Homegrown music has finally found its groove in Hyderabad. The city boasts of a vibrant music culture, all thanks to talented youth who are coming together to celebrate covers to jazz acts and everything in between. One such band, born and brewed in the city, is Triad that has Remo Ashley on vocals, Chris Richard on the guitar and Bala Raj on the Cajon. The three youngsters in their twenties formed this band in September, 2016.
Triad has been growing consistently from the get-go. The members have performed in over 400 shows across the city and continue to steal hearts with their gigs specialising in Bollywood, Western and rock music. “I once performed with the band ‘Three of Us’ and it went really well, which is when I thought I should start my own band,” says 21-year-old Richard, adding, “The ‘Three of Us’ band members were really helpful and guided us well.”
The 22-year-old Remo recalls his journey. “In 2016, Chris came up to me and said ‘Hey! Let us start our band and you can be the vocalist.’ Chris had already spoken to Bala. I thought I would give it a shot and that is how our band was formed,” he says.
Support from home is always minimal when it comes to off-beat career paths. So for these youngsters too, convincing their parents was a task. “My parents were really concerned about my education when they came to know that I was performing gigs and it was tough convincing them. But after attending our concerts, they have been more encouraging,” adds Remo.
Bala Raj, 24, agrees with Remo and says, “I’ve had a rough journey in this profession. I wasn’t allowed to perform gigs initially. But later on, when I started helping my family financially, my parents were convinced that I was doing something with my life.”
Starting from scratch, without any economical support to earning '60,000 each per month, the band has come a long way and has paved the way for other budding artistes. Not many have a consistent growth in this field, especially when the city is flooded with young talent. But this band has managed to stay ahead of the curve and is an inspiration for many youngsters.
“It is not just the music that we have to deliver, we also have to appeal to people in order to grow in this field. This is where I feel we have done a fairly good job,” said Chris. The love from the audience keeps them motivated. “They keep us going and make us forget the hardships we have faced. It is really difficult to perform concerts at night and attend college the next morning. We have to manage our work life and as well as academics. But I feel that our hard work has paid off,” they say. When asked if there have been any misunderstandings, they unanimously say, “Like every other group we too have had our share of hiccups. But we prefer to talk it out.” Remo adds, “For instance, I like singing only Bollywood numbers and Chris likes English songs. So ours is a give and take policy.”
Triad’s speciality is that they start off with soothing music and increase the pace when the audience starts demanding for more. “We soon plan to launch our YouTube channel, in which we will showcase our compositions. We hope people lap it up the way they accepted our on-stage performances,” concludes Chris.
HT02
