On a melody trip:Bangalore Rocks

He captivated the audience with his magical voice when he sang at the Rat Pack tribute night in the city last week. He started off by playing guitar when in Standard 10, and now 22-year-old Venkat Subramaniyam is a popular face in Bengaluru’s music scene. Venkat, who now plays bass guitar for the band The Chronic Blues Circus, says, “I have also played for a band called Haven and I used to sing for the Chennai-based band The Previous Band. But right now, the other members are going abroad for higher education in music, so I’m not going to sing with them for a while now.”

Venkat also regularly sings at different clubs and rock pubs in the city. When he’s not performing with bands, he and a bunch of singers perform at various events. The musician was even placed third in Season Three of the Kroaknight (a karaoke event) held at Opus. Talking about the kind of music he sings now, Venkat says, “At the Rat Pack tribute, I sang songs like Strangers In The Night, As Time Goes By and What Kind of Fool Am I? I even sang old songs by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Junior and a few medleys as well. I like listening to music from the Fifties.” Having received no professional training in music, Venkat reveals that he learnt music by listening to different artists. “When you listen to a particular singer, you get to rediscover their influences — whether it’s a John Mayer or a Jimi Hendrix.” So what are his musical influences? “When growing up, I listened to everyone from Michael Jackson to Nirvana, Metallica to the boy bands. When I started playing for bands, I began listening to different artists. Right now, I like Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Robert Johnson, Frank Sinatra and Nina Simone,” says Venkat, who’s also influenced by Bob Marley, Paul McCartney and Joy Division.

Venkat who did his schooling in the UAE says, after coming to India, he discovered that the opportunities here are more for musicians like him. Many singers in Bengaluru who sing at the amateur level actually have the capacity to go professional, believes Venkat. The youngster, who also writes his own music, is looking forward to cutting an album in the future. “I want to record original material,” he signs off.

source:DC