Kiwi Indian singer Akshay Hari Belas is all set to represent the Kiwi Indian Community on the world stage with his acceptance into the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts, the USA where the likes of John Mayer have studied. Getting into Berklee will not just be a dream come true for this young artist but will also open up doors to tremendous opportunities. There is, however, one thing that stands between him and Berklee and we believe the community can get behind this young artist to make this happen. Indian Weekender caught up with Akshay to find out how we could help.
IWK: Tell us about yourself
Akshay: I was born in Ba, Fiji in 1993 and grew up in Lautoka till I moved to New Zealand when I was six. From a very young age, I have been interested in music, growing up watching my favourite Indian movies that had amazing music. I was always drawn to the musical side of life. Mum says I was singing even before I could walk. My parents were dental therapists back in Fiji. I get my musical side from my mum whose dad, Hari Prasad, was given the title of "The Golden Voice of Fiji". He was a classical Indian musician and was quite well known around Fiji in those days. Sadly he died when my mum was young so I never got to meet him but I have heard his music and seen his pictures with all his trophies.
IWK: Tell us about your musical journey
Akshay- I moved to New Zealand in 2001 and in primary school I picked up the recorder, which led me to the piano and guitar but singing was always my main passion. It wasn't until I started high school where I was surrounded by music and the performing arts that I got serious about pursuing music as a career. I did all my school musicals and some community ones too. My greatest achievement in the high-school was receiving an AMI Showdown Award for "Best Male Soloist in a Musical" for my role as Rev. Billy Hightower in the musical Bat Boy.
After high school, I attended MAINZ (Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand) where I studied contemporary music and performance for two years. As those two years were coming to an end I felt like I needed to move on to bigger and better things so on a whim one night I went onto the Berklee College website and hit apply, which just snowballed into me being accepted!
IWK: For those who don't know, tell us more about Berklee.
Akshay - Berklee College of Music is located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as the world's foremost institute for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including rock, flamenco, hip hop, reggae, salsa, and bluegrass. As of 2015, Berklee alumni have been awarded a total of 253 Grammy Awards.
Berklee was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music.
For more than half a century, the college has evolved to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business, leading the way with the world’s first baccalaureate studies in jazz, rock, electric guitar, film scoring, songwriting, turntables, electronic production, and more than a dozen other genres and fields of study.
With a diverse and talented student body representing 96 countries, and alumni who have collectively won more than 250 Grammys and Latin Grammys, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today—and tomorrow.
IWK: That sounds very exciting. So what’s the delay?
Akshay - I was meant to start in January of 2016 but I needed to have the full amount of tuition for one year’s worth of study to show to the US Government, $60239 USD, which roughly converts to $90K NZD (give or take a couple hundred) So I've deferred semesters and I plan to start in their Summer intake (May) which doesn’t give me a lot of time but this is my dream so I have to do whatever it takes.
Being in America and studying at Berklee can lead to so many more amazing opportunities. The first of course is to be able to represent my community on the world stage. You never know, I could become a famous recording artist or be on Broadway or possibly even be a singer for Cirque du Soleil, the dreams are endless.
That's why I started a fundraising page https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/akshayberklee/ because there’s no harm in asking from my own people. Also, I am looking into some grants I can possibly get.
And that's why I thought I'd reach out to the New Zealand Indian community. It would great to have support from them. You don't really see many Indians in the Western limelight in the music industry. It would be great to represent my culture and my heritage on an international scale.
It will be great to see this young and bright artist represent the Kiwi Indian Community on the world stage. We hope that through this story Akshay can find the support from individuals and organisations that can help him make his dreams a reality.