Youngsters juggling between between work and music, still meeting deadlines

BENGALURU: Musicians juggle workplace deadlines with commitments for a gig on the same day Jishnu Dasgupta, the bassist for Bengaluru band Swarathma, is as much a musician as he is a corporate executive. The MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur, where he was in the college band Bodhi Tree, manages very well to divide his time between concerts, jam sessions and advertising agency Windowseat Communications, where he is director, digital and content. Being a part of Swarathma, Dasgupta says, gives him creative credibility with clients.




Also, his marketing skills being rooted in his music has allowed for a cross-pollination of interesting ideas, he says. “I give perspectives in business that are not from text books or case studies but from life experiences like collaborative songwriting, bootstrapping a concert tour, financing your own album,“ says Dasgupta, 37, who dedicates 15 hours a week to music. The once-laidback Bengaluru isn't alien to corporate leaders also pursuing music. But the city has transformed with longer working and commuting hours allowing its people little mind space or time to have simultaneous careers indulging their passions. That's what makes it noteworthy when people like Dasgupta , Harish Sivaramakrishnan, Debjeet Basu and Gaurav Vaz find a way to hit the right note.

Sivaramakrishnan, 35, is the vocalist in Carnatic rock band Agam and vice-president of design at Snapdeal. The chemical engineer from BITS Pilani has at times had to juggle workplace deadlines with commitments for a music gig on the same day . “I make sure that I do justice to both,“ he says, offering that having two careers can be hard but is doable. “Being a musician doesn't work against my job. In fact, I jam in the office sometimes, which is a lot of fun for me and the team.“



Debjeet Basu is venturing a step forward with his melodic rock band Perfect Strangers, which is gearing to release an extended play record and music video later this year. “It's going to be pathbreaking as far as band music videos are concerned,“ says Basu, 37, guitarist and manager of the band that he formed in 2013. He is also country sales head at Moveinsync, a transportation automation startup.

Gaurav Vaz, 34, puts it best while explaining how he juggles being the bass guitarist for folk rock band The Raghu Dixit Project with simultaneous careers in web strategy, artist management and investing in and mentoring startups: “These are not separate careers I pursue but multiple facets of me as a person.“