From making money to making music

AS an ex-banker, Druv Kent knows a few things about taking risks. He's since taken one himself, ditching dollar notes for music notes and pursuing his dream of being a full-time singer-songwriter.

Born Dhruv Shrikent and raised in India, he went to business school in the US and worked in financial institutions there, as well as in India and Hong Kong before moving in 2010 to Singapore, where he continues to be based.

He was bitten by the songwriting bug while looking for a new job in 2013, when the banking industry was still reeling from the aftermath of the financial crisis.

"I wanted to take myself out of the system for a few months and wondered if there was something else I could do besides banking; it was not a great time to be in the financial industry," he discloses over the phone from India, where he was touring this week.

Within six months, the self-taught musician, who had brief formal training in Western classical piano, drums, Hindustani classical vocals and the tabla when he was young, penned 17 songs, of which 10 are featured on his recently-released debut album, About Time.

His brand of mainstream pop-rock had impressed English producer-musician Tim Bradshaw so much the long-time keyboardist for John Mayer hopped onto the next plane to Singapore to assist with pre-production.

Although Kent declines to reveal how much he spent on making About Time, he says he had spared no expenses and recorded it in the UK with Greg Haver (Manic Street Preachers), and the duo of Simon Edwards (David Gray) and Calum MacColl (Ronan Keating) producing four and six tracks each respectively.

The album has been released in Singapore, India and the UK; the music video for its first single, Little Bit of God, was released earlier this week.

Over the past year or so, Kent has built a steady following in Singapore by playing at venues such as Timbre and Sing Jazz Club. His crowning moment was selling out the 300-seater Esplanade Recital Studio for the About Time album launch concert in January.

But Kent admits his main challenge remains convincing people to overcome their bias of expecting English songs to come only from western performers.

"That's the way we are used to seeing it, but the idealist in me says we can change that if the quality of the music is good. And I'm hoping my music can connect with people on that level."

Even with the late start - his having first spent 15 years in the corporate world - his family is supportive of his move.

"In your first career, you sort of roll into it, but you need so much more drive for your second career," he admits. "You need to be proactive and it's very hard work."

He does not rule out a possible return to banking one day. "I now have two very different skill sets so I have to manage both; but it's definitely music for now."