New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) Australian singer Reuben de Melo, who was born in Goa and moved to Australia more than two decades ago as a boy, dropped out of engineering college to pursue music and has since carved a niche for himself in the creative field.
The Perth-based singer-songwriter, who won “The Voice Australia” — a singing competition — in 2024, is part of Australia’s vibrant Indian-origin community.
On Friday night, de Melo and Australia-born musician Milan Ring, who has a mixed heritage including Indian roots from her mother’s side, performed at ‘Gig on the Green’, hosted at the Australian High Commission here.
Australian envoy Philip Green, who attended the event, said efforts are being made to bring the best of Australian culture and art to India, just as “we welcome culture and art from India to Australia”.
“There’s now more than a million people of Indian origin in Australia. That’s the fastest growing community in our country, and they’re doing great things in our society, and we want them to do great things for the bilateral relationship,” he told PTI on the sidelines of the event.
This particular facet of people of Indian origin, who have really made it in the arts and culture field in Australia, is “very special,” Green said, praising the two musicians.
After the show, de Melo and Ring separately interacted with PTI and shared their journeys into the creative sphere.
“I moved to Perth when I was about 11 years old. I live in Perth, Western Australia. Then, I won ‘The Voice Australia’ in 2024, and here I am back in India, back to the motherland,” said de Melo, a father of three.
The Australian indie folk singer said that while “Perth is my home”, he will always carry childhood memories of growing up in Goa, especially his grandmother’s place, and his ancestral home.
“They will always be my heaven when I leave this place, you know what I mean,” de Melo said.
Recalling that he and his sister, along with their parents, moved to Australia around 2003-2004, de Melo said music entered his life after the death of a close friend.
“Music for me happened when I unfortunately lost a friend. He was an Aussie guy… a singer, and liked to sing at birthday parties and stuff. I picked up a guitar, and I wanted to sing,” de Melo said.
In a candid conversation, the singer said he completed three years of engineering before deciding to drop out and pursue music.
Though he works in the mining sector and sings part-time, he shared how he drew from moments of grief in his life and turned them into lyrical compositions.
“I wrote the song ‘The Boys’ for two colleagues in mining who we lost to acts of suicide,” de Melo said.
Going down memory lane, de Melo recalled how during his early days in Goa, he had developed a fascination for the Hindi film “Border”.
“I really liked the movie ‘Border’ and remember the song ‘Sandese Aate Hain’. It was one of my favourite movies growing up. I wore a commando outfit every day with my toy guns,” de Melo recalled.
While the Perth-based singer has visited India multiple times in the past, for Sydney native Ring, visiting India was “at the top of her bucket list”.
India, she said, feels vibrant, colourful and full of energy and “something like a cinema scene,” which prompted her to explore the country, its rich music and diverse cuisine.
“It’s been on top of my bucket list the whole life to come to India, and here I am. I am kind of pinching myself, it feels surreal,” Ring told PTI.
The musician said she has mixed heritage, including Indian heritage from her mother’s side. Her maternal grandfather was born in north India, while her father is from Hong Kong, she said.
Ring, who has been based in Berlin for the past couple of years, said each country and its natural sounds in streets or elsewhere feel different. “I would like to go to music events in Delhi and hear the playing of a sitar or tabla,” she said. PTI KND RHL
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.