There’s a lot to being a musician, but knowing music and having the will to learn and experiment is definitely one of them. Serving justice in this field, Suryansh could tell you a lot about it. From the time he was nineteen to now, he has been a part of the music industry and has worked on numerous projects and with many acclaimed singers and composers. Suryansh has been striking the right chords in his life and career to have been able to reach the heights that he has. And his story, from his first stage performance up till now, is full of fortunate accidents and impressive outcomes!
How it Began!
Born and raised in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, Suryansh’s passion for music was evolved out of his family’s inclination towards it. He has been singing and playing instruments for as long as he can remember, and he recalls that his first stage show happened at the age of four. However, even as his parents loved to sing, he has been the first one to pursue it professionally. Trained in Western Classical and Hindustani Classical music, he left for Chennai after high school to study music at K M Music Conservatory.
As the conversation about his life goes, he narrates a very interesting incident of an impromptu performance that gave him an understanding of both the stage and the power of Youtube. It was in 2011, he begins, at a concert of the playback singer Richa Sharma. She had called him on stage after he had requested a ‘thumri’ song for her to render. He sang along with her the song ‘Billo Rani’, the video of which garnered more than 44 million views on Youtube. Now, running a successful channel of his own, Suryansh has collaborated with a lot of musicians from around the nation and has tried to recreate some of the popular Bollywood classics.
Breakthrough Moment!
Before we had reached this part of the conversation; among Zimmer and John Williams, Suryansh had included the name of AR Rahman in the list of his favorite musicians. It was understandable then, in a completely wonderful way, when he recounted his first time sharing the stage with AR Rahman as the breakthrough moment of his career. Every singer has a dream to work with him, something that came true for Suryansh who experienced it as both a professional and a fan. It was a surreal feeling, he adds, something he couldn’t believe was happening. Even after performing with him around the globe now – from Qutub Minar in New Delhi to Cipriani in New York, for Suryansh the feeling of it is still as new.
How it is going!
Suryansh was 19 when he started working as a musician. Having worked in both Hindi and Tamil music industry, he has been a part of numerous projects including recent films like ‘Dil Bechara’ and ‘18am Padi’. In all honesty, he reflects that he has been lucky to meet the right people at the right time, and everybody had been really kind and supportive. That isn’t to say that he hasn’t had his fair share of ups and downs. But not dwelling a lot on it, he says that all of that is part of the journey and that is what makes it beautiful. Without the bad experiences, we wouldn’t truly appreciate the good ones.
What’s in store for the Future
While he has a few projects lined up, he looks forward to also being able to explore the songwriting space. He considers songwriting as one of those nuances of music that one can put everything into, and he has been working on some originals as he tries to figure out how to go about them. Upholding the idea of experimentation and immersing oneself in new experiences, he wants to explore all of his skills and hopefully all of them together. “It is amazing to be a part of the song, from the beginning to its end” he says and his talent is sure to award him with that!
A Small Message
Often people talk about how other people’s faith in them helped them push forward. Suryansh too believes in that, but his first advice is that you have to trust in yourself, and once that happens will people have trust in you. There’s nothing unconventional about music in India, or any artistic field in general. You have to learn and have faith in yourself. As long as you know your stuff, you’ll figure things out. Besides, he says, learning never stops.
It is true that we spend a lot of time worrying about our choices before we make them, especially when it comes to our professional life. Suryansh maintains that it is all about maintaining the right balance. While driving headfirst into a thing without any contemplation may not be the best of calls, but waiting too much for things to happen isn’t either. If you have faith in yourself and your skills, then go for it and figure out how the rest of the things work. Experiment and learn. That’s the only way to walk ahead.
However, he agrees that when it comes to the real world, advice often falls short of how tough it actually turns out to be. But then, he says, no matter what field, things would always be tough. Everything takes its time and at the end of the day, it is all worth it. Something that his own career and life as a musician can stand by— his efforts and his journey has all been worth it!
