Today we’d like to introduce you to DPAK.
Hi DPAK, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Maryland a first-generation Indian-American, born in Baltimore and growing up in a small town called Columbia, Maryland, not too far from Washington, DC. My parents were from Bangalore, India, in South India. They were very highly skilled musicians as a hobby, but my dad was brilliant in school in many subjects, ranking very highly at the highly renowned Indian university IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) and then coming to the US to pursue his graduate studies, getting a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He later joined NASA, being there for nearly 50 years now in a very high position as a part of the EOS DIS project, creating systems for NASA for data archival that has been effective now for decades. My mom was a well-known South Indian vocalist back in Bangalore and then came to US with my dad to pursue studies in computer science as well as a master’s in Psychology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She eventually worked for multiple prestigious companies doing computer programming, debugging, and QA for the FAA, NASA, and other high-level organizations.
Growing up on the East Coast, I struggled with extreme ADHD but wasn’t aware of it at the time. As an only child and a first-generation Indian-American in a small Maryland town, I felt like I didn’t fit in anywhere. Being the only Indian kid around made it challenging to connect with people who were either white or black. I was constantly bullied in school, gym class, at the bus stop, and during lunch. Some of the bullying was due to my ethnicity, while other times, it was because I was considered a “nerd” or “weird kid.”
At the time, I wasn’t fully aware of the social norms of the culture around me, which made it challenging to understand why I was being bullied. I was always the odd one out, making strange noises and blurting out answers or singing songs without realizing how disruptive or unusual it was. I was so absorbed in my own imagination that I often lost track of reality, unaware of where I was most of the time.
Being unable to connect socially with anyone left me feeling isolated and alone for most of my school years. However, I found solace in my own mind, creating games and interacting with numerous characters in my imagination. I existed in a different reality than everyone else, which made it difficult for me to align with the ways of the world. I never did any homework, not because I was rebellious but because I wasn’t cognizant of what was required of me.
Despite my lack of homework and unusual behavior, my teachers often praised me for my intelligence and test results. Parent-teacher conferences were always odd, with teachers telling my parents how smart I was yet not behaving like a “normal” kid. Due to cultural differences, my parents were unaware of special programs and diagnosis for ADHD and Autism in Western culture, which led to my diagnoses coming later in life.
As I connected with others who had a strong awareness of different types of functioning brains, I realized that I was just in my own world, unaware of the world around me. This caused me to lack social intelligence, leading to strange behavior and a lack of connection to others. However, in my mind, I had an amazing adventure of science fiction and fantasy. I understood equations, the science and physics of life in a way that most people couldn’t fathom. I was the top student in math and considered a genius, but still socially awkward.
Entering college was a major turning point in my life. I had graduated high school at the age of 16 with a plethora of AP credits from my college-level classes. Due to my high academics and exceptional SAT scores (I scored perfect 800s on all of my math portions of SATs and SAT 2s), I was awarded a scholarship and accepted into the Gemstone Program, an elite program above honors at the University of Maryland in College Park. Only 100 students were accepted into this program each year out of a student body of 30,000.
College marked a major transition from my own world to the “real” world. Entering into college and “partying” a bit with other peers that had sort of taken me (the weird kid) under their wing seemed to change the way my brain had been working. All of this was a significant turning point in my life, for as I became more aware of myself and my feelings, the robotic part of me that had been functioning on autopilot began to shut down. I started questioning everything, including why I was doing certain things. In the past, I had succeeded in many areas due to my robotic approach to life. I approached tasks without doubts or questions and excelled in music and sports. This approach came with a lack of normal humanness and social connectivity, which was later described as part of my spectrum Autism and a form of ADHD that included hyperfocus in some areas while being unable to focus on the people or things around me.
Suddenly, everything was different. For the first time, I found myself questioning the relentless pace at which I had been living my life. It was as if emotions had been brewing inside me for years, just waiting for the right moment to erupt. And suddenly, they did.
