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Strumming to perfection

Photo : BHAGYA PRAKASH K.

LOOKING AHEAD Alan has plans of coming out with an audio/video guitar-made-easy CD

Quite modestly he admits he couldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for that gentle push from above. Singer and musician Alan Rego belongs to a musical family and began performing at the age of three at talent competitions held at the Catholic Club. At 17, he turned professional with his band Stylus and there has been no turning back ever since.

Although it is with the guitar that most people identify him, Alan is also fluent on a host of other instruments including the harmonica, keyboard, recorder, mandolin, maracas, flute and the Q-Chord. He describes his initial years as being “a period when I struggled to make a name, develop something different and create a niche for myself. But it was divine guidance that saw me through the testing times.” Before Alan took up music as a fulltime career, he juggled various jobs. “I even worked as an accountant for a bit.” Until two years ago, he used to be a private guitar tutor and has trained over 4,000 students over the past 25 years.

Some of Bangalore’s best guitarists such as Gaurav Vaz (currently a part of the Raghu Dixit Project), Naveen Thomas of Galeej Gurus and Aditya Menon of Synapse have been his students at some point in time. Band members of the popular Bangalore-based rock band, Thermal and a Quarter, have also attended some of Alan’s workshops.

About the satisfaction that private tutorials bring, Alan feels: “It has definitely been better than all the other jobs I had put my hand to earlier.” He now performs with his band Alchemy (Alan is the Al of Alchemy) which was conceptualised 10 years ago and has been creating waves ever since. Alchemy usually performs at weddings and corporate events and this is what keeps him busy most of the time. Apart from time constraints, Alan has stopped teaching guitar because he observes: “The attitude of the younger generation has changed. This is the push-button generation that does not believe in hard work. What today’s youngsters fail to realise is that one cannot become a rock star overnight. The bitter truth is that there is no short cut to success.”

However, Alan does not deny that his music career has been rewarding, to say the least. Apart from performing with Alchemy and doing other gigs in and around the city, Alan is a people person and even organises lectures, demos and game shows for corporate employees of different MNCs. “The best part about being a singer and musician is that I have a wide variety of friends and contacts without having to look for them.”

His flair for writing and his keen interest in the performing arts have also brought out the theatre enthusiast in him. He scripts and directs plays from time to time at different schools. His most recent feat was directing, “Beauty and the Beast” at the New Horizon Public School, Indiranagar, two months ago. “It was quite challenging to direct 800-odd children all within the age group of six and 11. Nonetheless, I enjoyed myself thoroughly.”

What must be mentioned is that Alan is a pied piper of sorts. He loves children and they love him right back! He therefore gets frequent opportunities to perform at children’s parties, something he loves doing.

His sense of humour is another thing that cannot go unnoticed. This is reflected in the music he composes. Alan has recorded five albums already and he somehow manages to add his own humorous flavour to existing tunes, be it his “Doe a deer a bottle of beer, Ray bans worn in the sun…” or to his own concoction “Swalpa Adjust Maadi.”

Talking of restrictions on live music in the city, Alan says: “People like myself haven’t been affected too much because we still get to play at private parties and there is a good amount of contentment here as well.” Also the recession doesn’t seem to have completely bogged him down, probably because he is the kind of person who sees the glass half full and keeps the faith.

Apart from making music, Alan enjoys reading, travelling and is also a part of the Bangalore Youth for Christ. “I’m hoping I get to do a lot more of leisure travelling, see places I’ve always wanted to visit. On the work front, I plan to come out with an audio/video guitar-made-easy CD that would be useful for those who don’t have the time to attend regular classes,” he concludes.

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