Life Is Music: Meet Hansel Dias and know his ‘usual Bass Guitarist story’

New Delhi: A musical initiative- Life Is Music- brings together musicians who will weave unheard music to rejuvenate your soul.

Master percussionist Taufiq Qureshi along with Louiz Banks and Purbayan Chatterjee launched the musical extravaganza on Monday 15th June 2015.

Apart from the legendary musicians, get to know the super talented contestants who will leave you spellbound with their performance.

Meet one of them - Hansel Dias- a boy-next-door, who taught himself to play the Guitar and switched to the Bass because bands needed him to.

Yoshita Sengupta talks to Hansel Dias to learn his story.

Hansel Dias grew up in a humble home, tucked away in a Mumbai suburb, in a close-knit community with his mother’s church choir singing and dad’s collection of The Beatles, The Eagles, Bee Gees, Scorpions and Engelbert as the only musical influences. While living and studying in Don Bosco, Matunga, a few musician friends taught him how to play some basic Guitar chords. Two years after playing the Guitar, most of which was self-taught, was his first encounter with what he calls the ‘usual Bass Guitarist story.’ There are two versions to what Hansel calls the usual Bass Guitarist story. One, there are not too many Bass Guitarists out there so Guitarists turn into Bassists to meet the shortage. Two, because there aren’t too many Bassists, the existing Bass players often get called for gigs.

Hansel, has been in both these situations. Two years into playing and learning the Guitar, he switched to Bass because his band needed a Bass Guitarist. The #LifeIsMusic platform, he says, landed in his lap because of the second version of the usual Bass Guitarist story. “A friend of mine named Sahil Shah was supposed to play for the show, but he had another commitment. They needed a Bass player on the show and he gave them my number and I received the call,” he says, perhaps not giving enough credit to the fact that it’s perhaps his skill and not a complete shortage of Bassists that led to his friend recommending him and the mentors including him in the band.

Journey, thus far

Last year, a year and a half after playing and learning the Bass, Hansel decided to drop out of the B.Sc. course he was pursuing at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and take up music as a profession. His parents wanted him to at least finish his graduation, but were eventually supportive of his decision. About six months back, a self-taught Hansel, enrolled for professional training at the True School of Music in Mumbai. At this point, he says, he just about manages to get by with some freelance assignments. He’s also a part of a rock band. He, however, knows and admits that he has a lot to learn and a long way to go before his career stabilizes and he makes enough money to get by. “I’m not a solo artist yet. I still haven’t reached that stage where people know who Hansel Dias is or where they call me up and say, ‘Hey, we’re doing a show and want you to play the Bass.’ But, I am working hard towards achieving that,” he says humbly.

Today, where he stands, he’s stoked to play on the same stage as Bass prodigy Mohini Dey and get mentored by industry legends such as Louiz Banks, Taufiq Qureshi and Purbayan Chatterjee on the #LifeIsMusic platform. In the near future, he hopes he can continue pursuing his passion of playing the Bass, being a part of good bands and earning some money. In the distant future, he dreams of someday playing alongside his idol Sheldon and hopes that music becomes a serious part of the country’s education system and that instrument players get the recognition, support and platform that they work so hard to deserve.