Telugu indie pop singer Vamsi Kalakuntla finds his voice with ‘Adios’

Singer-songwriter Vamsi Kalakuntla’s latest track ‘Adios’ discusses personal growth and transformation. To him, ‘Adios’ is more than a song. “It is a statement that comes from a place of self-belief. I shed old versions of myself — failures, doubts, and expectations to embrace new energy.”

Born in Hyderabad and now based in Dallas, Vamsi is proud of his multicultural identity and blends Telugu and English in the track. ‘Adios’ also marks an artistic shift in five years of his musical career. “It is about believing in your own timing, even when the world doubts you. The inspiration came from resilience — turning silence into sound, and pain into power.”

Interest in music

‘Adios’ brings an artistic shift
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Special Arrangement

A first-generation artiste in his family, Vamsi grew up surrounded by music. “Our mornings began with bhajans played on the old cassette player at home. And, by the time we left for school, it had already flipped to Telugu and Hindi film music.”

Radio was also a big part of his childhood. His father had enrolled Vamsi and his sister in Carnatic classical music classes but Vamsi gave up after a year. However, he took to music during his days in engineering college, when he met an up-and-coming Telugu music director and learnt the nuances of songwriting and composing.

Learning the craft

Vamsi Kalakuntla
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Special Arrangement

While pursuing masters in the US, he worked as a radio jockey and DJ for an on-campus NPR and BBC-affiliated station. From 2015 to 2019, he absorbed the craft — learning production, performance, and presence.

Meeting Jonathan Camacho, a music producer, was a life-changing moment as he discovered ‘sound’ and also released his own music in 2020. “Watching Punjabi music go global gave me direction. I knew Telugu pop deserved a similar spotlight and I wanted to be the one to bring it there.”

For Vamsi, the core idea of a song starts with an emotion — a chord, a phrase, or even a colour, and he treats songs like scenes from a movie. For ‘Adios’, he saw visuals before he even wrote the lyrics — a man walking away from his past with calm confidence. “Once that feeling locks in, I build around it; the production, melody, and the visuals flow from that emotion.”

Using AI in editing

Vamsi uses new-age methods to connect with listeners
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Special Arrangement

Vamsi uses new-age methods to connect with listeners — interactive music stores, AI-generated visuals, and experiences to blend tech and culture. He used AI for demo mix and mastering, and creating visualisers for his music videos. “I don’t see AI as a threat, not if it is used the right way. It can speed up mixes, assist in editing visuals, or help design mock-ups in ways that save artistes time and resources. No matter how many tools are introduced, nothing can take away the authenticity of an artist.”

Drawn to the works of artistes such as The Weeknd, Drake, Post Malone, and AR Rahman, he also seeks inspiration from cities, heartbreaks, loneliness and hope. “Every sound I create needs to feel cinematic yet human. Telugu pop, in my view, should sound global but honest.”

Vamsi looks at challenges as opportunities to get empowered: “Every milestone reminds me that this path, though unconventional, is mine. I enjoy every bit of it, from the grind to growth.”

‘Adios’ is available on major music streaming platforms.