Gladson Peter: India’s One Man Band

Gladson Samuel Peter aka One Man Band (@onemanbandindia) is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and India’s first and only ‘One Man Band’.

While for many of us doing two things at the same time is a big task. Gladson can play 14 instruments simultaneously and also sing along with it! In one of his Ted talks Gladson revealed that he always wanted to be a drummer and a cool motorcyclist. But life had other plans, he got diagnosed with a disease which is an early stage of tuberculosis (TB) which unfortunately damaged 60% of his lungs.

To put it in perspective, the damage was so bad that he was told that couldn’t even play a flute! Even after undergoing an operation he still lives with a hole on either of his lungs. But for Gladson the spirit of music was strong and despite all odds he decided to go ahead with the thing that was his life’s moving force, music.

By age 17, he could play over 35 instruments. Many of us can’t even name 35 instruments and there is Gladson, mastering the art in 35 different ways along with singing. But this was the beginning. Gladson was never a part of a band so he decided to assemble all the instruments and become a band himself i.e. One Man Band. Him becoming the one man band made him the first and only one to do so. Surprisingly, all over the world there are less than 200 people with this skill and Gladson Peter is one of them.

Gladson’s journey to becoming a one man band is at par with his skill. It is a reminder that no matter how bad life may seem there’s always something that you can do and succeed at, as famously quoted by Steve Jobs, “while there is life there is hope” and Gladson is a living example of that. His life’s journey and skills have been recognised by several eminent platforms and he has even given Ted talks at some universities.

Recently his skills and talents were also honoured on The Kapil Sharma Show, which is one of India’s leading live comedy shows.

Gladson Peter wants to give the message to everyone that no matter what, we should never give up on our dreams and passion, and only then can we achieve whatever we wish for.