“I was 8 years old when my father caught me imitating my sister who was dancing. He mistook it for talent and enrolled me in a Bharatnatyam class. Despite being reluctant to learn dance, my dance teacher was kind and taught me with calmness and affection. I trained under her for 18 years and that was my first touch with art. Dance played a huge role in my journey to becoming the musician I am today!
Music accidentally happened to me. It started with a bet, where I claimed that I could learn the guitar in two months. And I did. I would travel 13kms to spend a day with Brother Ivan, who told me that I just needed to know these 5 chords to play any song under the sun! How I felt when I sang my first ever song, was I think what we call freedom. It was nothing but pure, unadulterated joy. Soon after that, life happened and I started working as a scientist in a pharmaceutical company where I was sent to Belgium. One day, while I was singing to myself, my landlord who was a producer at a radio station heard me, gave me a slot of 15 minutes to perform and people loved it! I quit my job the next day, didn’t tell my mother and came back to India. I started hunting for record labels. I had sent out my demos and a record label reached out to me, asking me to meet them. I reached the place at 10:00 A.M. and waited. The receptionist said that the man I was supposed to meet would be delayed by half an hour. So I waited and waited. It was 5:00 P.M. I was hungry and tired, when a lady walked in and said, “He isn’t coming today. You have 5 minutes. Tell me what you got.” I wasn’t prepared for this. Yet, I asked her if they would sign up with me for my album. She laughed and said that, that is not how it works and I don’t have the looks that would work for television. I went numb, walked out and as I crossed the street, I fell on my knees and started crying. I decided then, that music and I weren’t meant to be. Just then, I got a call from a friend who said that he had signed me up for singing at a bar in Bandra. I told myself that this would be my last concert. There were only 4 people when I started and then eventually the crowd turned to 250 people. People loved my music!
It was then that Vishal had tapped on my shoulder and called me to his studio to sing for Shekar to see. And that is how, finally, I released my album with the help of both of them!
“Mysore se aayi wo” was my first hindi song. The tune stuck with me for one year before I decided to add words to it. The girl I describe in the song is my city, my Mysore. Oh, and when it comes to the ‘lungis’, well, I sleep in them and one fine day, I just decided that this would be my stage look! It just fits! Different, unique and mine.”
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