Nepali indie singer Ankit Shrestha sings from memory — about home, solitude, cold winters and hailstorms. Shrestha, who has spent much of his life in motion, moving between cities, countries, and musical eras, found music and the guitar to be the one constant since age nine. “Music became my companion even before I knew what that meant,” he says.
The singer-songwriter is currently on his first India tour. Having performed in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Siliguri, and Gangtok, he will conclude his tour in Delhi on November 30 alongside his bandmates Sarin Bajracharya on drums and Aman Karna on keys and guitar — in an intimate setup that mirrors the simplicity of his music. As he prepares for his Delhi debut, his expectations are grounded. “It’s our first time in India. We don’t know how many people will show up,” he says. “Even if it’s just a few, we just want to share our music, connect, meet musicians, and travel.”
The subway years
For Shrestha, music has been less of a profession and more of an anchor. Growing up in Kathmandu, he scribbled songs without showing them to anyone. He played in teenage metal bands, discovered classic rock, and slowly realised he was absorbing sounds faster than he could classify them. “I think music shaped my whole personality,” he says. “It was always there, no matter where I moved. It has always stuck with me.”
In 2013, Shrestha moved to the US for college, studying classical music while wandering city streets with a guitar on his back and busking on New York’s subway platforms. “When I moved to the US, I saw a lot of buskers. I liked how raw and authentic they were in how they connected with people, and I wanted to do that,” he says.
Having never sung for most of his life as he had been a guitarist, he found his voice as a performer on the streets. “Busking forced me to sing — it was a challenge. When you’re on a New York subway platform, you have five or ten minutes to grab someone’s attention before they catch the next train. You have to convince someone with the first song,” he says, adding that those years of street performance toughened him as a musician far more than any concert could.
Writing from the heart
At the core of his discography are stories of longing, home, starting over in unfamiliar places drawn from his years in the US and the UK, relationships, and quiet moments of searching. But Shrestha insists that songwriting is never deliberate. “It just comes naturally. I don’t think, ‘I’ll write about longing today.’ These themes are there in my subconscious. They’re part of my experiences, so they return on their own.”
Shrestha wrote in English for years, having been accustomed to the language through school and having lived abroad for much of his life. “When it comes to heavy or formal words in Nepali, I don’t really use them in everyday life. English feels more versatile because I know more of its vocabulary,” he says. But his first Nepali song, ‘Katha’, written for his grandmother — which received an overwhelmingly positive response — gave him the confidence to write more in Nepali. “That song couldn’t have been in English. Nepali makes emotional sense. Nepali comes naturally because I’ve spoken it all my life. I can bring in slang and the way I actually speak, which makes it feel authentic,” he adds.
Now he switches fluidly between both languages, letting the guitar decide which direction a song wants to go. “It depends on the vibe,” he says simply.
Sculpting his sound
With releases like his debut album Fingers and Fables, the EP Kathmandu Saharma, and his latest 2024 album Naya Din, his sound today is a blend of all his musical lives — drawing from the metal and rock tunes he loved as a child, his classical training, ’70s folk idols, and Nepali contemporary artists like the folk band Night. “Now I’d like to have some more electronic stuff, and do a fusion with acoustic elements — something upbeat, with synths. I also want to incorporate more traditional instruments,” he says.
As for the Nepali indie scene he comes from, he’s optimistic. “People are experimenting with new sounds now. Ten or fifteen years ago, it felt like everyone followed the same style. Now musicians are more open, more curious.” He sees himself as part of that shift — someone who has moved through different worlds across continents, sung in subways, and absorbed sounds from everywhere.
In a life full of departures, Shrestha’s songs feel like the one thing he has always carried home. His approach to his craft is simple: keep searching. “Every few years my influences change,” he says. “I’m always looking for something new.”
Singer-songwriter Ankit Shrestha will perform at Depot 48 in Delhi on November 30 at 8 pm.
This article is written by Adithi Reena Ajith