Meet Upasak Mukherjee

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Upasak Mukherjee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Upasak below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Upasak with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
For most of my life, I have been the go-with-the-flow type of person and have never really worked on building a strong work ethic, until, of course a certain point in my life. I had never really worked hard on anything until this point. I was just about average at most things and got by without a care in the world. This was until I reached the final years of study as a dental student and realised that I will be trapped in a profession I never wanted to work in if I don’t do something about it. I took the decision to change my career path and become a professional musician, like I have always wanted to. I had to clear eight final exams within a short span of time so I could graduate out of dental college in time and start working on my Berklee College Of Music auditions. It was at this point of time that I slowly started building my resilience and work ethic. I cleared all the exams, graduated on time with my batchmates and came back home. I convinced my parents that I need to study music and ended up spending most of my days in the practice room for one and a half years. I picked up an entirely new instrument and started working on my Berklee auditions. I read a bunch of books at this time that gave me insights on how the human mind works and how I can develop myself and grow as a human being. All of my world revolved around practice and going to the gym regularly. Eventually I got accepted into Berklee. It felt like I had unlocked a new part of my brain that I did not have access to before this phase of my life. Even though, being driven by purpose can be a big stimuli behind changing certain aspects of one’s personality, I believe bigger changes often happen in smaller, more boring ways. Consistency is the word. Reading books is also key. There are certain important factors that can provide real insight into how the brain works and how we can unlock its potentials. I have many authors to thank me for this knowledge and its a shame that this information is not a part of the traditional education system. I think acquiring insight about the human brain and psyche is very important behind making conscious decisions about the direction of one’s life. I am grateful that I found my purpose in music and it helped me break many barriers in life and grow as a person and develop a work ethic that benefits me in many ways today. While I think it is important to develop work ethic, there is still a space in my life for being whimsical and spontaneous and I often channel this part of my brain to find creativity through music.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a Tabla player, film and video game composer, audio engineer and producer from India. I am currently studying Film and Media Scoring major and Music Technology and Game and Interactive Media minors in Berklee College Of Music. I haver been studying the art of Tabla playing from a very young age under the guidance of my Guruji, Grammy nominated Pt Subhen Chatterjee. I have had the good fortune of performing and collaborating with multiple Grammy winning artists like Mike Block, Edward Perez, John Paterno, and Grammy nominated artists like the Berklee Indian Ensemble, Chrystylez Bacon, Patrice Rushen, etc. My performances have been featured in many blogs and magazines all over the world and I have had the incredible opportunity to perform my compositions all over the world including parts of Europe, US and India. I have been featured in Berklee’s Two Track video series and in their social medias and serve as the ambassador for both the Boston and Valencia campuses. I am also involved as a composer in multiple student films and am acting as the sound designer of a video game. I am constantly looking for ways to expand my horizons and find creative outlets to my musical whims and fantasies. At the moment, I am working on building my film composition and production chops and am looking forward to an internship in one of the biggest studios in Europe. I am also creating original music that follows in the path of my previous pieces that brings together musical ideas and vocabularies from different parts of the world and creates a home for the expression of different musical languages under the same roof.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three most important areas of knowledge in my opinion are-

– Knowledge of self- Curiosity about one’s own origins is a basic drive that everyone possesses. I believe we let this voice of curiosity drown away in the chaos of staying on top of life. It is always a great feeling to find a moment to reconnect with one’s own self. To be comfortable with silence is a powerful skill. Even though we may find purpose in external things, which, in my case is music, I believe it is only a tool to find a way back to one’s own self and this idea is worth exploring. (Book to read- The Power Of Now by Ekhart Tolle)
– Knowledge of the mind- Our mind is such a fantastic tool! The more I have learned about it, the more deliberate I have become in the way I live. While this can also relate to the knowledge of the self, there are definite studies and scientific explorations that are more palpable and provide us deep insight into how our minds work. I believe it is really important to be curious about these discoveries so that we can untangle our minds and live a simpler, more conscious life. (Book to read- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman)
– Seeking Discomfort- Yes Theory (look them up!) has changed my life in many ways and this is one of the lessons that I have learnt from them and now live my life by. Whether its relationships, or professional life, nothing worth having is achieved in the comfort zone. We should always aspire to travel outside of what is comfortable to us. This is the only way we can live a fulfilling life.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I love working and collaborating with creative minds! While I have had the amazing opportunity of collaborating with many amazing musicians through my journey in Berklee, I would love to collaborate with artists and creatives outside of my field. Being a Film and Game composition focussed person, I would of course love to work with film makers and video game developers, but I am open to pretty much anything! I’ll tell you what usually gets me the best results while ordering in a new spot- Surprise me!

If you want to contact me, feel free to hit me up on Instagram or email. Check out my LinkTree, linked here to see some of my work that is available to the public.

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