KOCHI: He remembers getting enrolled in music classes when he was seven years old. Two weeks later, his father caught him lying down and singing while his teacher was taking the class and this marked the end of it. After this aborted first stint with music, Arvind Venugopal’s life took a U-turn and today his singing style is compared with his father, singer G Venugopal.
It is surprising to note that this twenty-six-year-old has never learnt classical music except for a two-week crash course in voice training during his graduation. “I believe music is there in my genes. I grew up listening to my father’s music and I might have involuntarily imitated his style. I am happy being compared to him,” said Arvind, who is trained in Western piano.
He said he rediscovered his singing during his degree course at Madras Christian College where he was actively involved in a college band. “I used to be active in college cultural festivals. As a matter of coincidence, I recorded my first film song for the movie The Train in 2011,” he added.After recording for a few more movies, Arvind shot to fame after appearing in the musical programme Music Mojo in Kappa TV along with his father three years ago.
From that, his cover version of the Ennavale song hit 1.9 million views, which he believes got him the maximum appreciation and feedback. He got his break with the song Mazha Paadum from the film, Sunday Holiday under the music direction of Deepak Dev.
“ I admired Deepu chettan’s work and had sent my singing videos to him. After a while, when he felt that the Mazha Paadum song was a suitable song for me, he gave me the opportunity,” he said.
Arvind’s recently recorded videos for Music Mojo which was released on YouTube are also receiving rave reviews. On pronouncing Tamil with ease, he mentioned that his time in Chennai during school (till seventh) and degree helped him.
But, music is not the only passion, he also has a strong interest in film-making. “ I studied film-making abroad and after coming back I wanted to assist director Anjali Menon. My efforts paid off and I could assist her for her latest movie, Koode,” he said.
He mentioned he has developed a comfort zone with Anjali and wish to continue assisting her. Arvind also wants to work with other directors as it would give a different school of experience. “I have a desire to become an independent filmmaker without leaving music. I am planning to take voice training too,” he added.
As for Venugopal’s stance, Arvind said his father never asked him to pick a particular field. But asked him to give his 100% to whatever he does, whether it be music or movies.