Bengaluru Drum Feast 2023 leaves audience spellbound

Legendary drummer Arun Kumar said, "It was my father’s idea of having a drum fest in India after being inspired by the London Drum Fest"

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The third edition of the Drum Fest 2023 took place at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall at 7 pm on 9 February. The show was anchored by actress Anupama Bhat and talented artists Steven Samual, Aditya Bhagavatula, Vinod Shyam, Pramath Kiran and Gino Banks.

The Special Percussion Ensemble performed for the audience ended in a collaborative jam towards the end with the curator of the fest, Arun Kumar. Legendary drummer, Arun Kumar, who belongs to a family of musicians and is the second generation in the Babu School of rhythms began teaching drums in 1980.

"It was my father’s idea of having a drum fest in India after being spired by the London Drum Fest. So here we are kicking off the third edition as covid begins to disintegrate. We are showcasing many different styles of drumming, with a little chop and pop. We want the people to just infuse with the grooves and let it all sink in,” said a cheerful Arun from backstage. Samuel Steven comes from a household of artists and is a student of Shivamani and Ashok Kumar from Chennai.

He started playing the drums at the tender age of two years.  He then grasped the concepts by the age of five years. He holds the world record for achieving the grade 8 level of drumming by the age of 10. “I want to become an amazing artist and make my parents proud,” said the excited 14-year-old at the beginning of his performance.

Later at the greenroom, he said, "I will be studying music production after the 12th. I will be moving to the USA to study music and I have already started composition and put my work on Youtube. I have over 60 thousand followers and do many live shows.”