SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024
Myola joanes
CARMONA: Neil D’Cruz, 45, a self-taught musician, is sharing his musical talent with a whole generation of young Goans. He is a music teacher to 150 kids and a few adults, as he believes learning how to sing and play has no age limit and practice makes perfect. He is also the founder and lead singer of the band Altitude. “This lets me do what I love, spend enough time with my family, sing to people, and shape the budding musicians of Goa,” he adds. All of his band members are employed at the music school, teaching instruments to kids. Neil is also a vocal coach, honing talents and voices to sound melodious.
Harking back to his foray into the industry, Neil’s parents were avid music lovers. As a young boy, Neil remembers his eyes widening with wonder as his father returned from the Gulf, his suitcase a treasure trove of Thomson cassettes featuring the Beatles, the Carpenters, ABBA, and every medley of ‘80s icons. “Even after my father went back to the Gulf, my mother would play those cassettes every day, and my two siblings and I would sing along,” Neil recalls.
Today, Neil’s house pulsates with the timeless anthems of rock and roll royalty. His children, Dwayne, 10, and Khloe, 8, are a big part of his life. Both kids sing, play instruments, and sometimes even perform on stage with their dad, making him prouder than ever. They have a page on instagram called ‘KD and Daddy,’ where they jam and sing music covers together.
“We had a family friend, Jeffrey, who used to sing and play the guitar. That’s when I became curious to try it, and once I did, there was no turning back,” Neil shares with O Heraldo. Jeffrey taught him his first few chords, but Neil’s journey is a tune of tenacity, a melody that began in the absence of any musical lineage.
With no family heirlooms of instruments or sheets of music passed down, he carved his path with makeshift strings and hand-me-down songbooks. His fingers learned the language of music through sheer will, pressing against the frets with the help of musicians around him.
By the age of 18, Neil began singing from table to table, forming a trio with his sister and another member in a hotel. They were called ‘The Serenaders.’ After many stints with famous musicians of Goa, Neil began his career as a music teacher at Vidya Vikas Academy. After 14 years of service, he realised he wasn’t able to give enough time to his family and didn’t have the freedom to teach the way he liked. He believes children can be taught more easily if the process is made fun. “Children come to music class as a respite from academics, and hence they learn little to nothing in school. I wanted to teach them more than just a few chords, making it a fun process because if we teach them ‘do re mi’ all the time, they lose interest,” Neil chuckles.
He tries to make music as fun as possible for his students by teaching them the current songs they are interested in. Hence, he started Uncut Diamonds a year ago as a platform for young musicians to showcase their talent. He has reached more than 150 students, who not only receive vocal training and learn to play the guitar, keyboard, and drums but also learn things like conquering fear and performing with confidence on stage. “I have a 55-year-old man who comes to me for training,” Neil says, reminding us that he is open to teaching not just kids, but anyone interested from Monday to Friday.
Neil recollects a time when he doubted his ability to make it in this world during one of his stints in Dubai, where a dear friend restored his confidence. Now, Neil is doing the same for the Goan community, hiring young musicians for his band and shaping the new generation.
Neil wanted to build a platform for children to showcase their talents because there wasn’t one available. He has managed to put on four events, inviting parents and friends, with one event attracting as many as 3,000 people in the audience who came to watch these kids perform. “We had children of different ages performing, not just from my school but from around the state,” he says.
On the other hand, Neil tries to create music for his audience as well, making original music.
His band’s goal is to create original music for the Goan audience.
