contagious Apparitions of Dambarey Dendrite” is a short film directed by Bibhusan Basnet and Pooja Gurung which is worth watching. It just amazes me to know of the talents that he has. At the same time, he is active in the music world via his band called ‘Night’.
Final Words
The wave of Atomic Bush was so massive that it still continues to influence the new generations of rock music in Nepal. This is a rare occurrence in the history of rock music where one single song made the band so popular that the other mainstream bands could only dream of it.
