Abby V on his albums, music and gurus

Abby V, who shot to fame with his ‘73 Ragas’ video, talks about various influences and how he discovered a love for Indian classical music

A smiling young man opens the door to a beautiful home and sings 10-12 second snippets of 73 Indian classical ragas in quick succession, effortlessly and instantaneously when prompted, while casually walking around the house. The camera follows him, shooting without any cuts, for the entire 14 minutes. Abby V’s 73 Ragas video received millions of views online after it was posted in January last year. We might have heard of Abby V then, but he has been singing, composing and recording music for years now. He has won several prizes at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana and from Mumbai’s Shanmukhananda Sabha in multiple categories, including Best Senior Vocalist. He sings pop, R&B, Hip-Hop, Hindi and Tamil film songs, ghazals and qawwali with equal ease. In 2019, he released a solo album, First of All, featuring eight original songs in English, Hindi and Tamil. “I am all things pop and intrigued by everything consumed by the masses. I continue to follow these genres and am a fan of Chris Brown, Usher, Justin Timberlake.” Abby is a huge admirer of A.R. Rahman. “Successful combining of Indian classical aspects with Western concepts like chords and polyphonic arrangements results in magicians like him,” he says. Born in India, Abby Venkatachalam grew up in Toronto, Canada, where he continues to live. “I was like any other diaspora kid, except that I spent a significant time singing after school,” he says. His father, Venky Venkatachalam, sang Indian film songs as a hobby and performed in diaspora functions. “He exposed me to the music of Laxmikant Pyarelal, R.D. Burman, Ilaiyaraja, M.S. Viswanathan, etc.” Abby would sing pop and R&B and do karaoke with his father on Indian film jingles. He also sang with him on stage, his first official performance being on his seventh birthday. “When a child that age sings, people are loving and accepting. That made me view the stage in a very positive manner.”