Being a musician
In 2 years it will be 2 decades since I picked up the guitar, why do I still suck?
Ok I'm being too harsh on myself, I don't suck but I am what I'd call a mediocre musician
I have a YouTube channel where I *try*I’ll let you judge- but don’t 🥺
Mostly guitars. Occasionally I sing if people let me.The happiest being a musician ever made me ❤️
I was on a trek with my family and my dad’s friend’s family. Their son was about my age, so we ended up bonding, and eventually the conversation drifted to music. Then he turned to me and said, “Hey, have you heard of this cool new band?”
It was my band.
He had no idea. Our music had quietly made its way out of my uni and into his, and found me again on a trail, through a friend I’d only just made. Nothing about being a musician has ever made me happier.
The song he was talking about is still on YouTube. It has 37k views, which isn’t a lot, but for a local band from Kathmandu 10 years ago, it meant a lot. If I ever feel comfortable enough with you, maybe I’ll share it.
But purely out of fondness for this memory, here’s the album art.
My friend designed it, based on artwork by my sister.
Do I still make music?
Yes, I do.
While I don’t “officially” have a band anymore, I consistently make music with a close friend, Bidhan, one of the best guitarists and musicians I know.
We’ve never quite felt ready to release our mixes, but 🤞 for an EP soon!
Being a writer - how AI took my other job
I’ve always had a knack for narratives and storytelling. Thus, even an uncultured illiterate like me made for a pretty decent writer.
Before engineering, before any “professional” work, the first real money I ever made was as a contributing writer to a Nepalese magazine. Come application season, I was everyone’s go-to person for reviewing and rephrasing their essays and personal statements.
While I still enjoy academic writing (I do still write my own papers), I lost the “default” job I’ve always had.
Thanks ChatGPT ❤️
I do want to resume non-academic writing. I have a few book ideas in mind.
Making things out of wood
But guitars came first
Let’s get the order of things right: I was obsessed with guitars long before I ever picked up a chisel. There are 8 guitars in my apartment right now. Well, 8 if you count the ones that are still being built.
I do.
Somewhere along the way, I started working on my own guitars, setting them up just right and doing light work on them here and there. That meant buying tools. A lot of tools. Then one day it hit me: the tools I’d been buying for my guitars were… woodworking tools.
Because, duh, a guitar is a piece of wood with strings on it.
(Lord forgive me, I’m a little slow.)
Anywho, I went on to get certified on industrial woodworking machines, and now I like to make things out of wood.
Now, back to wood
Am I good at it? No. But I have become obsessed with rescuing wood. Whenever I see salvaged wood that someone is about to throw out, I jump on it and take it home to foster. It’s the exact feeling I get when I see a lost puppy.
I do plan on making things out of them. Eventually.
So far, I’ve made three boxes, and I’m still not happy with the third one.
And of course, it all comes back to guitars. I have a custom neck, ordered to my exacting specs. Just look at the Gonçalo Alves on it. It’s also called Tigerwood, and one look will tell you why.
It’s waiting on a plain Telecaster body that I still need to fully carve, finish, paint and fill with electronics.
Remember those 8 guitars? This is one of them.
My bucket list
- Make friends with a crow
- Have a friend who calls me “Big Dawg”
- See the northern lights
- Travel to South America and Africa
- Learn “Cliffs of Dover”
- Teach at a community college
- Write my books
So, you think you like Manny?
If you made it all the way down here and think we’d get along, don’t hesitate to reach out.
I’d love to hear from you ❤️