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Lorde, hailing from New Zealand, was awarded the Song of the Year at Grammy’s 2014 for her single “Royals”

Teenyboppers of Indie Music

Did you know Lorde, who won Song of the Year at the 2014 Grammy’s is only 17 years old? Or that Avicii played his first international masterstroke to fame when he was only 19? The examples are endless. However, because majority of Indian tradition says: ‘Do well in your 12^th exams, then do engineering/medicine/commerce, then work on a job until you get frustrated, take to alcohol, immerse yourself in petty showing-off, and then finally, in some cases, drop out’, things turn out differently.

As exceptions to the above culture, the Indian indie scene is now witnessing emerging talent so young that you begin to appreciate the encouragement of parents apart from applauding their music. We’ve put together a list of under-20 musicians who’ve recently sauntered into the indie music world with so much confidence that labelling them as ‘kids’ is a no-go: Writing their own acoustic songs, creating guitar solos and impressive bass lines, and delivering vocal notes with an ability to break cement. Here’s whom you need to watch out for!

Mohini Dey

Daughter of Hindi film music’s session bassist Sujoy Dey, Mohini Dey, performed with tabla maestros Zakir Hussain, Taufiq Qureshi and British producer Nitin Sawhney when she was only 16. Today, at the age of 18, Mohini counts her successes that include playing at MTV Coke Studio and Unplugged with greats like A.R Rahman. Not sure if she was attracted to the twang of the bass guitar or the way her father experimented with it in his time, all she knows with certainty is that she has a lot of responsibility through music and cannot let her family down. Watch Mohini on bass in “Zariya”, the video below.

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Aayushi Karnik

Who would’ve imagined that a girl from Surat could belt out startlingly stratospheric guitar solos of the blues variety and be Fender’s youngest endorsee? Aayushi Karnik is that 19-year old Surat-based girl who is a self-taught guitarist. Aayushi, who took to guitar when she was 12, plays basic yet polished scales that have earned her admiration. Of her inspirations, Shillong-based blues band Soulmate tops the list (read our interview here). Here’s Aayushi at Live From The Console in the video below.

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Red Seems Right

This five-member alt-rock band from Mumbai comprises teenyboppers around 20 years of age who were a recent revelation when they played at Live From The Console gig following a crisp set by Aayushi Karnik. Led by frontman Siddhant Bhonsle (son of Bollywood singer Sudhesh Bhonsle), Red Seems Right that formed slightly over a year ago in 2012, won the Mumbai round of Channel V’s Launchpad 2013. They’ve been performing at Mumbai’s venues with their recent show at blueFROG, which marked a sense of validation for the youngsters.

Machli

“Nightsong” is their one and only claim to fame. But oh dear lord, what a single it is, that possesses the expertise of a musician, weathered by at least a decade long of polish and finesse. Machli, the Bangalore-based experimental electro-acoustic band, are youngsters who believe in making music out of minimal setups, which they hide under the garb of a quip: We can’t afford to buy instruments. Listen to their other tracks and demos here.

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Divya Lewis

Do you remember the RD Burman track “Aao Na Gale Lagaao Na” sung by Asha Bhonsle from the film Mere Jeevan Sathi? Regardless, in 2011 Coke Studio had done a rendition of the track in its unplugged avatar, fleshed out to the last note, in the voices of Parthiv Gohil and Divya Lewis. Yes, the then-15 year old Divya Lewis, daughter of Colonial Cousin Leslie Lewis, delivered a pop-styled rendition of the Asha Bhonsle ballad.

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Raunak Maiti

First captured in a candid video-song session organized by Tehelka (watch here), multi-instrumentalist Rounak Maiti starts by talking about subjects he would like to study in college before he begins to play his original song “Get Away”. What do you say to that now? This 18-year old singer-songwriter is currently focussing all energies on academics in Los Angeles where he occasionally dabbles in music. He is most likely to return to his songwriting, soon, in earnest, in India, or so we wish.

Nooran Sisters

There might be a message written in the stars that if you work with A.R Rahman, the rest of the world seems insignificant, less relevant, not bound by time and space. Jyoti and Sultana Nooran – the Sufi sisters who were the voice behind “Patakha Guddi” from Highway, were first heard in the original song “Tung Tung” on MTV SoundTrippin. SoundTrippin led to Coke Studio and before anyone knew they were in A.R Rahman’s studio recording their next track (read our story on Coke Studio’s regional artists here).

We’d like to make a special mention to Nischay Parekh, Dhruv Visvanath and other indie artists who’ve just passed the mark of 20. If you belong to this category of under-20 musicians and would like to get featured in the next edition of our teenyboppers list, write to us.

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