Today we’d like to introduce you to Rehaan Adhikary.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Music has been a lifelong companion of mine. I got into music when I started singing at my elementary school talent shows with songs by Michael Jackson, John Lennon or Jason Mraz. At first, I wasn’t fond of singing and performing. I have terrible stage fright, I was overly paranoid, and I only did it at the time because of my dad’s encouragement to get out there and sing and so I did. The more I did it, the more I started to get used to it and the more I loved it.
I started getting deeper into music when I first joined band in middle school though high school as a principle alto saxophone player taking part in the top band and performing various classical pieces through my years there along with being appointed head drum major for the marching band at Vandegrift High School in my hometown of Austin, Texas.
I wanted to chase the feeling of performing music when I got accepted into the Berklee College of Music at Boston, Massachusetts where I discovered the epicenter of all music creativity. It was the diverse range of musicians and styles I was exposed to that accelerated my curiosity in finding my own musicality in which I came to the exciting decision that I wanted to become an original musician. I studied Professional Music with concentrations on Music Business and Songwriting to understand all aspects of the music industry. During my time at Berklee, I began my solo artist career my releasing music on all platforms in the genre of Alternative Pop in 2020. I chose alternative because of my love for all the different styles of Pop that I wanted to encapsulate and I’ve been releasing music since. Not long after my first single, I started my own band and performed gigs all around Boston primarily at venues in Berklee. I never had performed my own music before and after my first show it was then I realized I wanted to differentiate myself from other artists and to create a unique brand that best defines myself as an artist.
The saxophone was the answer.
I incorporated saxophone into my songwriting, writing solos and licks with the intention of being the ear candy of my music. I tried not to make it sound jazzy or dirty, since I started as a classical saxophonist, I wanted the clear, smooth tone of the saxophone to be the defining sound in my music. Therefore, when I’m up on stage I duo the singing and saxing live and it’s been a game changer for me.
After I graduated Berklee in 2022, I was convinced to move to Nashville. Living in Tennessee wasn’t on my bingo card. I hadn’t been much of a country music fan. I thought the land of music opportunity would be LA or New York but when I was asked by my best friend to give Nash a chance and to take a tour with him, I agreed. It was when I set foot there I was overwhelmed by the energy of music that circulated in such a small city. From the countless publishing companies and PRO’s to the countless venues and performing artists playing music that wasn’t just country! With all the different styles of music and musicians, it all felt so familiar. This place was like Berklee but the whole city is your campus. I was wrong. I fell in love with this city.
Once I moved to Nashville, I got a job as an Analyst at BMI, the largest Performance Rights Organization in the world, where I learned the inner workings of the music business industry in real time and I was overwhelmed with knowledge. I’ve been working at BMI for almost three years. Simultaneously, I continue to pursue releasing and performing my own music with the goal to leave my mark in this city. Over the past few years, I’ve been performing countless shows ranging from headlining, solo acoustic and writers rounds. Whether if it’s my own band or playing for others, I just love the feeling of performing. Even if no one is in the audience.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
If your road as a musician is smooth, you’re doing it wrong. The obstacles that we face shape ourselves into becoming who we are. For me, as an independent artist I experience a lot of rejection when it comes to getting gigs or trying to collaborate with other artists it can be a very tough environment to find work. A lot of it stems from popularity, if your follower count on social media is less than 10k, you’re not given as many opportunities and that’s the reality, but I don’t let that bring me down, it’s just a reminder that I need to keep working, practicing and creating harder to get to the level that I deserve to be.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
On one hand, I have a corporate job as an Analyst at BMI, the largest PRO in the world. I have a crucial role in ensuring that songs are accurately registered in the BMI database so that songwriters, composers, and publishers get paid their royalties correctly. My primary goal at my job is to make sure when music creators get paid when their music is played publicly.
On the other hand, I’m a professional musician with the goal to impact others with my music and to set myself apart from other musicians by my duality as a singer and a saxophonist; though there are others with the same formula, my music will set me apart.
I’m most proud of the fact that I’m still a musician today. My path could’ve strayed at any point in my life, but I’m still who I am and creating…and I’m not done yet.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
With the rise of AI, specifically with music creation, it will change the music industry in a drastic way. I believe AI could find a way to create music more appealing to the listener even up to the superstar standards and that could hurt independent musicians such as myself, but that shouldn’t discourage musicians because there is an audience for everybody, and even if you feel no one is listening, trust me someone is.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rehaan.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rehaanadhikary/?next=%2F
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rehaan-adhikary-6236a31ba
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rehaanadhikary6799
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0yfHwOOvONiaDVbyiEcvv3?si=a3WiBIh0RSqeVu1pQMdGjQ
