Struck Upon Gold

“I started playing the guitar about four years ago,” says Pandit. “My elder brother has been playing the guitar for the longest time,so the option of picking up the skill was always there,” he adds. Pandit’s tryst with the instrument began with him learning to play Bob Dylan songs. “From the moment I could hold a rhythm on the guitar,I started writing songs. I think I grew out of Bob Dylan and I’m now more influenced by contemporary indie music,” says Pandit,who describes his compositions as “sad and depressing love songs”. Elaborating further with a chuckle,he says,“I think it is the right age. It is about immature stuff that I’m trying to describe maturely.” Pandit has also been making music with his Delhi-based band RUN It’s the Kid. “I am working on a full-length solo album and an EP with the band,” says Pandit,sharing future plans.

Another 20-year-old to take stage later that night was Nischay Parekh,a singer-songwriter from Kolkata. Parekh was accompanied by percussionist and conceptual musician Jivraj ‘Jiver’ Singh,who had played onstage earlier that evening with Suman Shridhar.

Speaking on Parekh and MTS Discover,NH7 co-founder Vijay Nair says,“I saw him play in Kolkata over a year ago,to about five people. Today he’s here playing to five thousand — an audience he truly deserves.” Elaborating on Nair’s comment,Parekh says,“It was a year ago,when I was jamming at Jiver’s place. Vijay Nair was there too,not for talent scouting or anything,but visiting Jiver,as they are family friends. Back then,I was also unaware of what NH7 meant in terms of scale.”

But the past year has been eventful for Parekh. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music and cut an album titled Ocean,with which he has been touring for the past four months. Speaking on his music Parekh says “My music is pop,and I never had a problem saying that. It is experimental pop and I believe anything with hooks,choruses and verses,which can be sung to,is pop music. Subject-wise,I deal with animals and relationships. I like handing large concepts and embellishing them with small intimate matters. Panda,the third song from my album,for example,talks about a large concept like reincarnation handled almost in a kindergarten-ish manner,wherein I say I was a panda in my past life.”

Curated For You

Stranger Things Season 5 Vol 2 Review and Release Live Updates: Show is finally out, fans share reactions to finale’s big reveal

Dhurandhar Box Office Worldwide Collection Day 21 Update: With Rs 1000 cr earning, Ranveer Singh’s film demolishes Rajinikanth’s Jailer, Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan BO records

Bengaluru wakes up to chilly Christmas, sees second coldest winter in more than a decade