NEW DELHI: Uttkarsh Mohan began playing the piano as a 7-year-old, taught himself how to use software for composing and producing music, and used the 2020 lockdown to come out with three albums. Uttkarsh Mohan, or Logical.UT, a ninth standard student from Shiv Nadar School, Noida, is a budding music composer – among the youngest in the country – who believes that making music can be easy if you work hard at it. Uttkarsh Mohan spoke exclusively with The Daily Guardian.
Q. Tell us a bit about your journey. When did you start making music?
A: I started playing the piano at the age of 7 and then picked up the guitar three years later at 10. I also received certifications from Trinity and performed with my band along the way. But it was only last year that I started composing music. In fact, the lockdown gave me a lot more time to invest in composing music.
Q. How do you strike a balance between studying and pursuing your passion? Do you ever feel pressured into prioritising studies?
A. It’s not too difficult to balance the two. I have set periods for both – I spend eight hours studying in a day and then two hours doing things for myself, which is when I usually compose my music. And I am good at my studies, so there is no pressure.
Q. Do you feel like your age is a significant factor in music-making?
A. Yes, especially when it comes to labels and distributors, it is sometimes harder for me to get noticed because I am so young. But being young, I also bring a fresh perspective to things.
Q. How are you inspired to make your music?
A. I listen to a lot of music – almost an inhumane amount! I have playlists for every genre, with anywhere between 10,000 and 25,000 songs. Among more conventional genres, I prefer jazz the most, and among newer ones, I listen to plenty of pop and dubstep. My process usually starts with defining the genre too, mostly EDM.
Q. What is the story behind the name, Logical.UT?
A. Whenever a new session in school starts, our teachers ask us to give each other an adjective. So, ‘logical’ is the adjective used to describe me. And ‘UT’ comes from my nickname.
Q. How was the process of making the three albums? Do you have any favourites among the tracks?
A. Each album took me an average of three months to make, with five or six songs in each. I progressed from the first to the third album, in fact, when I listen to it now the first one does not even sound too good to me! My favourites are “B&W” from the third album, Alchemy, and “Ahead of the Game” from the first one, Unravelled.
Q. What are you coming up with next?
A. Not an album, but I’ll release a single track at the end of March. It will be the first one with the lyrics.
Q. Lastly, any word of advice for aspiring musicians your age?
A. Put in the time and work hard – it can be easy if you really want to do something. And don’t get scared of the software! Once you start using them, you will find they are not difficult.