For 25-year-old Avinash Ramachandran, his prospects are looking up.
The musician says although he finished engineering in computer science in Bengaluru, “I decided not to work in the software industry. I applied to a college in Los Angeles, California, called the Musicians’ Institute. I won two scholarships there and my parents were convinced that this works. I graduated in September last year after studying drums for one year and audio engineering for six years. Since then I’ve been working there.”
Drumming professionally for almost 10 years, Avinash says it was love at first sight with drums for him. “I’ve always been fascinated with the instrument. In school, I took up drumming in the band room and during college days, I was taking part and winning a whole lot of competitions. I started playing with bands and even started my own called Acid Quartet, where we wrote our own music and played around the city.”
His journey so far, he says, has been good. “It is a lot of fun. It is also hard at times since it is music. It is hard to explain that to people. Other than that, it is amazing.”
What is in store for the future? Avinash says in India the scene still needs to grow. “Everyone thinks it is still a hobby here. Here, fantastic musicians still have a day job. But in Los Angeles, the music scene is huge. Monday to Sunday, seven days a week, music is around the clock. I want to be a session drummer where I’m not part of one band, but playing with a range of bands and recording for people. I also teach audio engineering there. Everyday I have to wake up and make my own job.”
When people listen to him play, he hopes they takeaway the music itself. “I hope they gel with the feel. I hope everyone forgets what’s going on in their life and gets lost in the music.”
Avinash agrees that now is the best time to be a musician. “Technology is making things easier in the music field and people are becoming more aware. Now movies, TV show and advertisements are buying into music. The business aspect is also booming.”
Playing an acoustic drum kit for now, Avinash is planning to expand to an acoustic-electronic set soon. “I play a lot of progressive rock, which is free time and experiments a lot. It sounds good and feels good and is an awesome genre.”
He also hopes to share his vast knowledge base. “I do online lessons to try my best to get all the secrets out. I studied with the best drummers there. So I want to give back to the people and share the wealth of knowledge I have amassed over the years.”
On the nature of drumming itself, Avinash says: “In India, drumming is seen as how complicated, technical and mathematical you are. There, it is the complete opposite. It starts from the ground up. The simplest rhythm is given priority.”
To aspiring drummers, he suggests: “Study music – don’t just learn songs. It is best to have a teacher who is watching you and helping you grow. There is a bunch of stuff online. If you have someone to guide you to know what to learn, there are a lot of free lessons on YouTube. You just need to know where to look.”
Avinash also believes music should be given more preference in schools. “Even if they don’t want to be musicians, music has proved to open up parts of the brain to creative thinking and problem solving. Schools need to promote music. It is sure to help people in the future.”
Visit www.avinashdrums.com for more details.