I struggled to get out of bed and make it to class. Instead, I found myself hiding away in my room, trying to ignore the responsibilities that were piling up around me. But when I emerged from my self-imposed isolation, I was overwhelmed by a flood of new experiences. For the first time in my life, I was truly enjoying social connection, reveling in the joy of spending time with other people and having fun.
But as with all things in life, this newfound sense of freedom couldn’t last forever. My academic scholarship was on the line, and my performance was suffering. Despite my efforts to improve, I found myself sinking deeper into depression and anxiety, struggling to cope with the pressure of maintaining a certain standard of excellence.
Adding to my confusion was the fact that I was naturally instantly good at so many things without much effort, creating the paradox of choice (that I still experience to this day). Music, science, math, philosophy – the list went on and on. But with so many options to choose from, I felt lost and unsure of what path to take.
To make matters worse, I discovered that I had a long-standing problem with reading. I couldn’t focus on the words on the page, my imagination constantly whisking me away to other places. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to make it through a single page without getting distracted. The pressure to succeed only made things worse, leaving me feeling stressed and anxious, as if I was constantly on the verge of failing. With so much weighing on my mind, it was no wonder that I felt overwhelmed and lost. But little did I know that this was only the beginning of a journey that would change my life forever.
Growing up, reading out loud was never a challenge for me. In fact, I was able to read whole pages quickly and with ease, even outpacing my classmates. But despite my ability to read the words out loud quickly, I found myself struggling to retain any of the information I had just read. My mind was consumed with my own thoughts and imagination, making it impossible to concentrate and comprehend what I was reading. It wasn’t until later that I learned that what I had been experiencing was ADHD.
As I got older and the pressure to make important life decisions increased, I found myself feeling lost and confused. I knew that school wasn’t the right path for me, but I couldn’t see a way forward in pursuing my passion for music. I had always been taught that the only way to succeed was to go to school and get a good job, but deep down, I knew that wasn’t the life I wanted.
It was during my junior year of college that a childhood friend introduced me to the Art of Living Foundation, a program that teaches powerful breathing techniques and meditation practices. My friend had been practicing these techniques with her family and was eager to share the benefits with others. She and some other volunteers organized a weekend breathing course for college students, hoping to help others find the same clarity and focus that they had found through these practices. I was more than happy to participate.
During the full weekend immersion, I experienced a deep release as the powerful breathing techniques worked on years of built-up stress and anxiety that I had never dealt with before. It was just the beginning, but after that first weekend, I felt my body and mind become more calm, and some of the mental and emotional weight within me began to unwind.
The instructors asked us to continue practicing daily, explaining that the true benefits come from consistent practice. They explained that over time, we would see subtle and eventually blatant differences in our lives. It was a long-term process of cumulative build-up as the techniques worked on the deeper realms of our physical and emotional bodies.
I took on this practice every day for the original 40 days that they suggested, even while still in school and struggling with the same challenges. The instructors had also requested that we be fully sober starting five days before the course to receive the maximum benefit, which I followed. I didn’t want to miss out on what the techniques had to offer by potentially clouding things up with substances. They also advised us to maintain sobriety in general, explaining how substances can negatively affect our minds, bodies, and emotional centers and block the energy from the breathing and meditation techniques.
Overall, the breathing course was a turning point for me. It gave me the tools to cope with my anxiety and stress in a healthy way and helped me see the importance of consistency and sobriety in my daily life.
I remember how challenging it was to stick to the daily practice of breathing and meditation for 40 days. Consistency had always been a big challenge for me due to my ADHD and other mental health challenges. But thankfully, I had a good group of friends who had done the course with me, and we had a strong peer network that offered a lot of support to help us all stay on track.
As I continued with the daily practice, I started to notice significant benefits in a short amount of time. The anxiety and depression that had plagued me for years began to fade quickly as the breathing techniques helped uproot the deeper energy that was stuck within my body, releasing those pent-up emotions that had been causing me anxious feelings from deep within. The ADHD symptoms also started to become more manageable as my mind became more calm during times of focus, allowing me to overcome the racing thoughts that used to affect my concentration and increase anxiety.
