#LifeIsMusic Yadhunandan: Boy with a Bombay story

His father played the Percussions when he was young. He grew up listening to his mother and sister sing Carnatic and Hindustani Classical songs. To add to that were good compositions that came from Kannada films of the time and old Hindi film classics, especially songs of Kishore Kumar, which his father would play at home.

He took to Michael Jackson’s music after listening to the songs his choreographer uncle would practice to. Popular music from boy bands such as ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys fell into his ears when his older sister took to the music in the ‘90s and Metal followed by Classic Rock became the music of choice while he was in college. Today, tracks by Jazz band Snarky Puppy dominate his playlist. It’s probably why Yadhunandan, the 24-year-old, genre agnostic drummer from Bangalore seamlessly fits in with any band, in any part of the country, playing any genre and has quickly tasted success, albeit in spurts. Excerpts from an interview;

How did you decide to take up music?

I started off singing in school assemblies, much like a lot of other children. I didn’t pursue singing seriously because I realised that my voice wasn’t meant for it. In class eight summer break,I started to learn the Guitar. While I was picking up the basics, my mind was focused on what the other guy next to me was learning on the Drums. In the next summer break, I enrolled for drumming lessons in school, where I learned drumming basics. You know, how to hold the stick right etc.I then enrolled into a local music school, where I learned how to play for about a year.Then the person teaching at the school asked me if he’d like to take private lessons at his home and I agreed. I did that for about two years. When I got into college and started jamming with bands, it was mostly all self-taught.

You remember your first gig?

Yes! It was in school. In class 10. I come from St. Joseph’s, where we had a Christian band. We used to cover Gospel rock bands like Hillsong. My first gig was back then.

What was the first gig you got paid for?

I wouldn’t call it a paid gig. Back in college days, there were competitions that had a small prize money if you won. You know, Rs. 500 or Rs.1000. In class 11, we (his band) started entering a lot of competitions. In one of the competitions, we won the prize for the best band, I won the prize for the best drummer and we also won the best original composition prize. That was 3000 bucks in total.

The Bangalore live music scene has opened up a lot. Audiences are embracing indie musicians and their work and the bands and artists are doing quite well. What’s changing?

I think the audiences are evolving. They’re saturated with commercial music. Also, there are lots of upcoming independent artists that can put out quality music. Their music has evolved. People have become more professional now, where music isn’t just a weekend hobby. The mindset of parents is changing even, which is allowing young musicians to take it up full-time. The biggest reason, however, is the fact that venues are now opening up.

Many pubs and venues in the city are supporting independent artists and their music. Also, the deadline in Bangalore has been extended to 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays. So now you can place three bands in the line-up on a single night. Imagine the number of gigs each week. This also means that the competition has gone up, making bands and artists more professional.

When did you decide to take drumming up as a profession? How did you go about doing things?

It was a fairly recent decision. Till I finished my graduation and for two years after that, I was really not sure if I wanted to do music professionally. I really couldn’t think of earning money out of music. Also, I had backlogs from the B.Sc course and now when I look back, I realize that the backlogs helped because I was at home for about two years and I could practice and more importantly, think about what I really wanted to do. I obviously wasn’t great at academics. I didn’t want to do a corporate job. But, during that period, I even took up a job at a company to see if I could and partly also because my parents asked me what I was doing sitting at home. I tried doing that for about six or seven months, but it wasn’t my thing. During the time, I got a call from Vasundhara Das (singer, actress, performer). She has a band and was looking for a drummer. Her keyboardist happened to be a friend of mine and recommended my name. I joined the band. That was my first professional move. It was a big break, unexpected break. I still perform with her. She was the one who gave me my first music pay cheque. The feeling of receiving that pay was just incredible. Getting paid for doing something that I love, that’s what I wanted to do, I realized.

How did things change after that?

My parents came around. They realised that a career in music is really an option. Having a known name like Vasundhara Das helped. With Vasundhara Das, I was doing four to five gigs a month. That led to me having a fair amount of money in my bank account.

Vasundhara Das’s gigs or should we say music is fairly commercial.Did an opportunity to play with her change your outlook towards the industry?

