|
 Talk
of Leslie Lewis, and the first thing that
comes to mind is his famous band name -
Colonial Cousins. Leslie, however, isn’t some
one whose reputation is confined to these two
words.
Fame came searching for him as a result of
years of untiring struggle and hard work. Talk
to him about this and his serene smile says
that he has enjoyed every moment of this
struggle. He started playing guitar as a young
boy in Mt. Abu. Since then its been a long and
fruitful journey, in the course of which he
has played with many bands including Louis
Banks and The Hoods, comprising stalwarts such
as Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot and Pam Crain.
Born as the son of veteran choreographer P L
Raj, Leslie grew up on a staple diet of Hindi
film music. As he grew up he found a job at
the Café Royal at the Oberoi Towers as
guitarist. He was picked by music directors of
the likes of R D Burman, Laxmikant–Pyarelal,
Louis Banks and Kalyanji– Anandji to play the
guitar for their compositions.
Leslie soon became associated with the stage
and also produced over a few thousand
prime-time commercials for many premiere
brands. He has also composed music and
produced albums for many of the premiere
Indian pop artists from Sunita Rao to Band of
Boys.
The teaming up with ace singer Hariharan came
soon. Thus took birth the immensely popular
band Colonial Cousins, the music of which
found homes in many a heart and even made
waves in America.
Leslie continued with his journey in musicdom.
The recent remix track Hai Re Hai Tera
Ghungta from the album Jalwa 3 has become
the life of every party. |
