We were lucky to catch up with Rohan Prakash recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rohan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I remember this moment clear as day – in August of 2010 I attended my first concert, which happened to be STS9 , Big Boi, The Disco Bicuits and Big Gigantic at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta. At that time I was 17 years old , living in Auburn, AL (where I grew up) and I was just finishing up high school. I was in a position in life where my future was uncertain. Going to this concert opened up a whole new perspective on life for me. Coming from a hip hop background – getting to see Big Boi live was a peak moment, and seeing a band like STS9, with how they incorporated live electronic production with live instrumentation blew me away. Aside from the music itself- the amount of love that filled the amphitheater that night was truly something special. The vibes were impeccable , it was something I have never experienced before. I remember walking away from that concert thinking to myself “This is what I want to do with my life, I want to start taking music seriously”. Shortly after this show , I moved to Atlanta, specifically to pursue music.
Prior to this show – I was taught classical piano at a young age, eventually moved on to learning drums and slowly but surely learning DAW’s such as Fruity Loops, Logic and Ableton. Living in Atlanta and touring around the country with my bands and solo project – I have met so many wonderful people in this musical community , I have had the blessing and honor of opening for some of my favorite bands and producers , and I’ve played in theaters such as The Tabernacle, The Eastern, The Georgia Theatre, The Coca Cola Roxy, aswell as festivals such as Hulaween, Counterpoint, Camp Bisco and more. It truly has been a dream come true and full circle moment for me – but even through the support of my amazing friends, family and fans over the last decade, I feel like I’m just getting started.
Rohan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a drummer, producer and composer. I currently play in 3 different bands/projects –
HIVE MIND – is the band I am touring in currently. It consists of Dave McSweeny on Bass , Dan Cox on guitar and compositions, David Dollar on keyboards/synths and myself on drums. From what started as a side project in 2017, this project has grown vastly over the years. We played some of our biggest and best shows yet in 2022 – opening for artists such as The Disco Biscuits at The Eastern and playing some amazing headline shows at Terminal West and Aisle 5, as well as touring throughout the east coast. 2023 is shaping up to be yet another amazing year for us – we just announced that we are playing Resonate festival at the Spirit of Suwannee music park (one of our all time favorite venues) alongside STS9, Lettuce, Lotus, Emancipator, Ott and more. We also have plans of releasing new studio music this year and taking this project to the next level.
Rohan Solo – Is my solo producer/drummer project that I am also currently touring in. I started this project in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Throughout long days and nights of solitude , I wrote so much new music in my studio that is much different than anything I’ve been playing with my bands. Rohan Solo taps into some very psychedelic and heavy bass territory – but also taps into a lot of hip hop, dnb, trip hop , neuro funk, dubstep and more. I have always been a fan of artists such as Griz and Tipper and have always wanted to write music with heavier bass lines and more on the psychedelic bass side of things. I focused on sound design and composition more than anything throughout the pandemic. 2021 and 2022 were big years for this project – getting to share the stage with artists such as Minnesota, Daily Bread , The Floozies, Manic Focus, Maddy O’Neal, Shlump and playing The Eastern and Hulaween were life changing experiences for me.
Space Kadet- is an instrumental electronic trio with two of my best friends – Alex Etheridge (bass, production, synths) and Thomas Garret (guitar). Although this project isn’t touring at the moment – the idea of coming back to play shows in the future is not off the table. We played a very special show last year , headlining Terminal West in Atlanta for our farewell show to an amazing crowd. One of the best nights of my life. I am eternally grateful for all that we’ve accomplished throughout the years and this project will always hold a special place in my heart.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
To keep spreading love and light and to stay true to who I am. It is really easy to get distracted within the music industry, especially in the current world we live in. The journey throughout this last decade has been quite a ride for me. Currently – I’m feeling healthier than ever , writing the best music I’ve ever written and playing music with some of my favorite people. I want to continue to do this as long as I possibly can. This music thing is a higher power than me or my band mates. What is created on stage within a night is something so special and unexplainable , it truly is the best feeling on earth to be creating in the moment and doing what you love. I want to continue to do this for as long as humanly possible, while expanding my knowledge and not pigeon hole-ing myself into one specific genre etc… I want to eventually share my knowledge and teach lessons as well.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Buy tickets to shows. Support artists on platforms such as band camp, patreon, soundcloud etc… Buy physical items such as merch and vinyl. Keep spreading the good word to all your friends and family. Go out of your way to support local artists if you can. This touring life style we live is very taxing , mentaly and physically and everyone knows that streaming platforms barely pay you anything. But the support that we receive is why we continue to do what we do and without your support, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/rohansolomusic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rohansolomusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rohansolomusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohansolomusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rohansolo390
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/rohansolomusic https://open.spotify.com/artist/13Gi2IFXWJ94YxMNa0EDuY?si=vkoafj9zSH2dzphy-ScfTA https://rohansolo.bandcamp.com https://audius.co/rohansolomusic
Image Credits
Photos by Lane Jackman, Pedro Marashi and Owen Jennings.