STAIRWAY TO SUCCESS DARSHAN RAVAL

The lockdown may have meant different things to different people, but for Darshan Raval, it has been a time to take a deep dive into the ocean called music. “I have created the maximum number of songs during this lockdown. I have worked really hard and I’m trying to be a better version of myself,” reveals the musician with a smile. Post Asal Mein, which has garnered more than 100 million views on YouTube, the singer with the golden voice has regaled his fans with Bhula Dunga, Ek Tarfa and Ek Tarfa Reprise.

- Deepali Singh

The good news is that he has a lot more in store for them! “Usually, I come out with three or four songs in a year, but I’m going to increase that number so that people at least have good music to listen to in these difficult times,” he adds. The Gujarati lad shares his journey with TMM, and reveals some interesting anecdotes from his early days as a struggling musician…

What are some of your earliest memories of music?

In my family, my mom was the one who used to like music and she sent me to learn the guitar. The teacher said he is too young to learn. Toh mera bachpan se hi seekhne se mann uth gaya tha (laughs). Then I joined Shree Swaminayaran Gurukul and started enjoying music. I started watching and listening to music on YouTube. I would go to concerts, listen and observe. In Ahmedabad, there is a shop called VS musicals that sells guitars. The owner is a very good friend of mine. Money was an issue those days and he would give me discounts and lend me guitars for my shows. Musicians would come to his shop to buy guitars and end up jamming there. One of my first jamming sessions was at his guitar shop. There were a lot of tuition centres nearby, so students would drop by and listen to us. Jamming with the musicians, interacting with the students gave me a lot of confidence.

You studied engineering but veered off to music…