Kathmandu:

The Australian band Pachooka will be performing at the annual Sun Dance festival at Last resort, Bhote Koshi. Pachooka is known for its electrifying funky reggae music. The band was formed in 2001 and has five members contributing their talents. Out of the five members, two of them are here who will be performing along with Sanjay Shrestha and Bimal.

They have been performing all over Australia and their music, as unique as their band name, has already received recognition and is well loved.

“There is no such meaning of Pachooka, it’s just something we kept,” says Elke Ferguson, bassist and vocalist, who is here with Craig (guitar).

Talking about the music they create and play, Elke says it’s upbeat and energising.

They were not aware of the festival before but after meeting Sanjay and Bimal in Australia and performing with them, they decided to come to Nepal and perform for the crowd here.

“I think it’s going to be a wonderful experience — full of good vibes, relaxing and of course lots of jamming with various artistes,” she adds.

Elke was actually studying drama and theatre during her college years when she met three of the members of the band. However, they started the band only after five years when they met again while staying in the same city. Soon they became a five-member band and started to take their passion for music seriously.

Australian music scene is more of parties and underground music and their genre is very apt to the tropical gigs. As the Sun Dance is also all about sun and fun, the musicians are all set to make the crowd groove.

“I have performed with Bimal before and Sanjay is just great and easy to play with,” she says.

She adds that it’s important to have good chemistry and as their band is formed out of friendship, it has helped them more to play together. Craig is the one

who writes the lyrics for the band which are usually about peace, friendship, love and having a good time.

They have performed at Moksh and also heard Nepali musicians performing. “I liked what I have heard so far and also the band Root Down Trio at Jazz Up Stairs, but haven’t got the chance to hear traditional Nepali music,” said Elke.

They have two albums Electrical Groove Shoes and Sonic Life Vibe under their belt.

Ekle got into music from a very young age and started with keyboards but later on moved to bass.

“I grew up with music. My father was a rock music fan and so was my brother, who had a band at very early age. But I studied theatre and was into acting but now I am more into music and satisfied with what I perform through the music.”

Ekle still teaches drama in high school but today music is the juice of her life.

Catch Pachooka perform at Jatra Restaurant and Bar on May 7.