Son of 'Disco Dancer' singer charts a different music path

"I've been singing with dad since I was five. He encouraged my elder brother, Reuel [also a musician] and me to learn and perform," says the 22-year-old singer-songwriter, who heads Joash Benedict Collective. "He taught us the basics of live performance, from song selection to crowd interaction. We also produce music for advertisements and short films."

Actor Mithun Chakravarty and singer Vijay Benedict formed a partnership in the ’80s with films like Commando, Dance Dance Dance and Disco Dancer

Born a decade after Disco Dancer, Benedict never put on airs as a school kid. It helped him to focus on his own sound. "By the time I was in middle school, dad had retired. He kept in touch with close friends from the industry like Babbar Subhash, the director-producer of Disco Dancer," recalls the young musician, whose songs talk about the pulse of Mumbai.

Vijay Benedict

At the gig, he will play popular covers of Ed Sheeran, The Chainsmokers, John Mayer and Coldplay. The playlist also includes his originals. "As a student of Jai Hind College, I would spend hours scribbling lines at Marine Drive. A song called So You See is about things that you usually see around you. World With Me is a conversation between two individuals," he says. Has he tried singing a cover of Disco Dancer? "No, and I don't think I should try."

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