Meet Aakash Sridhar

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Aakash Sridhar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Aakash, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I’m a musician, and I feel part of my work ethic comes from having the privilege to pursue something I’m passionate about at a professional level and feeling proud about the journey involved. I feel that finding joy in what I do helps, in the sense that it gives me the motivation to keep going in this path.
Growing up, my parents never put any emphasis on ‘winning’ or securing a first rank in a subject for that matter. This taught me to place more importance on the work I put in, and less on the result or outcome, which is often dependent on several factors we can’t really control. This approach allows me to utilise a block of time I set apart to do a task without allowing myself to feel anxious about whether what I’m doing will lead to anything good.
Presently as a jazz pianist, I feel I take the same ideology even to the practice rooms. When working on a new voicing or concept I’m unfamiliar with, I’ve learnt to trust that as long as I’m putting in the work, the concept will show in my playing over time.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a jazz pianist, composer, band leader, and educator from Bangalore, India. My musical journey began at the age of six when I enrolled myself in tabla lessons. I also studied Carnatic vocal music from my mother, and Hindustani vocal music briefly. Music has since been a big part of my life, and my interest and focus eventually shifted to the piano. When I later discovered jazz and improvisation, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I have been fortunate to have the support of my parents to study this music from some of the world’s best musicians, having completed my Bachelor’s degree in Music at Berklee College of Music, and Master’s degree in Jazz Piano Performance at University of North Texas.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have a diverse musical upbringing as this allows me to be more creative and have a personalised approach towards jazz and improvisation. I am constantly working on representing myself better as an artist and person. Today I’m teaching piano at two music academies while simultaneously carrying out a tour inclusive of some of the most reputed venues in the the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The purpose of the tour is to promote my upcoming album ‘Revived Emotions’, a compilation of modern jazz compositions, and is easily the most exciting project I have going on in my life.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First and foremost, as a sideman and bandleader, I’ve realised that it is so important to be organized. I believe that being in the habit of saving all our commitments on the calendar can be very useful in our professional as well as day-to-day lives. Double-bookings are usually not a great look.
Secondly, I’ve also realised how important it is to take the time to prepare the music we are going to perform really well. This involves listening to the audio several times, memorising the form, making notes, and also preparing good voicings and soloing ideas where applicable. The more prepared we are, the more we can focus on having fun while performing.
Finally, over the years I’ve realised that in an industry where making the right connections can be a huge deal breaker, it is crucial to learn to approach others involved in our field with a good attitude in order to form lasting professional relationships.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

This is definitely something I have struggled with as there are times when I have to juggle a lot of things at the same time.
I think different things work for everyone, but some strategies that help me in this situation are being careful not to spend too much time on social media, going for walks, listening to music, and making notes on my personal dairy about the different things I need to do and crossing things out as I do them. Other things that help me relax are talking with a friend about my day, going on a drive to watch gigs, and practicing a hobby such as needle felting.

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Image Credits

Jose Negrete

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