KOCHI: Mrudangam exponent K V Prasad is a musician who believes in adapting to the latest and contemporary styles. His latest ‘Amrythm’, a percussion performance which was held at the Sacred Hearts College, Thevara as part of the Heartifest 2017, was an attempt to present Carnatic music in a contemporary form.
Termed as his brainchild, it was his way of experimenting with different genres of music from across the globe. The performance was accompanied by his son Krishna Kishore on the drums, Leon James on the keyboard and M S Ananthakrishnan on the violin. ‘Amrythm’ according to him is ‘An Ode By An Aspiring Percussionist To His Father’.
A former student of Sacred Hearts College, K V Prasad learned Mrudangam from the age of six from the late Ernakulam Narayana Iyer. Parassala Ravi, principal of the Palakkad Music College and Sangeetha Kalanidhi T K Murthy further helped him mould into a complete mrudangam player. He is also multi-faceted and plays the tabla,western drums, edakka, chenda, and congo drums.
“Asurasadhakam (vigorous practice) and listening to good music are the most important factors that help in becoming a great player. Deep knowledge in whatever art form you are pursuing is necessary to achieve great heights,” says K V Prasad.
The carnatic musician has also played for various Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies and has won a plethora of awards. Some of the evergreen songs performed by K V Prasad include “Oru Murai Vanthu” from the movie Manichithrathaazhu and “Pramadavanam Veendum” from the movie His Highness Abdulla.