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Indian-American musician Avie Sheck’s pop covers are great. But his mother’s ragas make them magical
One of the most feel-good viral moments of 2024 came to us via Los Angeles-based musician Avie Sheck and his mum, Uma. In November, 30-year-old Sheck (whose real name is Abhi Pant) dropped a heart-warming cover of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, featuring his Hindustani-classical-trained mother singing in raga Bilawal over her son’s acoustic guitar and angst-ridden vocals.
The duo’s fusion of 90s alt-rock with ancient Indian ragas is compelling, but what really made the video go viral is the intimacy between mother and son, a bond that transcends generations and cultures. With Uma’s intervention, Radiohead’s anthem of alienation was transformed into a song of hope, a mother reassuring her misfit son that he belongs, that he is loved. As one YouTube commenter put it, “It’s like his mom is healing him from his lowest of lows.”
The cover racked up over ten million views on Instagram, making the duo instant social media stars. Since its release, they’ve been inundated with label deal offers, been invited to perform at a SpaceX rocket launch event and even earned a shoutout from alt-R&B superstar SZA. It’s a classic viral success story. Except, as Sheck takes pains to point out, their ‘overnight success’ is the culmination of a decades-long, intergenerational love affair with music. “This is just what we do, we’ve always been musicians at heart,” he says over Zoom from Los Angeles. “It took us half a lifetime, but we’re finally making it happen.”