This overall clarity helped me answer the questions about my life and career that had been troubling me for years. I became more confident that I wanted to pursue a path in music, and the benefits of the practice continued to build over time. Certain habits started to improve on their own, and I noticed that my habit of procrastination was starting to decrease over time. Before, I would avoid uncomfortable situations, knowing that my anxiety and focus issues would make things more difficult. But now, after years of practice, I feel more confident taking on challenges that used to be stressful for me.
With this newfound sense of confidence, I was able to turn my college life around. I became more motivated and energized, finishing my degree in Neurobiology/Physiology and almost finishing another degree in Criminology/Criminal Justice (pre-med and pre-law). I even completed a minor in Voice through the University while also becoming the musical director of my award-winning a cappella group. In addition, I became the lead singer of a college funk band called Grüvyard that performed all over the campus and surrounding cities, generating a lot of live performance experience for me.
It was like a lifetime of cloudiness was gradually getting clearer and clearer after only a few years of daily practice of breathing and meditation. The process was a combination of immediate relief and gradual healing over time. And looking back, I am so grateful for the support of my friends and the positive impact that this practice has had on my life.
After college, I made a clear decision to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, and it has been an exciting yet challenging experience so far. As you may already know, this is not an industry for the faint of heart, and it comes with a lot of pressure and stress naturally.
To help me manage the stress and keep me grounded, I have added some daily practices like hiking and yoga to my routine. One practice that I’ve really embraced is Earthing, which involves hiking barefoot on the earth. I loved doing this as a kid, and I later learned about the psychological benefits of it. Additionally, I have been practicing Sun Gazing, which has given me much healing and energy over the years. It involves gazing at the sun during sunrise and sunset to increase awareness within the brain.
Despite these practices, I still struggle every day with ADHD and anxiety, which are things I’ve always had within me. But doing these daily practices has helped me manage them better and become more successful over time. This has been critical in a high-pressure career like the entertainment industry, which is full of competition and volatile energy. I feel blessed to have a practice that allows me to remain equanimous in a turbulent world.
Starting my day with a full practice, which includes some basic yoga, specific breathing techniques, and meditation, sets me up for an extremely effective day. It takes just 30-45 minutes, but it makes a huge difference. I feel more clear within myself, more focused, and less affected by the ADHD that can have me spinning around in circles and procrastinating on tasks that I know I need to do to advance my career.
As a musician, I treat my music as a business, which involves a strong, focused, entrepreneurial mindset to achieve success. There are so many things to manage and tasks to complete; marketing, networking, strategizing, and more. But above all, there’s the talent and skill required to create and express your art. To achieve all of this, I need my mind, body, and spirit to be grounded.
My daily practices have been essential to get creative and write songs, as well as to finish them. Completion and follow-through have always been challenges for me, but with the help of my practice, I can take the time to reflect, plan, set goals and deadlines for myself, and complete the necessary tasks effectively.
Since starting my career in entertainment, I have now costarred on Modern Family. Performed with Rihanna, worked on 45 songs for Disney as a producer, orchestrator, consultant, arranger, singer, violinist, and more, made music for countless national and international commercials including FOX, Toyota and more, been a lead actor in major commercials such as Cadillac, iPhone, and Vitamin Water, made music for feature films starring Brie Larson, Jessica Biel, Donald Sutherland and more, performed as a solo artist as well as with my band or supporting artists at stadiums such as the Olympic Stadium with a 60K crowd, global peace events in India for over 3 million people, headlined at Burning Man for 15K people, and done over nearly 1000 live shows in over 40 countries; from scoring films to producing songs for other artists as well as my own, to now playing over 20 instruments and doing live performances, it has been quite a journey that has required deep mental focus, emotional resolve, and a balanced spirit that can handle the stresses of this intense industry. Now I have lately been actively doing more public speaking and activism, encouraging more love, connection, and self-expression for all of humankind in this world that has been experiencing much division and separation. It is a deep and passionate vision of mine to be able to bring some light to this world through music, art, public motivational speaking, and by leading by example, hopefully being able to inspire one person at a time to step deeper into their great purpose and inner genius that we all have.
In conclusion, my personal journey has taught me the invaluable lessons about the power of daily practices such as yoga, meditation, and breathwork. These techniques have helped me overcome my mental challenges and stay focused and grounded in the face of an intense and stressful music industry. By incorporating these practices into my daily routine, I’ve been able to manage my ADHD and anxiety to a level that enables me to succeed in my career as a musician. Although there have been times when my consistency in these practices has wavered, I’ve come to realize that they are non-negotiable for my well-being and success. I believe that everyone can benefit from incorporating daily practices into their lives, and I hope that by sharing my story, others can find inspiration and tools to navigate their own challenges with greater ease and resilience.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not smooth at all! The struggles have been challenges growing up being different, foreign, and “weird” – resulting in a lot of bullying and being made fun of. Not fitting in and feeling like I had no place to feel welcome has always been a challenge, and it has been years of inner work and self-transformation that has overcome that, and the challenge is always there when entering a new situation, but luckily I have practices and techniques to overcome my insecurities as they come up to the best of my abilities.
My anxiety, nervousness, and mental focus challenges of ADHD have always been an obstacle – being distracted easily or having too much energy to be able to get grounded and focus or complete tasks; studying in school was extremely difficult, and reading has always been something that has not been figured out yet; I can read bursts of things super fast, like articles or a paragraph, but a whole book or a chapter of a book has not really ever happened; but the audio and visual listening skills are intense and a partial photographic memory has evened things out to be able to excel extremely highly and work around some of the weaker elements.
The paradox of choice – being naturally good at a lot of things, fast learning curve, and a genuine passion for almost all aspects of life from cooking and food to sports, music, arts, science, etc… – has made it really challenge to choose a path in life; struggling with self-doubt about if I am on the right path or making the right choices with my time or skills has created a lot of anxiety; I have ended up doing so many different things in life, but never taken any one main thing to the top so to speak, while being highly successful in numerous realms –
As a musician, choosing the genre and type of sound I want to make falls into that same struggle within the paradox of choice – industry professionals have never known how to brand me due to seeing that I do it all; from funk, pop, rock, country, classical, electronic, and more, branding has been the biggest challenge as I struggle with being put inside a box, and want to do it all. I want to make all types of music for all people, and in the world of music business, that is the worst nightmare for someone trying to market me… we are working it all out now with deep meditation and starting to really ask internal questions of “who I am” and what it is that I truly want to communicate to the world, and how I want to being powerful and positive impact to the planet as a human.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Tough to name one thing, but as a musician, I am a singer, multi-instrumentalist (violin, piano, guitar, drums, bass, etc…), producer, live performer, composer, and songwriter.
I have also acted, modeled, danced, and other areas within entertainment, but am mainly now focused on being a solo artist, with goals to impact the world on the level of Michael Jackson, Prince, David Bowie, and other great musicians of previous generations that were more than just musicians.
I am currently most known for my work with Disney on the show Mira, Royal Detective. My previous live project, Robot Nature won many awards up until 2020 when our tours got canceled; after that I have become solo and am currently building the solo project to be able to launch it in fall 2023. I am also known for winning Best Vocalist at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMAs) during my time with Robot Nature. Also known for music under my old alias, “The Other Deepak” when I was deep in the Yoga/Meditation/Breathing scene as a musician and healing artist combining breathing, meditation, and music together during live performances and workshops around the world. That also included focuses around health and wellness and food, being a guest a few times on some shows as a vegan chef, playing music while also cooking healthy vegan food.
What I am most proud of is the work on the Disney show as I was able to share my Indian culture with the world as the cultural consultant, orchestrator, and arranger for the show; bringing authentic Indian music to the mainstream. I am also most proud of my activism as a proponent of peace and unity, performing at many events and rallies around the country that are supporting anti-war initiatives, freedom, as well as bridging the divide that humanity is experiencing; most recently, I was a special guest at the Independent National Convention, that had a theme of all humans uniting and being the love that we are, by building community and infrastructure around what we can agree on and what brings us together instead of what pushes us further apart.
What sets me apart from others –
As a mainstream musician, playing the violin is a unique attribute as opposed to a typical singer; the multi-instrument thing is unique as well, but many musicians do that but do not also have the violin as one of them; I play it in a special way using special effects that make it stand out as a signature sound in live shows. Also, the blend of high-quality vocals that are reminiscent of Michael Jackson and Radiohead, with a blend of many genres and anthemic catchy melodies and hooks with inspiring lyrics, with a subtle Indian flavor and violin on top makes things very different from others.
As a person, having a background in so many arenas, as well as overcoming these mental challenges also sets me apart, for I am able to hold conversations and speak publicly about so many realms of society – tech, blockchain, AI; health, wellness, food; self-growth, philosophy, spirituality, meditation and being in the moment and finding inner peace; overcoming doubt and adversity; science, math, futurism, and science fiction; and then emotion, music, art, and expression; people say it is a very rare and extreme combination of both left and right brain.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
For me, finding mentors is one of the most important things we can do as humans; for it is important to stay in the beginner’s mind and always be in a state of curiosity, humility, and an openness to listen, learn, and receive.
In a general sense, I like to be in this state of being at all moments, where everything and everyone around me is my teacher; the animals, the trees, the people, the struggles and challenges of life, our “failures” which really are just learning opportunities that we can milk and grow from if we can just get out of our own way.
More specifically, when I am learning something new, like say some aspect of music, or producing, or skills as a performer or songwriter, I look for people that are already successful that inspire me personally or directly that I resonate deeply with; they could be online, or famous; on youtube; watching their interviews as they talk about their process; or watching their performances or listening to their songs.
If I can access them in person, which I have done when I became best friends with Redfoo from LMFAO and eventually lived with him under his mentorship and friendship, then it is such a divine opportunity to really soak up the meat of life and really become a deep and open listener; he shares with me his stories freely, of his life, his process, his successes and failures along the way; he shares with me his thought process and reflections; his philosophies and winning mentalities and mindset; ways of thinking that ensure and increase chances of winning;
Some people that I have been able to be with, become friends with, and learn a lot from directly have been: Redfoo (LMFAO), Aloe Blacc, Richard Gibbs (The Simpsons and more), India.Arie, Idan Raichel, Stephen Laurence Harvey (The Temptations), Matthew Tishler (Disney), Kevin Dowling, Bryan Talebi (Ahura AI), Will Shares (Universal), Ralph Cavallaro (Organic Music), Valerie Morehouse (vocal coach to the stars), Bill Johnson (Liberty Insurance), James Mangold (movie director/writer), and so many more.
As far as networking in concerned, I have never thought of it as “networking” but more of being myself, being honest and authentic, being open, being in service to others, and staying in the mindset of developing friendships and long-lasting, deep relationships. I am constantly meeting “famous” people or highly successful leaders in all industries, and the reason I have developed such strong bonds with so many of these people is because I have never asked them for anything; I do not come from a place of separation or putting them on a pedestal. They are humans just like me and are vulnerable, and we all bleed just the same. So I have always come from a place of listening and becoming a true friend and ally to anyone I meet. I am here to give, not to take. I do not need anything from anyone, and am coming from offering my energy; my listening, and any resources I can. I think it is because of this that many of these people (billionaires, stars, CEOs, etc…) have become my friends because they are so used to people clawing at them and asking them for things; people ask them for money, or pictures, or something or the other all the time, and I do just the opposite. That is the long and short of what has worked well for me in building a very strong global network of people on the highest level of all aspects of the human infrastructure.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dpakfuture.com/links
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/dpakfuture
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/dpakfuture
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpakfuture/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/dpakfuture
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@dpakfuture
- SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/dpakfuture
Image Credits
Main first shot and 2 of the group shots by The Bailey Perspective. Black and white shot by Dominique Palombo. Green shot on keyboard and reddish shot with violin by Masood Ali Khan.
