Yasmin Taj

Kathmandu:

With every passing weekend, the party scene in Nepal is getting wackier and crazier. With DJs from all around the world coming in to flaunt in their spinning skills, why should our Nepali DJs lag behind. And if there comes a local DJ who has gained excess popularity in a country like the USA, then the weekend will definitely get rock all the more. Yes, folks, this Friday night, PartyNepal are back with a cool pre-monsoon party to set your moods right for the coming season. The party, ‘The Good Grooves’ at Latin Quarters, Baber Mahal would feature DJ Harkay, a USA based Nepali DJ, who will be grooving and swinging the crowd all night long. The party would also be featuring DJ Drex who would be playing in his renditions of commercial, R & B and club music. Bibeck Basnet aka DJ Harkay is quite a popular name in the party circuit of Non-Resident Nepalis in the USA. The basic genres of music that he caters to are deep soulful house, deep jazz house, funky house and progressive. After being into Warehouse Rave in Oakland, California 1997, Harkay got hooked onto DJing. He started spinning at some local house parties in Wisconsin and Minnesota influenced by artists like Orbital, Chemical Brothers, Paul Van Dyk and Prodigy. In the summer of 2002 Harkay got introduced to DJ Cutso from the Finger Bangerz crew based out of San Jose, California. DJ Cutso was placed among the top six in the 1999 DMC San Francisco Regional Championship. It was finally time for DJ Harkay to try his hands at the steel machine - Technics 1200s.

Harkay has now progressed to two Technics 1200s turntables, 2 Pioneers CDJ-1000s. In July 2003 he was the DJ at the American Nepalese Association Convention in Denver, Colorado and besides that has played at numerous events in Minnesota, Portland, San Francisco and Washington DC. Harkay along with Prakrity have started their own night, known as Trance Sandhya in Minnesota.

The major magnetism of the entire event would be the state-of-the-art equipments that the DJ would be using for the first time in Nepal. One of these superior quality equipments is the Serato Scratch Live that allows one to scratch any digital sample or sound file on a computer or laptop using the existing turntables or CD players. Special vinyl included with Scratch contains a control signal that allows ones computer to track the motion of the record, simulating the same movement within the digital sample. The result is a feel and sound that is indistinguishable from scratching vinyl. Other special equipments that will be used are Technics 1200s turntables, Pioneer DJM-500 mixer, Denon S-5000 pro DJ CD players and Apple PowerBook G4. The party is being sponsored by Cutty Sark Original Scotch Whisky and being managed by PartyNepal.com. The tickets are priced at Rs 500 including a shot at Sark.

So this Friday night that is June 10, wherever you are, gear up for the most happening party in town, which starts at 8 pm onwards at Latin Quarters, Baber Mahal.