Tufts senior Rahul Kulkarni started the band a Life of Riley during his last year of high school. Since then, the band has been signed by and dropped an indie label, independently released two CDs, gone on tour twice, and performed at venues across the Northeast. Now a Life of Riley is the front runner in a competition sponsored by Gorilla Productions, a management company. Last summer, they won two live battles and are currently leading the fourth round of an online voting competition which ends on Feb. 28. The first place prize is a $25,000 record deal, which Kulkarni, who plays lead guitar and helps write songs, believes will change his life.
"I'm looking for something to do next year," Kulkarni said. "I've definitely wanted to be rock star since I was a little kid."
A Life of Riley began as a Latin percussion band playing high school gigs in New Jersey. After senior year, the band members chose to focus on college. They now write during the semester and perform during the summer.
"When we were seniors in high school, we wanted to do the band full-time," Kulkarni said. "But I'm Indian and have Indian parents, and they're not cool with that."
But attending college hasn't kept the band from growing or improving their music. There are now eight members, a wider variety of instruments and a vocalist. Kulkarni compares the band's sound to that of Guster, emphasizing the talent of all band members.
"We recruited the best musicians we could find," Kulkarni said. "We're really catchy — pop-friendly — and there's a lot of talent in the band. We put on a sick live performance which has become more of a craft that through the years we've perfected."
Voting for the competition will continue online at Gorillamusic.com until March 1.
