Rajiv

Mumbai, India

April 19, 2006

3,958 plays
22,201 views

I began my musical journey at the age of 3, when I was tutored by my mother Gayathri in Carnatic classical music. My fascination for rhythm right from that early age led me to get formal training in the mridangam, a South Indian percussion instrument. I learnt the nuances of playing the mridangam and other allied percussion instruments from the renowned Guru Shri T.S. Nandakumar over a period of 12 years. Rhythm being my forte, many opportunities to perform live in concerts came my way.

Simultaneously, throughout school and college, I had been singing at competitions. However, it was during my four years at Engineering College that I began to sing live seriously. It was only a matter of time before I decided to make a career in music.

After graduating with a bachelors degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, to further enhance my spectrum of knowledge in music, I pursued a course in Audio Engineering at the premier institute School of Audio Engineers (SAE), Chennai. During the course, I not only gained experience in recording techniques and mixing, but also set up my own Audio Workstation, which I used, to delve into the world of keyboard programming and composing.

Band/artist history

-------------------------------------------------------------
[Playback Singing]

Song Name   : Chori Chori
Film               : Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar
Music             : Ashu & Dhruv
-------------------------------------------------------------
[Background scores of films I've sung in]

Film    : Shootout at lokhandwala
          : Aap Ka Suroor
          : Ramgopal Varma ki Aag 
          : Khushboo (yet to release)
Music : Amar Mohile 

Film    : Breaking News (yet to release)
Music  : Ranjit Barot 

Film    : Jaane Bhi do Yaaro (yet to release)
Music  : Nikhil 
-------------------------------------------------------------
[Chorus Singing]

Film    : Aaja Nach Le (Yet to release)
Music : Salim - Sulaiman
-------------------------------------------------------------
[Ad-Jingles I've sung]

Nokia N72...........................Ram Sampath
Reliance..............................Ram Sampath
Coke (Pakistan)..................Sameeruddin
Ufone Life (Pakistan)..........Sameeruddin
Aditya Birla-Ultratech..........Salim-Sulaimaan
Haldirams (yet to release)..Tapas Relia
Liberty Shoes......................Tapas Relia
Pepsi (Ooh aah India).........Vicky Goswami
Paas Paas...........................Vicky Goswami
JayPee Cement...................Juku
7up (Telugu).......................Sanjeev Wadhvani
-------------------------------------------------------------
[Serial Title Tracks Sung]

Serial Name : Hum Hain Naa
                    : Chakkar
Music           : Tapas Relia
-------------------------------------------------------------

Have you performed in front of an audience?

After moving to Mumbai in October 2005, I started singing for ad-jingles, albums, corporate films, serial title tracks, and even sang a song in a feature film. I performed with the group Keep Alive for a period of 6 months, doing live shows of old Hindi film songs. Since May 2005, I've been freelancing for a Dubai based media-mobile company, Firstlight as a singer for re-composed mobile phone ring tones. In the last one year, I have sung for renowned music composers and producers like Salim-Sulaiman, Ranjit Barot, Dhruv Ghanekar & Ashutosh Pathak, Ram Sampath, Rajat Dholakia a.k.a Juku, Amar Mohile, Tapas Relia, Vivek Rajagopalan, Aashish Rego, and Vicky Goswami. I assisted Vivek Rajagopalan, composing and arranging for a Times Music album titled Dancing with Shiva. I have also been assisting Vivek in rhythm-based demonstrations and performances at corporate events. I've also worked with Aashish Rego as a singer and programmer for background scores.

#singer #vocal #hindi #rajiv