Reverse Engineering a Life You Love
Who knew that marketing and music could have something in common! As Manveer Sood, who heads Marketing Excellence at Ather and pursues his passion in music, explains, “The skill-set of a marketer and a musician is very similar; you need to know your audience and then match their vibe and deliver.”
Coming from a family of musicians who limited their musical skills within the family, Manveer chose to explore avenues to find exposure for his music through music competitions at an early stage in his life. “Unlike other kids who start with saying ‘mommy’ or ‘papa’ as their first words, my first word was ‘Chandni’ (trying to sing along to the famous song playing on the radio). From that moment, my family knew that this kid was going to sing.” Manveer is a self-taught musician who picked up playing the guitar, singing bhajans and doing satsangs with the Art of Living as a kid. Later, he kept building on it to get where he is today.
“I get asked why I did not choose a career in music. At an early stage in life, I remember my dad telling me that one should earn from their profession and spend on their passion. That stuck with me forever and I decided to keep my happy place of music unadulterated from the rest of what the world had to offer” says Manveer.
Manveer calls himself a trained introvert as he swiftly juggles between his two personalities — stage Manveer and professional Manveer. He loves to work with startups in their ‘build’ stage, the likes of Uber and Zomato. “The reason I love working with startups is because I love the hustle and the constant process of making meaning out of systematic chaos; I enjoy the process of building.”
While working for Zomato, he started a band with his colleagues- ‘Rubbber Band’, that toured for Zomaland across multiple cities in their last chapter. Having shared the stage with the likes of Hardy Sandhu, Nuclea, and Badshah, Manveer remembers the moment when he could feel his lifelong dream of performing for a big audience materializing right in front of his eyes. “You can always imagine what a dream coming true would feel like but when it does, it leaves you speechless and frozen in the joy of absolution,” says Manveer. The story of how the name of the band took its genesis is an interesting one — “Well, all of us in the band come from different schools of music. We realized that we were stretching across genres for songs. The band that stretches?- Rubbber band! Oh also, it has a nice hook to it. We always chant ‘what band? Rubbber Band’ on stage- something that will be stuck with you”
Talking about how music has infinite power to influence a community, Manveer recalled how he felt great joy when he made people a part of his musical happy place and heard stories about how it helped them get through tough times. “Music has the power to heal and to be a part of that magic is just absolute bliss and is something that keeps me going” . Ensuring that he keeps his music alive along with his daily life as a working professional, he always finds time for his love for music. Manveer came with an intent to finish his song for his upcoming album at BHX Goa and to break the creative loop. “I separated myself from a marketer and attended the edition as a musician, and it worked wonders. Listening to all the stories and experiences around me, I found what I was looking for” Showing us how important a community is in the life of a creator and an artist — for us to find stories and conversations that inspire our own creative journeys.
When we asked him how his thought process changed as a creator over these years, he expressed, “Initially I used to pen down thoughts that I imagined people would relate to, but eventually I felt that wasn’t who I am. Post, I started writing lyrics from stories of my life. My original songs made me feel vulnerable, but in this process of evolving, I have realized that vulnerability brings closeness.” Emphasizing how important it is for an artist to be true to his emotions to amplify them to the audience.
These days, Manveer is busy with the recording of his new album along with his full-time role at Ather. A song that plays in the background score of his life? Listen to it below.
Hum jo chalane lage, chalane lage hain yeh raaste
Aa ha ha ha manjil se behtar lagane lage hai yeh raaste