'It is important to diversify'

Adrian Jeffery has defied genres and broken barriers of art. His work exemplifies the fact that there is time for everything and no end to pursuing a passion.

Artful and aesthetic in whichever instrument he picks up, Adrian is capable of dishing out harmonies in trumpet, guitar, piano or euphonium.  Though he started his musical journey with the piano when he was 6 years old, he took to learning the guitar when he was in middle school and started composing music later on.

“I began with simple tracks in the beginning and graduated to complicated rhythms and percussion. In college, I won laurels for my original compositions which only encouraged me to take up music seriously.”

An experimental artiste at best, he has written songs in various themes and also sings in genres such as gospel, classic rock, blues and funk.

Now, Adrian is making waves with his group, ‘The Acoustic Project’, an acappella ensemble and the band ‘Indigenous Fakirs’, which believes in making music that is beyond classification. “I have also composed jingles for advertisements,” he adds.

But it’s not just in the world of music that he has carved a niche. His talent rests behind the screens as well. Adrian is a filmmaker and is well known for ‘Cornetto’, a Kannada short film. The question that he is always asked if he has bitten off more than what he can chew.  “Not at all,” he says, confidently.

 “It’s working really well for me. I love being part of ‘Indigenous Fakirs’. We are playing a lot of shows around the country and recently pulled off a successful one at NIT Calicut for their cultural festival. It’s nice to travel and meet people of similar mindsets and interests. Though I work in the film world and hope to make feature films soon, music remains my deepest connect.”

A true blue artiste, Adrian quit his full-time job to concentrate on his passion. “I love experimenting with genres as that is one thing that lets me learn and keeps me on my toes. I believe that there are no barriers to art and every genre is made of similar building blocks when they are broken down. It’s initially tough to make the cut in the scene as the competition is a lot but artistes have to bring in their individuality to what is already there. It’s important to diversify.”

He is interested in working on new tracks and cutting a new album with ‘Indigenous Fakirs’. He is also making a spoof of ‘Around The World In 80 Days’, a one-hour movie. “That should be fun,” he laughs.