Not many can risk walking away from prospects of a lucrative career when they graduate at the top of their class from an institute like IIT-Kanpur. But that’s what 25-year-old Dhruv Mittal did — took a leap of faith to pursue his passion for drumming, that too, in the thick of the bleak Covid lockdown. Dhruv now juggles between teaching assistant roles at Hollywood’s reputed Musicians Institue (MI), where he graduated in September 2023, working as a sessions musician for recording and live shows and generally, living and breathing all things drums.
Drummer Dhruv Mittal
Dhruv admits that his life came to a “full circle” when he recently played with santoor player Rahul Sharma, son of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, and tabla player Ojas Adhiya, for a corporate show in San Fransisco.
“They needed someone to accompany them on the drums. Something led to the other and I got recommended by Gino Banks. I was very touched that he thought of me. They flew me in. It was my first time and we did not rehearse. They know each other’s playing inside out and they can anticipate…I was pretty much logged in with Ojas and Rahul and was just trying to watch out for visual cues and hung in there somehow. But it was a huge deal for me,” he says.
Self-taught until moving to the US to learn drumming at MI, Dhruv learned his chops from YouTube tutorials.
Specialising in funk/jazz-fusion, Dhruv currently plays with guitarist Michael Sims, and other Los-Angeles-based musicians including singer Natasha Vora, guitarist Cesar Gandara and Atharva Phadke besides session work that he can lay his hands on. While the budding musician is roughing it out in Hollywood, (he shares a part of a living room of an apartment), Dhruv has nothing but gratitude.
“The biggest perk is that I keep in good shape because I’m always playing drums every day and I actually get paid for it. So, you know, it’s a good job. Can’t complain,” he says.
Self-taught until moving to the US to learn drumming at MI, Dhruv learned his chops from YouTube tutorials. Apart from playing the drums in band competitions in the IIT college festivals circuit, Dhruv’s exposure to “high-level” music came when he visited cities like Delhi and Mumbai. However, it was only after being introduced to drummer Jai Row Kavi (Blackstratblues, Sunidhi Chauhan, Amit Trivedi, among others) that the tempo of his music career picked pace.
“I planned to study with Ja’ during the lockdown but that never happened because we could not find some common time and eventually I had to leave the country for the US. But I still consider him a mentor. He was helpful whenever I had questions relating to shifting over to music. I sent him a few messages and he was kind enough to reply. He said that if I could make it happen, I should try to get to MI. He also gave me a letter of recommendation,” says Dhruv.
While Jai did help Dhruv fuel his passion for drums, the latter accepts that it could not have happened without the support from his parents. Though there was no pressure from them to pursue a particular field of education, despite his father being a renowned Aerospace Engineer from IIT Kanpur, they wanted him to finish his education so that he had something to fall back on. After completing his Bachelor’s in Materials Science and Engineering in 2020, Dhruv plunged himself into drumming during the lockdown period.
“My parents were very supportive. Having people who support you emotionally and financially; because this stuff is very expensive, an investment… It’s not for everyone. I was fortunate that my parents decided to help me out to the best of their abilities. So that’s how the mindset to be in a place where I can learn from people where this instrument comes from,” he says.
Dhruv is currently in the process of writing his debut EP with his new project with a bunch of musician friends who all work across the globe. “We are aiming to put out a single in the next two, three months,” he adds.
