Adapting to the Pandemic as a Musician: #MonsterArtist Nick Pandya Shares His Experiences

2021

Listen to #MonsterArtist Nick Pandya tell his story of becoming a professional musician and discuss how he and his team have adapted their performances during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide virtual entertainment in this #MonsterArtist Development (MAD) episode.

Are you an artist wanting to get involved in the MAD program? We want to hear from you: https://www.monstrartity.com/monstera…

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ABOUT NICK PANDYA
Nick Pandya is the co-founder and producer of Darshan Entertainment and Dandiya with Pandya. Nick has been a student of music since the age of 9. Performing alongside Shankar Mahadevan, Jonita Gandhi, Chinmayi, Sukhvinder and other Bollywood play singers, Nick has also achieved an award in vocal excellence by Pandit Jasraj.

ABOUT MONSTER CREATIVE COLLECTIVE
Monster Creative Collective is a not-for-profit organization, committed to providing entertainment for the young and old alike. In the spirit of giving back to the community, Monster Creative Collective produces the #MonsterArtist Development program, now in its fourth season, to help develop the professional and artistic careers of Canadian artists.

Want to get involved in the MAD program? We want to hear from you
http://www.monsterartistdevelopment.com

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EntertainmentListen to #MonsterArtist Nick Pandya tell his story of becoming a professional musician and discuss how he and his team have adapted their performances during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide virtual entertainment in this #MonsterArtist Development (MAD) episode. 

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0:02

[Music]

0:13

>>Nick: Hey guys this is Nick Pandya from Vedik Vibez

0:15

and you’re watching MAD.

0:18

[Transition Music]

0:23

The band’s name came from

0:25

just the people around,
around the band and in the band.

0:29

And the one thing that we try to signify is

0:31

both the cultures that we were brought up in

0:33

so the Western and the Eastern at the same time, right.  

0:36

So we’re looking at Vedik Vibez has that South Asian cultural feel but  

0:41

at the same time Vibez is like the Western feel of,

0:44

you know, what like we’re vibing with it.

0:45

My band members are from various parts of the GTA

0:48

so it’s really fun because we all get together and it’s just one collective

0:52

uh goal which is to be happy and create music.   

0:57

Music is not something that’s in my family

0:59

and it started at a very young age, I 
would say the age of eight,

1:03

where my parents put me into tabla.

1:04

I did tabla for 12 years before I even 
sang

1:08

and it just so happened that it carried with me from India to Canada.

1:13

I did a vocal contest in Toronto, the very first one,

1:16

and I got first prize in it.

1:18

From there um, you know, it’s it’s been 
a journey,

1:22

it’s been a journey full of struggle.

1:25

Finding those moments of joy and at the same time finding

1:28

who I am as an artist, who I want to be recognized as

1:32

and what do I want to put 
out.

1:34

And that’s where everything kind of started.

1:36

For me, the struggle started when I want to find myself,

1:40

what I wanted to do in life,

1:42

and at the same time want to surround myself with people

1:44

that had the same goals as me.

1:46

And it was very hard to do that

1:48

in a community which has artists growing left, right and center.

1:52

And a lot of times what happened was I would do a show,

1:55

but I wouldn’t have that 
fulfillment that I completed a show.

1:58

And a lot of times you would get called for, you know, karaoke gigs,

2:02

you know where you bring your own speakers,  

2:03

you bring your own mixer, you bring your own mic 

2:06

and you’re playing tracks and then you’re singing

2:09

but there’s not that fulfillment.   

2:12

So my dad literally said hey listen when you finish schooling

2:14

let’s come back to this and we’ll talk 
about something grand.

2:17

And as soon as I finish my schooling we open up our own music company.

2:22

It’s called Darshan Entertainment and

2:25

what it allows me to do is it allows me to do the music that

2:28

I like to do and the quality that we like to put out.

2:34

[Singing in another language]

3:39

>>Nick: After I think 12 or 13 years,

3:42

just last year, I went back to India

3:44

and it was a whole different scene.

3:47

And what was really good to see was you know

3:49

my music in Canada was actually recognized in India

3:53

and when I went there for a month I ended up doing a show, in India, with a

3:58

renowned playback singer which headlined BollywoodMonster Mashup

4:02

so 
I did a show with Rajdeep Chatterjee.

4:04

We have been brothers ever since.

4:06

We still talk on WhatsApp, 
we call each other, we do Facetimes and

4:10

I think that’s the beauty that, you know,

4:13

not only BollywoodMonster Mashup, 
but music allows us to do is to  

4:16

connect with people that you literally look up to.

4:19

A lot of times what happens in Ontario or in Canada

4:23

is the value that  
we put on as musicians. 

4:29

So for example when you go to India a local artist is  

4:32

respected the exact same way that an international artist is.

4:36

When you’re in Ontario it’s really hard for you to you know

4:40

market yourself at that point because we’re always looking for international. 

4:45

But the biggest thing in Ontario is getting yourself out there

4:49

because there’s a lot of people that do uh music

4:52

but the audience is not that much 
that would listen to that kind of music. 

4:56

For me COVID has really helped me to like

5:00

look at the other side of things that I never looked at which was production

5:04

uh you know, where do you put your 
camera, what kind of camera do you use,

5:08

uh lighting, 
um and green screen.

5:10

So it’s allowed me to you know spread my wings and go into different avenues.

5:18

[Singing in another language]

5:44

>>Nick: The fact that we were virtual just 
to see everything come together  

5:48

was so refreshing.

5:50

The band actually got together
and we all watched it uh together and

5:55

it was amazing to see and you know seeing all those comments

5:59

I think that was the best part and

6:01

I want to thank the team once again for 

6:04

putting up such an amazing, amazing um broadcast.

6:07

It was really amazing to see, uh you know, audiences from around the world.

6:12

It was something that uh

6:14

we never really got exposed

6:16

uh you know performing
in Canada and in the States but

6:21

you know having your audiences in the UK sending you messages for example

6:24

hey do you guys do shows in the UK and if  

6:27

if you do, how can we book you?

6:29

The talks after BMM are still going on, we still have messages coming in.

6:33

It’s just amazing to see and I couldn’t 
be any happier.

6:37

Working with the MonstrARTity team is always a pleasure.

6:40

Professionalism is at at the top.
You know we got in,  

6:45

we did our sound check and boom we were out and 

6:48

I think that was the best part is how smooth it went.

6:51

And I think the most important thing that 
I love from the team

6:55

is the fact that people are willing to listen

6:57

and understand what our 
needs are.

7:00

And it was amazing to see that the whole team was there watching our performance

7:04

and when we finished everyone was clapping.

7:10

[Singing in another language]

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