<p>He is a Bengaluru-born musician but resides in the US. He moved with his family about 18 years ago and has continued to pursue his interest in music. <br /><br />With some of his popular creations and Tamil tracks trending on YouTube, it’s safe to say that Aditya Rao has become a global musician. Today, he is known for making a Carnatic version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ which has hit more than three million views in three days of its release.<br /><br />He shares his remarkable journey of how he conceptualised the song and what music means to him to Anila Kurian. <br /><br />How did your version of ‘Shape of You’ take shape? <br />It’s a funny story — I was cleaning my apartment a couple of months ago and I started humming ‘Shape of You’. It was an instinct reaction to replace the English lyrics with the Carnatic swarams. The next thing I know, I’m collaborating with Mahesh Raghavan, Vinod Krishnan and Sriram Emani to complete the song. <br /><br />Was it fun to come together with the other artistes?<br />It was fun but we had a lot of back and forth session going on as none of us is in the same city. We created a Google Drive to share our content and we had someone from New Delhi stitch the pieces together for the video. <br /><br />That must have been a lot of work...<br />It had its own complications but it ended up being simpler than we thought. I guess our hard work paid off with the number of hits on YouTube. <br /><br />Where did your base for Carnatic music come from? <br />I’ve been learning Carnatic music ever since I was five years old. I still have Skype <br />lessons with K Ramesh from Bengaluru; the learning is never ending.<br /><br />How would you describe your genre of music? <br />I lead a double life. Carnatic music is my base but since I have been exposed to western music, I use a bit of that as well. These two main factors are what influence me to be who I am as a vocalist and a producer. <br /><br />You’ve also worked with A R Rahman before... <br />Yes, it’s been an honour to work with him. He is a great mentor. I look forward to learning more from him. <br /><br />Your other interests....<br />I love cooking, playing tennis and exercising. I can also never say ‘no’ to milk and cookies. <br /><br />Do you visit Bengaluru often? <br />I always came down for Summer vacations to meet my grandparents. It’s not so easy anymore but I do visit as often as I can. <br /><br />What do you do when you come here?<br />I know the city well enough to explore and make plans to meet people. There’s a lot to explore here. <br /><br />And how do you like the traffic here? <br />I like it only as much as the rest of the Bengalureans do (laughs).</p>
<p>He is a Bengaluru-born musician but resides in the US. He moved with his family about 18 years ago and has continued to pursue his interest in music. <br /><br />With some of his popular creations and Tamil tracks trending on YouTube, it’s safe to say that Aditya Rao has become a global musician. Today, he is known for making a Carnatic version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ which has hit more than three million views in three days of its release.<br /><br />He shares his remarkable journey of how he conceptualised the song and what music means to him to Anila Kurian. <br /><br />How did your version of ‘Shape of You’ take shape? <br />It’s a funny story — I was cleaning my apartment a couple of months ago and I started humming ‘Shape of You’. It was an instinct reaction to replace the English lyrics with the Carnatic swarams. The next thing I know, I’m collaborating with Mahesh Raghavan, Vinod Krishnan and Sriram Emani to complete the song. <br /><br />Was it fun to come together with the other artistes?<br />It was fun but we had a lot of back and forth session going on as none of us is in the same city. We created a Google Drive to share our content and we had someone from New Delhi stitch the pieces together for the video. <br /><br />That must have been a lot of work...<br />It had its own complications but it ended up being simpler than we thought. I guess our hard work paid off with the number of hits on YouTube. <br /><br />Where did your base for Carnatic music come from? <br />I’ve been learning Carnatic music ever since I was five years old. I still have Skype <br />lessons with K Ramesh from Bengaluru; the learning is never ending.<br /><br />How would you describe your genre of music? <br />I lead a double life. Carnatic music is my base but since I have been exposed to western music, I use a bit of that as well. These two main factors are what influence me to be who I am as a vocalist and a producer. <br /><br />You’ve also worked with A R Rahman before... <br />Yes, it’s been an honour to work with him. He is a great mentor. I look forward to learning more from him. <br /><br />Your other interests....<br />I love cooking, playing tennis and exercising. I can also never say ‘no’ to milk and cookies. <br /><br />Do you visit Bengaluru often? <br />I always came down for Summer vacations to meet my grandparents. It’s not so easy anymore but I do visit as often as I can. <br /><br />What do you do when you come here?<br />I know the city well enough to explore and make plans to meet people. There’s a lot to explore here. <br /><br />And how do you like the traffic here? <br />I like it only as much as the rest of the Bengalureans do (laughs).</p>