He took to singing when he was only four, now, at 33, Prahlad Prasad is still at it. The inspired Bengalurean won an award at the Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival for his debut music video, Coffee Huduga, something that seems to have set the tone for a flourishing career in music. And according to him, 2017 is looking brighter than ever.
Prahlad shot to fame after his debut album consisting of songs like Hagalu Hodditu, Balu Doora, Ninnante Haaduvuda, Coffee Huduga, Neenayke Doora and Yenu Vismayavo Idu resonated with the audiences across the state. His song Coffee Huduga which bagged the award for instance, is a thought-provoking commentary on child labour.
“My dad, SN Prasad isn’t a professional lyricist, but having published over five compilations of poetry, penned down these compositions. Most of them are penned down by him,” he explains. Ask him about his inspirations, and he can’t help but let out a chuckle.
“There are just too many to count,” he says, adding RD Burman, Ilayaraja, Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton and The Beatles to his list. If you haven’t already lent your ears to it, Prahlad’s sound is strongly rooted in Indian light classical music with hints of blues and rock.
“I’m into clean tones, which means, I like acoustics. I also love adding a human touch to music through live instruments rather than using synthetic sounds. With this, I experiment across genres,” he tells us.
Prahlad has also had a collaboration with California-based violinist and Grammy Award Winner Rocio Marron for his composition Yenu Vismayavo. Additionally, he’s been an A-Grade artiste for radio and has composed over 500 jingles. He now runs his own academy, Prahlad Mira Academy for Music and Art.
“I usually teach guitar, light vocals and keyboard, with another person to handle art. Our main aim is not just train our students in instruments, but turn them into wholesome musicians by helping them create and compose their own music,” says the alumnus of Chitrakala Parishath, who even had his own music band in college.
After holding a Kishore Kumar tribute concert recently at which some of his students performed along with him, he hopes to make it a regular affair to continue encouraging them.
“I’m also releasing a new composition next month and am scoring music for a couple of feature and short films. I’m also working on a movie script and in a couple of years, I hope to direct, produce and compose for it. It should be ready in a year or two,” he says positively, in conclusion.
