GOAN TALENT

An engineering graduate from the Goa Engineering College, Anish Sood comes from a family background of music where his father and uncle were both guitar players. Anish grew up with a lot of music around him and he hails from a time where digital music, heard on mobile phones were not the norm, as they are now. He has an array of cassette and CDs of which he is very proud. His true passion for music started really when he reached college.

A HOBBY THAT TURNED INTO A CAREER

By Rajesh Ghadge

While I was doing my studies at the Goa Engineering College i n F a r m a g u d i , I u s e d t o participate in college events a n d w a s a p a r t o f t h e organising team. That was the time I actually got into dance music and DJing, and along the way, I taught myself to how to play and compose music, although I had no formal training in this field.” Talents are in-born and they just need a push in the right direction with some training, to really flourish. “I belong to a family of engineers and everybody in my family is an engineer. We are in the business of heavy machinery, logistics and construction. After finishing engineering, I joined the family business and worked for around 10 years before I got into music full time. While I was taking care of my family business, I was continuing my journey into music composition and DJing. E n g i n e e r i n g i s a v e r y interesting subject and music just happened to me along the way. In fact, it was a side hobby that finally turned into my career,” he added. According to Anish, what he's done is a great example of how passion can be pursued with full dedication while doing a day job in any field of your choice. “When I joined the engineering college, I didn't imagine I'd give it up to do music. I didn't think I'd leave my f a m i l y b u s i n e s s t o d o s o m e t h i n g c o m p l e t e l y unrelated. Also, according, to me, analytical and logical skills improve to a big extent when you do engineering and you also develop a strong mindset regardless of which field of work you are into. For example, if you are a creative person and you have an engineering background then only the sky is the limit,” he averred. In engineering, there is a s t r e a m o f d i g i t a l m u s i c engineering wherein one can learn to master digital music engineering but Anish did not opt for that since he believed that it all came to him very naturally. “I was always good with computers and creating sound with computers was easy for me, hence I never felt that I need to study it. With the internet revolution, things have changed drastically and

Image Credits - Nathan D'Silva

y o u c a n t e a c h y o u r s e l f whatever you desire to learn online. I made use of YouTube to learn how to mix music and create a new music. I am completely self-taught, ” he said with a grin. When I asked him about his first opportunity as a music composer and DJ, he said it came about at a lounge owned by one of his friends. “It was the learning phase for me and fortunately my friend offered me an opportunity to perform and it all started from there. I used to spend from 3 to 7 pm practising alone and slowly it became my full-time job. We eventually started b o o k i n g m o r e a r t i s t s t o perform at that venue and that is how I built my network around the country. I then started getting invitations from them to perform in their cities and the rest is history,” he added. While performing at various locations across the country, A n i s h s l o w l y s t a r t e d composing his own music. “The skill of composing my own music got me the opportunity to play out of the country, as many brands started signing with me. This also got me the opportunity to do the Hello World Tour. It was in 2013 when I j u s t s t a r t e d g e t t i n g popularity. It was the time when dance music started catching on in India.

Entry into Sunburn

Sunburn brand promoted by the Percept company, is one of the biggest entertainment c o m p a n i e s t h a t h o s t electronic dance music. They had organised a contest in 2010 to remix tracks and Anish won that contest. “That contest opened the doors of Sunburn EDM festivals to me and I have been playing with them since then,” said Anish.

The Birth of ANYASA

After 12 years as one of India's most successful names in dance music, Anyasa was born yearning to tell new stories via n e w s o u n d s . “ A n y a s a translates from Sanskrit as ' spontaneous and effortless' and to me, that is how this evolution feels,” says Anish of his new moniker and music identity. “I feel with Anyasa, I h a v e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o change the narrative and wipe the slate clean,” he adds.

A b o u t T h e E n t r y i n t o Bollywood Music

Anish says “NO” he does not have the time now to compose m u s i c o r e n t e r i n t o t h e Bollywood music industry. “Time is the main factor which I

don 't have at the moment since I spend most of my time travelling for shows and the r e m a i n i n g t i m e I s p e n d composing the music for myself. Maybe 10 or 15 years down the line, when I slow down and I limit my touring, I will be open to working with film and TV Ads or anything that comes on my way. Also, t h e s t u d i o s a n d m u s i c production happen in Mumbai so that is not my focus as of now and right now I am more focused on being a solo performer,” he said. Speaking about future plans, Anish said that he is going to release two more EPs. “EPs means a mini album of 4 tracks, I have already released two EPs under the Anyasa brand and one more will be released by the end of this year or early next year and by end of next year I will be releasing the full album,” he said. “Finally, I want to say that I am really excited to share my new music with everyone and will be playing a bunch of shows also in Goa in the next few months. I am always proud to be from Goa,” he concluded.