Young Composer Venkatesh Vuppala Says, 'Don't Miss Your Native Punch'

When we listen to a song, definitely we get mesmerised hearing the beautiful voice. But credit is just not restricted to the crooner as the composer needs to be equally applauded as he takes the song to the next level with his tuning techniques!

Venkatesh Vuppala who also holds the same magic in his hands is slowly paving his success path with his amazing rendering techniques and new-age composing! So, we Hans India are here to make our readers know more about this young and talented musician…

All about your childhood…

I completed my schooling and graduation in Hyderabad itself. I had a bit of messy childhood so, to just have a diversion, we used to watch cartoon series and thus got influenced by them.

How did your musical journey begin?

To be honest, I was suffering from stammering in my childhood and so, my father thought music is the best way to overcome it. He joined me in the piano classes, but as said I was influenced by the western BGM of the cartoon series, those classy training sessions of piano didn't attract me! In fact, my eyes were on playing the drums!

That once incident which made you take a bow towards the music…

During my second year of graduation, one fine day I got a chance to hold my friend's guitar to get the right pose for the photo. Those days, as YouTube tutorials were in trend, I gave it a try and learnt Ayushmann Khurrana's "Pani Da…" song and it changed my life completely. Since then 'Music' is an essential part of my life!

Did you overcome stammering?

Music had nothing to do with it as I was not a singer! I overcame it through my self-confidence. Participating in many debates and discussions, I won the battle! In fact, I had an insane stammering issue till my tenth class but somehow I left it behind defeating the stage fear too!

Did you face bullying in school with this label?

Yes… As I said, till my school days, I had a lot of issues because of it, but once I stepped into my graduation, it completely changed my life. Along with leaving behind the stammering, I also developed many other skills. I concentrated on sports and also developed an interest in painting!

Then how did you change your route map towards the 'Composing' section?

It was in my graduation days… After acing myself in playing the "Pani Da…" song through guitar, I started participating in many intra-college competitions and formed an official college band too. I met my bestie Sumanth in the same way! After watching the 'Surya S/O Krishnan' movie, I was just amazed at that one particular 'guitar' scene and determined to become a pro in it.

I am a fast learner thus not only in the music field, but I also jumped to my elder brother's class by topping the exams in my childhood. Thus we both completed high school and graduation together. In the same way, I also aced the music composing softwares by just learning them through online experimental tutorials.

How did you form a band in your college?

After learning various composing techniques, I started to do cover songs. We had a separate section in the college for sports and extra-curricular activities. So, I formed a band with like-minds and started my music career. We used to have competitions every semester and that first win boosted and motivated us to bring out our talent.

Why didn't you prefer to go with your technical side in post-graduation? What made you choose a career in the music side?

As the Telangana formation movement was in the peak stage during those days, I flew to Lovely Professional University to complete my graduation. But as said, I completely discovered a new side of me in college, I wanted to go with my passion!

Your post-graduation life…

After completing my graduation I got a job offer in Pune but after one year, I shifted back to Hyderabad to continue my music career. As I wanted to be financially independent, I started doing a part-time job along with giving the right space and pace to my passion.

Did your parents support when you quit the job?

Not completely as they wanted me to live a comfortable life! I just picked one of the most competitive fields so, they were worried!

Today's digitalised world brought many changes in the music industry, so how did you upgrade yourself?

The band culture was restricted to only International levels but in India, they had no recognition. So, even though we composed western-influenced music in those days, they were settled in our laptops itself.

All about the growth in your career post-graduation…

We also concentrated on the cover songs and attended some auditions. So, after many attempts, I bagged 3 projects but the pandemic changed the story as all of them got halted.

How was your pandemic stage?

It was one of the toughest phases of my life as the film industry was completely down. But, we started the pandemic series and through it, we almost shot 50 songs. After they were uploaded on social media, we received an immense response.

The first opportunity that gave you much-needed break…

It is "Elaa Mari Ika Raava…" song. It completely changed our lives and made us own a 'popular' tag. Even MAA TV and Zee TV officials approached us and played the song in many daily soaps!

More about this song…

I was never good with Telugu literature earlier, but this song made me pen the lyrics as well. It goes with the time travel concept and came out beautifully! As I was very much interested in science and space concepts, I put my soul into and rendered it. My friend Sumanth also penned his rap lyrics and crooned the whole song along with producing it.

