The only Indian to win the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the UK, Vijay Nair, a college dropout, has managed some of the biggest names in India’s rock music scene — Zero, Pentagram, Pin Drop Violence, and Acquired Funk Syndrome. When he took on the job of handling bands, it was his way of trying to do “something”. Today he’s the founder-CEO of Only Much Louder, the first company that has record labels, manages bands and brings in international performers. At 27, Vijay is the face of Indian rock as it is today.
“My entry into this business was a result of a series of accidents. Fali from AFS was a good friend. One day he asked me to manage his band and I wondered what he meant. But I took it up anyway. One band led to another and in no time I was managing some of India’s biggest contemporary rock acts,” he says, with surprising nonchalance.
For someone who dropped out of college, Vijay’s parents didn’t give him a tough time over his decision. “They were suspiciously cool about it. They always gave me my space and could see that I was working very hard. So they knew I was doing something, but they couldn’t quite figure out what for the first two-three years. First I told them I was going to take a year’s break but they saw I was so involved and let me be.”
Vijay underplays the brouhaha surrounding his pathbreaking work by saying, “You know we got noticed only because there were no other players in this empty space. I don’t think I’ve achieved much. Even when I founded OML, people noticed us more because of the company, truth being we were doing the same work for years before we got attention. But I must say, due to a lot of our efforts, the indie scene is flourishing. Today you can be a full-time rock musician if you are willing to hang in there.”
Over 50 acts from India and the UK converged at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender that Vijay’s company organised, making this three-day music fest one of the biggest indie music festivals in the country. Vijay is also instrumental in bringing down British electronic band The Prodigy in January 2011.
“My commitment remains the same — doing ‘something’ for the music scene in the country. With our efforts, hopefully the future will see more India albums, concerts and festivals. Genres will blur and what will remain is the undying need to express through music.”