Yes, Vasundhara Das’s band is a commercial band. I used to play old school,Classic Rock earlier. But Bollywood is not like that. It’s about keeping one groove for eight minutes. It’s about entertaining the crowd. It’s not just about you enjoying what you’re playing. It’s about the people you’re playing for. They’re paying for it. It’s a huge crowd and as a drummer it’s your responsibility to ensure that they’re having fun. It was a whole new dimension, this commercial music experience.

Did you take time to adapt to that? Would you get frustrated?

Yeah, it took some time and I did get a little frustrated. You know, you’re not doing your own thing; you’re doing what you are to survive as a musician.

So how do you strike a balance and not get frustrated or completely disillusioned?

I had a plan. Apart from Vasundhara Das, I had four bands I could play for and they were all different genres – Metal, Electronica etc. So when I had a break in between the Vasundhara Das gigs, I would play with them. That was to maintain balance. You have to do multiple things at the same time to strike that balance and keep yourself happy.

I don’t know when that day will come when I will get the pay cheque and artistic satisfaction at the same time. It probably happens when you become a very big and well-known musician;when people come to a concert just because you’re performing and nothing else. That’s when it’ll happen. There’s no other in between.

You said before we started the interview that you’ve moved to Bombay now. Why did you decide to move?

It was actually out of desperation, to be honest. I never really thought I would do this. There is something called off-seasons and on-seasons for gigs. The off-season in Bangalore hit me very badly, especially because I don’t take money from home. I was used to getting so much money during season and I would spend according to that. When I suddenly didn’t have any, I didn’t know what to do. It was frustrating. One day, I just told mom that I’m going to Bombay.

Just to rewind a bit; three years back, I was in Bombay for a music television reality show. I was the finalist for the show. I was here, locked up in a bungalow, for three months. I had made a few friends from the show.

About six months back, in the frustrated state of mind, I called them up and told them that I am coming to Bombay for a week; I don’t know what I’ll do but I just need a place to stay, is what I said. It was very random. I booked a bus ticket. I told mom I was leaving. She asked me what I was planning on doing. I said, I don’t know and left.

The first thing I did after reaching Bombay was to call music director Ram Sampath, who was a judge on the show. He was busy and didn’t take calls for about five days and then on the sixth day, just when I was leaving, he picked up the call. I told him that I wanted to meet him. He met me and was very happy to see me. He asked me if I wanted to move to Bombay and said that there was actually a dearth of good drummers in Bombay. He said I should try moving to Bombay and try my luck and skills. He also said that he’ll recommend my name to Sona (Mohapatra) at some point. Just before I was leaving for Bombay, I saw a Facebook post by famous Bombay-based flautist Ashwin Srinivasan. He happens to be a cousin of my dad’s friend. The post said that Ashwin was looking for a drummer in Bombay, in the same week as I was to be in the city. I dropped a comment saying I was interested and came to Bombay. On the second day of me being in Bombay, my dad called and said that he called Ashwin through his friend and told him, ‘My son is in Bombay, please help him.’ He didn’t know about the Facebook post.

Ashwin called me up and said, ‘Hey Yadhu, We’re looking for a drummer, you want to try and audition?’ I said, yes. On just the third day of being in the city, I recorded in the studio. On the fourth day I got a pay cheque.I called up my mom and told her, ‘Would you believe it; my first trip to Bombay, where I just came with some bus ticket money, and I now have a pay cheque of Rs. 30,000 in my hand.’ On the fifth day, I was at a workshop with Gino Banks and Jai Row Kavi. The sixth day I met Ram Sampath. It was the best week ever. On the seventh day, I went back and spoke to mom. I told her that I need to start looking for a place in Bombay. Two of my friends were already in the city and looking for an apartment. I asked them if I could share the apartment with them and they said okay. I packed all my stuff, including the drum kit and my mom very sweetly packed kitchen utensils and all the other stuff I’d need and sent me off.

What happened once you were here?

I started calling Ram Sampath again. For about four months, nothing much was happening. I had to obviously pay rent etc., so I continued my Bangalore work. I would travel back and forth a lot. That was happening for some time. Very recently, Sona Mohapatra texted me saying come join the band. I’m currently learning the songs and I’ll soon be joining her band. So things look good from here on.

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