Sumanth… A few words about your bestie!

I worked with many artists in the music industry, but he is totally different. In the early days, he used to croon only devotional songs. But his growth is exponential as he is out of his comfort zone!

How did you manage him to step out of his comfort zone and shine this good side of him?

He even rapped for "Elaa Mari Ika Raava…" song! This itself shows his growth! He is always ready to learn new things and thus I just showed him a perfect way to come out of his comfort zone. I mentored him and turned him into a melody and rap singer. But, his contribution and excitement to learn new things need to be applauded!

How did your journey with Aditya Music begin?

Independent music is a risky game for many labels… Thus, we faced many rejections from many popular labels. But Aditya Music officials encouraged us… The shooting of this song was done in the pandemic stage itself. So, after witnessing our song and effort, they stood by our side.

Apart from Telugu, did you compose songs in other languages?

Penning the lyrics in English is my cup of tea… But after I moved to Hyderabad, I thought to stick to my roots. So, our idea was to add the western influence to the native composition. This way our fusion versions came out perfectly!

Your comment on the growth…

In the earlier days, I restricted myself to rock music but then I realised that going with the trend will upgrade me in the industry. So, I got into electronic music, country music, afro beats and a lot more enhancements! This made me a pro in composing any genre of music giving me a versatile way of thinking!

Did you face any fear of taking the risk?

I trusted myself and my passion. Thus, I never got discouraged and thought that one or the other day it makes me create a mark!

You completed graduation in Punjab right, so why didn't have a thought of settling there?

I faced a lot of racism there and thus I feel Hyderabad is the safest place. I even worked in the Punjab film industry as a ghost composer. Then I realised that growing as a local musician is the best way to build a career!

How did you get that first opportunity in the industry?

As the movie belongs to a social-cause genre, we always wanted to give our best to deliver a positive message being in trend. Filmmaker Thallada Saikrishna first approached us with the subject and immediately we gave our nod. There is only one song "Nuvve Oka Sainyam…" in the movie and we composed it within 3 hours. All the elements of the song right from recording, lyrics, composing and mixing are done by me. This was a great experience. At the same time, Sumanth also penned the lyrics and we immediately composed it on the spot. Being only the title song of the movie, it received a great response. As the movie premiered a few days ago, most of the guests and a few film industry biggies praised our effort. This gave us a big boost to us…

Finishing off the song in just 3 hours it just awesome! How did you manage it?

The credit goes to the 'Indian Film project' competition… It is started by our Indians and gradually rose to the Asian level and we were part of season 12. We competed in the 'Hip-Hop' category of this competition. To our luck, in the first stage, we got listed in the top ten and the officials asked us to fly to Mumbai. In the final round, we had to complete the song in just 48 hours. Along with recording and jotting down the lyrics, on the whole, we completed composing as well as mixing parts in just 24 hours.

Guess what, we topped the competition being the first Telugu people to do it. This made us bag applauds from many ace artists and musicians. It also made us witness our talent of finishing off the work in less span of time! Then we broke of record of completing a song in just 3 hours.

What about "Nuvve Oka Sainyam…" BGM?

Well, I have done all my work within 10 hours and handed over the one-and-half-hour BGM to my director!

Did you think of doing any changes to the song during the composing phase?

No... I will render a song once I am totally satisfied a being a self-critic!

When will the 'Achiever' movie hit the big screens?

The movie premiered on 14th November, 2022 on the occasion of Children's Day. The event was graced by film actor Kaushal and many politicians. It will be a direct OTT release. Details will be out soon!

Any new opportunities popped up with this success?

As many popular directors and producers graced the Achiever premiere, we received a great response. Many of them approached us to compose the music. Paperwork for those projects will be done soon!

After this success, how was your parents' response?

They finally started believing me and are totally happy with this success…

Your comment on this success?

Definitely, it's a big win, but it's just the beginning!

Your suggestion for beginners of the music industry…

Trust yourselves! Trust the output and you will definitely find a way to success! We also started a platform to help the upcoming musicians as we want our Telugu music industry to reach the next level.

Thank you Ventakesh and hope you grow to great heights in your career…