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Born and bred in Glasgow, Scotland, Amit Sumal is the newest artist in the Asian scene! Initiated into music by his father, he was trained from the age of 6! Amit Sumal learned to play the piano and later on the violin. Sumal was also formally introduced to Indian music by his Glaswegian Guru ji, Vijay Kangutkar who taught him the Tablas. Besides playing the Tablas, Sumal also gives Vijay credit for being the first person to discipline him in ‘riyaz’ techniques (Indian music patterns of practice), which he found extremely useful and now uses for his singing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duTttqvOxzc
As a teenager, Sumal gained a reputation for being a local musician and accompanied various artists during concerts and mehfils. It wasn’t until the age of 18 that Sumal started to take interest in Hindi sangeet and began singing. Initially, Sumal was very shy and wouldn’t even let his family hear him sing but was encouraged by people who had heard him and was told to consider singing as a career choice. Amongst the people who encouraged him was Vips, the owner of VIP Records!
After completing his further education, Sumal started taking music more seriously and went to India on a number of occasions to gain a deeper understanding of Indian Classical music. During this time, Sumal stayed in Pune (a city near Mumbai) where he accumulated most of his singing skills from a very devoted and immensely talented, knowledgeable gentleman called Mr Gadgil. In Mumbai, Sumal had the privilege of learning from Ustad Dilshad Khan and Begum Praveen Saltana; two of the most respected names globally in Indian classical music.
As well as vocal training, Sumal took advantage of the fact that he was in India and also learnt to play some raags with a rare Indian instrument called the Sarod, from Pandit Shekhar Borkar who is yet another well respected guru ji and Amit says he is forever indebted to him.
Instead of doing the typical music video, the VIP Records ‘brain team’ felt that Amit should be launched and promoted differently, more as a versatile artist, showcasing his skills as a musician as well as a singer. Over the upcoming months we will featuring some of Amit Sumal’s upcoming projects so stay tuned!
