My son is a rockstar

Becoming a rockstar is no longer a pipe dream for teenage rockers because the cringing Indian parent is now in fact, helping his kids set up studio, bag a gig, and promote the band

Becoming a rockstar is no longer a pipe dream for teenage rockers because the cringing Indian parent is now in fact, helping his kids set up studio, bag a gig, and promote the band

Pioneering rock acts say it takes a good 10 years for a band to make it as a live act. By that count, One Track Mind has over 8 years to go before it hits big time. Yet, the 6-member classic rock band has marked its presence on stage at Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai and Pune, Not Just Jazz By The Bay and High Spirits in Pune.

The youthful band's 16 year-old drummer Vivaan began his career last year, when vocalist Shaun watched him hit the drums on his last day of school. "Shaun Kolah approached me with the idea of starting a band," says Vivaan.

One Track Mind has help from the entire Kapoor family. Vivaan's mother Soojata houses the jam sessions and plugs the band, father Nikhil ensures the band is technically perfect, and arranges studios for recordings. His uncle handles sound checks and acoustics at live shows. pic/Bipin Kokate

"Mandarin restaurant in Colaba has lost many a chopstick because of Vivaan; as a baby he would think it's a drumstick and the table is a drum!" says his mother Soojata Kapoor. To avoid further damage, she bought him a drum kit. What initially seemed like a toddler's fascination, turned out to be a serious passion; Vivaan was teaching himself how to make music out of the endless cacophony and showed persistence and skill early on.

"Everyone in the family is deaf but we don't know it," she says, when we ask her what it's like to hear drumming at home all day.

Between building a boutique hotel near Mumbai and running the household, the Kapoor family also makes time to serve as "momager" for One Track Mind. Vivaan's mother houses the jam sessions and plugs the band. His father, voice-over artist Nikhil Kapoor, ensures the band is technically perfect, and arranges studios for recordings. His uncle handles sound checks and acoustics at live shows. The family attends each and every show. At their first performance in a club, they forgot that the audience comprised paying customers and cheered with all their might. "Everyone in the family believes in trying things we like, and doing them the best we can, irrespective of success or failure," says Soojata. Vivaan has followed suit.
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Abha Raja with her mother Bela

She took a year off to study music
There is no doubt that Abha Raja will be a solo artist to watch out for. Armed with a degree in philosophy from the UK, the 22 year-old is returning to England this year for a degree at the London Music School. She started writing songs when she was 12, plays the guitar, hits the right notes and has the quiet confidence of someone wise beyond her years. "At around 18, she shared her dream of pursuing life as a serious musician," says mum Bela Raja, a published special educator and counsellor.

"I didn't realise how cool my folks are until people started telling me how lucky I am to get a chance to take a whole year off to study music. People way older than I am have expressed childhood desires to learn an instrument," says the Laura Marling and Regina Spektor fan.

Ashish of hard rock band Third Element with father R Vasudevan, who is a software professional.

Dad wants to open a studio with him
Everyone is 18 in five-member hard rock band Third Element, except the drummer.

"He has just completed his SSC boards, so that makes him 16," says guitarist Aashish Vasudevan, who is packing up for a degree in gaming design and development in Malaysia this year. He will follow it up with training in sound engineering.

"I will go solo as a sound engineer. It's as a creative artist that I envision myself," says the 18 year-old who henpecked his parents into getting him a guitar when he was in the eighth grade.

His father R Vasudevan was only happy to oblige. A software professional by vocation, dad is a classic rock fan, and plays the flute, veena, guitar and violins. So, when sonny said sound was his thing, daddy's only condition was that when he is done studying, they should open a studio together.


Times, they are a-changing
When acoustic rock band Cirkles frontman Teemeer got started with metal band Sceptre a decade ago, practising guitar at home was difficult; leave alone finding a room to jam. "I come from a middle-class family; making a career as a singer in a thrash metal band was unheard of. Black clothing and long hair made me the black sheep of the family, neighbourhood and college. People weren't used to heavy, distorted music, and related it to being Satan-influenced and drug-induced!" he says.

So, Teemeer left home and set up home and jam-room at a garage in Andheri. More than a 100 shows across India, one full-length album and 1 EP later, his folks and friends have taken a liking to his chosen career.

He has formed a circle of fun, acoustic rocker friends through Cirkles who often perform live at Not Just Jazz By The Bay, Firangi Paani and Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai. "For a musician, playing live is as important as breathing," says Teemeer. He says the satellite boom, Channel [V] Launchpad and films like Rock On have as much a part to play in bringing rock music into the Indian home as clubs and live venues. "Over the past couple of years, parents are the ones approaching me for guitar lessons for their kids who are as young as 7."

Now 10, Nimish is a pro at the guitar and was recently gifted an electric guitar worth 16 grand

He's a pro at the guitar. He is 9
The moment he watched Chennai-based percussion maestro Sivamani on television, Nimish Gupta wanted to learn from him. The only problem was Nimish was barely two years old and lived in Aurangabad. His father Abhiru Biswas had noticed the spark.
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"As a child I used to perform Rabindrasangeet with my mother.

I noticed the same thrill for music in him," says the technical advisor to Belgian chocolate company Barry Callebaut.

A music teacher at the playschool Nimish attended, suggested a guitar would suit his tiny fingers better. So, Biswas got an acoustic baby guitar custom-made in Kolkata. They moved from Aurangabad to Mumbai, but the child's passion for the instrument only got stronger. Now 10, Nimish is a pro at the guitar and was recently gifted an electric guitar worth 16 grand.

Vishal, Shiraz, Randolph and Papal of rock band Pentagram, that was in the news recently for bagging a song for Hollywood biggie Tim Burton's movie, 9.

It's no longer a poor man's dream, says rocker and Bollywood composer
Pentagram frontman and Bollywood music composer Vishal Dadlani comes from a business family; that is where he thought he would end up. "After my first gig, I was buzzing with energy. I told my father 'I'm not sure how you are going to take this but this is want I want to do'. And to his credit he told me to go ahead," he recalls.
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"Not all aspiring rockstars back then were fortunate enough to have encouraging parents like mine and friends like Papal, Shiraz and Randolph, who were patient with me," says Dadlani, who believes this is a great time for young rockers in India. "Parents today are much more supportive of their children pursuing rock. With a large number of college rock fests and corporate shows, it's no longer a poor man's dream. I may be a Bollywood composer, but even today I wake up as Vishal from Pentagram."