Sensational ‘tiny’boppers
Local children are making their presence felt in the world of music as they perform at various venues within and outside the city
By : sneha k sukumar
Update: 2015-07-14 00:18 GMT
Ever watched a music reality show for children, wondering what it would be like to be a child prodigy, after being spellbound by their sound? Children in our city are not too far behind in that regard. With a spring in their step and soul in their voice, these teenyboppers are conquering the world, one stage at a time, and painting the town red with their vocals!
Take Anjana Padmanabhan for instance. As the winner of the first edition of Indian Idol Junior and with concerts across Ghana, Dubai and Indonesia in her arsenal, this 12-year-old is setting the bar high. “I never expected to win,” confesses the girl with a golden voice and who was told so by none other than Asha Bhonsle. “I didn’t know a word of Hindi but ended up mugging over 60 Bollywood songs,” laughs the student of DPS Bangalore South, who is now setting her sights on perfecting the keyboard.
Having been an opening act for Tajdar Junaid, Alexis, An Ode to the Blues Festival and performing alongside popular bands like Girish and the Chronicles, Mad Orange Fireworks, Mahesh and the Mix and Thermal and a Quarter, L’nne Golay is yet another minstrel setting the stages on fire, closer home. A 10th grader at Frank Anthony Public School, she is now writing her own songs and is on her way to forming her band! “I don’t really like studying. I love singing and I know it’ll turn into my profession someday,” she says, oozing confidence and taking after her guitarist father. Performing across music venues in the city, “Of course I feel nervous on stage. It helps to shut my eyes sometimes or sing even loud. I’m now working on that,” she confesses. But that’s never stopped her from popping her vocals and going all Joss Stone on the mic, weaving magic through her voice, like her favourite author JK Rowling does through a pen.
And that’s something that these kids seem to have in common – a streak of supreme confidence mixed with equal portions of humility. “I even got a whopping 90% in my junior Carnatic music exam, but I chose to go Hindustani because I knew it would be helpful for a singing career in Bollywood,” says Shamvruthi Pethi who is all of 15, yet raring to go. Having performed to a room of 2,500 at Infosys Mysore and Toastmasters, Sam as she’s popularly called, even took up I Love Mondays’ workshop at AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory to learn how to read and compose her own music. “Music will always remain a part of my life but I’m also looking to do law and psychology simultaneously,” says the student of Vidyaniketan who juggles the football with equal ease, playing mid field for her school’s team.
Ask 12-year-old Nilanjanaa Jayanth if music is her calling and she simply shrugs, “I still have a long way to go before I decide.” A student of Samhita Academy and the Taaqademy, Nilu has belted out covers of Celine Dion, Duffy, Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera at everything from the Fete de la Musique and the Freedom Jam to Alliance Francaise and the Metro Art Centre, without breaking a sweat! “It makes me happy and I don’t enjoy anything more,” says the tot who is even the lead vocalist of her own band, Sandstorm.
With these wunderkinds taking to their voices and showing the city their mind-melting talent, it’s probably not too late to enroll in that music class you’ve been putting off or pour over endless music tutorials on YouTube. What are you waiting for?