At one of their regular jamming session, friends Krishna Tejasvi, Eknath Kiran and Sai Teja recorded the video and put it up online. In a few days, their rendition of Guvva Gorinkatho was viewed more than nine lakh times. And that was just the beginning. Their second video, a mix of songs from the Telugu films Happy Days and Kotha Bangaru Lokam made them famous again. Now, their third video, a medley of Pawan Kalyan’s songs, which was uploaded on Friday garnered 50,000 views within hours of uploading.
Having been brought up in Hyderabad for most of their lives, the B.Tech students met because of music. “Tejasvi and I met at the music competition Beats of Btech in 2015. He was the winner and I was the runner-up. We kept in touch and jammed often,” explains Kiran.
Tejasvi and Teja too had a similar encounter. “At a music concert at IIT Madras, Tejasvi asked if I could play the cajon for him and I agreed. He won the first prize,” explains Teja, who was already friends with Kiran.
Krishna Tejasvi and Eknath Kiran
The three jam just for fun and believe that their music videos are a hit because they are simple. “We use only one instrument, focus on the harmonies and use a cajon that is rarely played here,” explains Tejasvi.
Teja has been playing percussion since he was seven, and the tabla since 13. He even got a diploma in it. He holds a Limca Book Record for playing the most number of percussion instruments in 50 minutes. “This was achieved along with my sister, she played 13 instruments, while I played 17,”explains Teja.
Kiran started learning music in his sixth standard but had to discontinue it during his intermediate. “I had to focus on my education but once I got into engineering, I decided to get back. It was the best decision I made,” says Kiran. After winning a number of events and shows and being part of a famous band, Kiran realised that music was his calling and started focussing on it. Tejasvi was always taking part in music shows and events and started learning music since his third standard.
After the success of their second video, Music director Mickey J. Meyer, whose songs they sang asked them to work with him. Teja got a chance to play at a show for Anup Rubens and he was amazed at the number of instruments he could play. “Apart from that, I am also a B-grade Tabla artist at AIR,” says Teja.
For now, the three friends are taking it easy. “All of this has been very overwhelming. We just want to keep making music,” says Teja.
