THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “This is for the self,” Akhil says looking straight at you. “I make music to satisfy myself,” he adds merrily. At 18, in medical terms, he went blind. At 23, he has a band and is a much sought-after young music performer in the city. He is already making ripples in the music milieu with his experimentations in the harmonisation of musical pieces.
On Friday, he will release his mash-up cover ‘10 Kanakkinu Acapella’, a harmonised music collection stringing together an eclectic set of musical pieces. Following the A Capella genre of music, he introduces a surreal western tang to the many songs we have listened to. The popular songs from the oldies and the new ones transform into endearing pieces. And with his new collection, the youngster hopes to introduce to the people the realm of harmonisation which adds a fresh spin to the songs we have been attuned to.
The peppy and soft filmy numbers become a delight to listen to with harmonization.
“We can do harmonisation for all songs. We add several ‘parts’ and this conceals the absence of instruments,” explains Akhil about his mashup cover. Weaving together ten songs in Malayalam, Tamil and English, the collection will be released on YouTube through his channel ‘AcousticA Music Band’.
“I have never felt that I am blind,” Akhil says. And maybe that is what drives him to compose music and perform with abandon in stages. He formed his band ‘AcousticA’ during his final year at music college. Although it was started along with his friends, the band now comprises only him and is making waves in the music circuit.
“I take life as it comes. So it never worried me,” Akhil says, as he recollects the time he was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa. He was just nine when the doctors told him he is on the way to losing his eyesight forever. Even now, he walks without any mobility aids. He takes the help of the person accompanying him to move about.
And he never learned Braille. “Many people suggested learning Braille. But I was determined that I will not learn it, it will be accepting that I am blind,” he says. Akhil never uses the Braille sheet music to learn the instruments. “It just comes from inside. You can play better without using a music sheet,” he adds with confidence.