Druv Kent, is a singer-songwriter originally from Kolkata, who left a banking career to follow his passion for music and who is now settled in Singapore. He is the first Asia-based musician to have his music backed for two decades by the UK's BBC Radio. With his organic, earthy and lyrically rich song, the financer-turned-musician seeks meaning in a shifting world with its folk-pop sounds blended with the musical fuel of his Indian heritage.

After receiving much acclaim in the UK, Singapore, Australia and India with several singles and a few EPs, Druv is gearing up for lots more.

Verus Ferreira spoke to the young and talented Druv Kent, to know more about his music and his musical journey.

To those who have not got a chance to know you as an artist, can you tell us how you took off from being a banker for almost 20 years and then moved onto being a full-time musician?

With a lot of trepidation, and against the advice of most sensible people around me other than my immediate family that fortunately supported me all the way. I’ve been a musician since I was a little boy. But, I had been raised to first make a living and do my passion on the side. And, most importantly, I had never written an original song. In 2013 that changed. And so did my life. I created this song and had this revelation that I can make music of the quality of the people I admired. Once you are possessed with that belief, that feeling can override your most logical endeavors. As they say, art can make an artist out of anyone.

Did you have any musical training in your early years growing up when you took up music in 2013?

I was trained in Hindustani classical tabla and light vocal when I was a young boy in Kolkata. And I grew up with a lot of classical music around me – in addition to a lot of other types of music. But, my heart was always leaning toward the drums and on the English songs.

Lyrically what does your new 5 track EP talks about?

Lyrically the Don’t Burn Away EP plumbs feelings I felt in 2020 isolation, lost innocence, finding resolve, and hoping for a better tomorrow presented the only way I know through music. I’m also smilingto myself when I look objectively at the lyrics as I’m reminded by a friend’s comment that my lyrics read like ghazals songs of love, lament and longing, but in English. There’s some truth in that.

What does ‘Don’t Burn Away’ speak about?

Don’t Burn Away is my sophomore EP, a 5-song mini-album from a Covid world. The title song Don’t Burn Away is about holding on to our individual soul and identity in a world burned by climate change and a catastrophic pandemic. In fact, each song on the album is a facet of what I’ve experienced this extraordinary year seeking my personal best when life is a struggle (Higher Ground), sensing the gaping distance of being unable to travel and be with our families (Till We Meet Again), losing our innocence to a more complicated world (Bit At A Time), and prioritizing conversation above polarization (In Your Name). These have been the themes of my pandemic year which, gratifyingly, seems to have resonated with so many.

Can you tell us something about the title track ‘Don’t Burn away’ and how you recorded it?

Don’t Burn Away is a song of hope and a call to re-ignite our own lives with energy, zeal and passion, just as much as it is about the way we treat the planet around us, which is, quite literally, burning away. I recorded this song in the UK before the pandemic hit, but the song’s message became even more resonant in the last year. What seems to have struck people with the album is the positivity they are feeling in the music which is the exact energy I wanted to share.

Your first EP single ‘Till We Meet Again’ was released at the beginning of the pandemic. It’s a heartfelt and poignant song. Can you tell us something about it?

Till We Meet Again’s smokey, bluesy feel captured a moment of bewilderment. It’s opening line “Will a crowded restaurant ever feel the same …” feels as resonant today as a year ago. I remember when I was humming the tune searching for words and the perfect choral phrase came in one swoop, “Take this weight off my shoulders, I need to breathe again …”. I think the home video captured the isolation but also the sense of hope and community that has helped us all pull through.

What has changed since your debut album ‘About Time’ you released in 2015.

My music production choices have evolved I now have more confidence in what I want my larger sonic palette to be. And how music can trigger emotions before the first word is sung. But, I also love my songs from the first album, Glitter & Dynamite, I’m Still Riding, Long When We’re Gone, and Little Bit of God which are also live favorites.

You recorded two Hindi songs in 2019, a cricket world cup anthem and ‘Hindustan Meri Jaan’; both took the Indian music scene by storm. Can you tell us something about these?

Both were songs inspired by real events as most of my music is. When I released Back Home, it resonated so widely. And for me home was India. In fact, I shot the video in Kolkata with scenes outside my childhood home on Lee Road. A friend suggested I write a song about India itself. And that’s where Hindustan Meri Jaan was born. The song was filled with love and I was not even aware the song became a viral hit being played at Republic Day parades and various armed forces applauding the songs. My taya was a Mahavir Chakra recipient and I was delighted and truly proud of the song being ranked one of the Top 10 Hindi patriotic songs of all time. Fast forward a few months to the cricket world cup and – being a massive cricket fan, along with my two young boys – I released the song Jeetega Hindustan and I was delighted it became a World Cup anthem. It was also a delight to make those videos.

Besides the guitar, do you play any other musical instrument?

I play several instruments, but I don’t consider myself an instrumentalist. Recently, my friend in Nashville introduced me to his radio audience with accuracy and good humor with “Druv plays the guitar, drums, piano, and several other Indian percussion instruments but first, he’s a singer songwriter”.

Who are your musical influences?

Every sound, lyrical phrase, chord movement, rhythmic tone, singer’s delivery, and style of song I’ve heard since I was a young boy is a musical motif that gets filed away somewhere. And from all this,I believe, emerges the magic of songwriters– who match words with melody to raise our consciousness just a little higher these are my icons. And there are those jaw-drop musical movements that I still remember hearing for the first time, A Day in the Life by The Beatles or Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan singing with Eddie Vedder on Face of Love. Moments that remind me how music can amaze, raise and inspire.

Do you have a band that you travel with for live gigs?

I have two versions of the Druv Kent Band both so, so good. My band in Singapore has some of South East Asia’s best musicians and we gig in Singapore and internationally. My band in India has some of Mumbai’s best performers, and we play together in India for gigs, festivals and the corporate circuit. And we often get female vocalists, guest artists and others to play with us. Playing live is an absolute treat and the energy these guys bring to the gigs is superb.

How would you term your music into one genre?

The music’s been branded as pop, indie, Americana-infused folk-pop, UK organic contemporary, brown-eyed soul, Indian Western fusion … too many boxes. I would say it’s this: modern sonics set to lyrics of a world seen through the lens of an international Indian, and tones that will lift you, even if they talk about fragility and the things that make us human. Some of it is in English, some in Hindi. It’s music by Druv Kent.

The pandemic has now ceased in certain countries, how did you manage through those dark times?

With difficulty. As much as I appreciate time to myself, I enjoy interacting and meeting people. And playing live to physical audiences. Plus, creativity is stirred by interaction – something artists depend on. I yearn for a normalized environment and a physically reconnected world.

What other music are your working on and plans for 2021?

I have been working on some beautiful songs with two amazing music producer collaborators in Sweden. These folks have created some of the biggest hits in the world and have also become my musical brothers. I am working hard on getting a set of songs ready for release in 2021.

Are we going to see you Live in 2021?

You absolutely are. If not in your city soon, then at least online. I did a live show online a few months ago which was so much fun to perform and sold 1000s of tickets across the globe. I want to do physical gigs, but also stream them so we can engage global audiences in real time. I think it’s the future.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira