Music happened by chance to Renao, aka Rahul Prasad. Actually, he was always meant to be a badminton star, swiftly moving up the ladder with Olympic aspirations. “I’ve played badminton since I was a kid because my dad was a coach. I think early on in my life, I always wanted to play badminton and be an Olympic player. I finally gave that up when I was eighteen and focused on music instead.” Something changed in him after he attended his first ever concert of Avicii’s in Bangalore, and so he shipped him- self off to Leeds to study music production. “The Avicii show was amazing, it was my first ever concert and being in that environment really made me take in the music and completely changed the way I heard music. That set off a huge curiosity on how to make music, which has got me this far.”
Still new to the craft, Rahul was reluctant to sing because of his accent but gained confidence under a vocal coach. Next, like the other up-and coming musicians, Rahul picked up social media and started sharing clips of his own work alongside cover songs on SoundCloud and Instagram. Sonically, his music is very smooth and tappy. There are hints of indie folk, warm tunes and alternative R&B. “My music is very Frank Ocean meets Harry Styles,” he tells us. And we couldn’t agree more. It has the feel-good, buoyant pop elements like Frank’s music and slinky vocals like Harry’s. His new project, A Space Between Orange and Blue is out now.
FINDING A VOICE
Early on, I decided to train under a vocal coach. That gave me confidence in my voice and really brought out my tone. I think it was a safe space. I had to experiment and train my voice until I could get its real potential. When I was creating Nobody, the experience wasn’t as fulfilling for me. I think I always made music that pulled from all my favourite artists. I joined forces with Zach, who pushed me to find confidence in my story and put that into the music. I think what led from that was me being extremely honest, both lyrically and sonically. Essentially I’m more confident and honest than I’ve ever been and I think this is setting up the foundation of what is to come.
A DAY AT THE STUDIO
For me, music always comes first. I think because of start- ing out as a producer, I’ve always wanted to lay down the sonics before I start writing to it. I think sonic textures always inspire a world I can paint with lyrics. So I usually let the music bring out the story.
A SPACE BETWEEN ORANGE AND BLUE
It’s a nine-song project that is an accurate representation of who I am as an artist. I always wanted a project that was related to the colours of orange and blue, and as I started making it I quickly realised that those colours give you brown. It soon became a project about my story as a Brown person in a western world. Sonically, it is an alternate R’n’B /pop project, and as much as it draws on my life, it also draws on all my musical influences.
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Words Hansika Lohani
Date 07-06-2023