(July 25, 2024) To rephrase a line from the Academy Awards, the year American Beauty was nominated, ‘A ten-year-old will never be viewed as just a ten-year-old kid ever again!’ Making India proud, and the world sit up and take notice of her talent, is now 11-year-old Maya Neelakantan who was ten when she performed earlier this year on America’s Got Talent [AGT]. Maya Neelakantan tells Global Indian about music, her performance on AGT, and plans for the future.
Resplendent in a brocade maxi dress with a matching dupatta pinned across, and traditional Indian jewellery including a waistband, bangles, jhumkas, a bindi and multiple braids in her long hair, Maya’s Indian appearance belied the music she played on stage.
Starting with a Carnatic raga, the Natabhairavi, the audience was confused initially as is visible in the now viral reel. But, what followed had everyone roaring in approval. She effortlessly transitioned to heavy metal, playing her version of Last Resort, by the band Papa Roach. She kept improvising, leaving even the judges stunned with her performance and added Carnatic gamakas, metal, rock and blues highlights to finish to a standing ovation.
Overnight, Maya became a global sensation with everyone sharing her AGT performance, Simon Cowell calling her a rock goddess, and Anand Mahindra calling her a rock goddess from the land of goddesses.
A Self-Taught Child Prodigy
However, Maya was amazingly composed when she spoke to Global Indian over the phone. Born to a Tamilian father and an Australian mother, both entrepreneurs, Maya recalls, “My appa [father] used to play music in the car. He played Carnatic and heavy metal and I loved both genres. When I was six, I started learning the songs I liked online. I was learning vocal Carnatic music also but I have stopped going for those classes. So yes, I am self-taught but I can’t read music because I didn’t go for normal classes.” Maya is currently receiving formal training online from Guitar Prasanna, a well-known New York-based guitarist since the past two years.
Maya’s passion and talent with the electric guitar have made her idols sit up and take notice of her. Adam Jones from the band TOOL was her first follower on Instagram after he watched her rendition of his song 7empest. This heavy metal band composes complex songs that are longer than the norm. He even sent her a guitar from the US which, for Maya was the ultimate recognition of her music. She even met Danny Carey from the same band who gifted her a signed drum head.
Other metal greats she has met and is in touch with include Alex Skolnick of Testament and Gary Holt (Slayer) who gave her an autographed guitar after they had a jam session together. Testament’s Eric Peterson too gifted her an autographed amplifier. Maya met Jessica Pimentel of Orange is the New Black through Adam Jones and Jessica trained her via Zoom. Maya reveals, “Jessica taught me how to improve my movements. I was anxious but she helped me gain a lot of confidence. For me, she is like my big sister. They all are my gurus and constantly talk to me.” Maya even got to play on the most legendary guitars made by Gibson, when Cesar Gueikian, the CEO invited her to visit the Gibson Garage in Nashville.
Maya Neelakantan with Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson
Devoted to her Passion
Considering that she is all of 11 and regularly interacts with legends of rock music, how does she stay level-headed through it all? “I stay grounded through the 45 minutes of meditation that I do every morning. It helps me remember where I started from.” Wise words from a child who taught herself to play the guitar through YouTube videos. And now has a channel of her own.
Maya studies at an online school because the family travels frequently. She loves to read and watch documentaries on animals with her younger brother Rudhra. But music is the primary passion she avers. “I practice for six hours a day, longer on days I don’t have school.”
Watch her reels on Instagram; you can see her face radiant with incandescent joy as she plays the electric guitar. She played on the AGT stage with similar emotion. She admits, “I was nervous though I had rehearsed it so many times. But I also wanted to have fun and treated it like it was a party. AGT had called and asked me if I was interested in performing. This is not something that happens to everyone and there are so many talented people around. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I decided that I was going to enjoy it.”
Maya Neelakantan with her guru, Guitar Prasanna
Maya believes she still has a long way to go and plans to delve further into the music she loves. Whether it is the Carnatic ragas or the thrash metal hits, she is clear about her future goals. She says, “I want to create my own genre of music where I combine thrash metal and Carnatic music complete with the alapana and ragas. I want to go deeper into both forms of music.”
She has been contacted by the folks at Mahindra Group for her to perform at their annual blues music festival and talks are on. Whatever the future holds for this talented young girl with AGT and beyond, one hopes her passion leads her to unsurpassed creative milestones. A talent like hers merits nothing less than greatness.
You can follow Maya Neelakantan on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook
