Kris Chetan Ramlu
| Kris Chetan Ramlu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kris Chetan Ramlu |
| Also known as | Cheats[1] |
| Born | 15 September 1989 |
| Origin | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Genres | Classical, fusion |
| Instruments | Tabla, percussion |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Associated acts | Vaishali Samant, Angaraag Mahanta, Raashi Malik, Rhian Sheehan |
Kris Chetan Ramlu (Hindi: चेतन रामलु, Telugu: చేతన రంలు ), is a New Zealand musician, sometimes known by the stage name Cheats. Though his main instrument is the tabla (a pair of tuned hand drums from India), Chetan plays many other percussion instruments. His biggest musical influence is Ustad Zakir Hussain, a virtuoso percussionist whose name is synonymous with the tabla. Chetan plays Vhatkar Tabla and Meinl Percussion.
Career
Chetan started playing the tabla at the age of 10 and was trained by Dr. Tarlochan Singh (Independent), Muhammad Sardar Khan (Pandit Vithal Rao) and Shantanu Kinjawadekar (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy). He has also trained in the art of Indian classical singing with Sumeet Tappoo and briefly with Pandit Vithal Rao (Hyderabad)..
More recently, Chetan has worked with many western and Indian artists, including Vaishali Samant, Bollywood playback singer (Lagaan, Saathiya) and MTV Asia Award nominated pop artist; with Rhian Sheehan, a Wellington electronica artist whose debut album Paradigm Shift (2001) was named New Zealand album of the year by music critic Colin Morris;[2] and with Raashi Malik from the Wellington super-dub band Rhombus.
He has also worked with international musicians Angaraag Mahanta (Papon), Sumeet Tappoo, Amit Choubey, Piush Pawar, Milind Sheorey, Narendra Salaskar and New Zealand musicians Tim Beals, Des Mellon, Jess Chambers, Andy Hummel, Jarrod Woods, James Wylie, Miles Crayford and Onomatopoeia (David Ward, Isaac Smith and Ian Downer).[3]
Chetan is currently working with 'Moksha' an Indian fusion band.