Pianist jumps off friend’s 12th floor Bandra flat, no suicide note found

MUMBAI: Acclaimed pianist

Karan Joseph

ended his life by leaping off a friend’s 12th floor apartment in

Bandra

West on Saturday morning. The 29-year-old did not leave behind a suicide note but his friend told the

police

that he was under stress. Musicians described him as a “genius keyboarder” who was “immensely talented”. Bandra police said they would examine Joseph’s cellphone and social media accounts to find out what led him to take the drastic step.

A Bengaluru native, Joseph had been living in his friend Rishi Shah’s apartment at Concord building on Bullock Road for a month. “The previous night, he stayed up over drinks and slept around 3.30am,” said a police official. Between 8.30am and 8.45am, Shah, a female friend of his and two workers were seated in the living room when Joseph suddenly opened a window and leapt off. “Everyone was taken aback. Karan was taken to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead,” said the official.

Police recorded Shah’s statement as he was a witness. “Shah had met Joseph at a gig in Bengaluru. He loved Joseph’s performance and handed him his visiting card, extending an invitation to meet up with him when in Mumbai. Shah said that Joseph often appeared stressed but would never tell him the reason for it,” the official said. Joseph’s parents have been informed and they are on their way to Mumbai. His phone was locked and sent to the state forensic lab for analysis.

“Professionally, Joseph seemed to be doing well. He performed every weekend or the other. In fact, he had met me at an awards function in Delhi last month where he was performing and was looking for someone to manage his work,” said Jastirath Julka, who heads operations at a digital media company. Radio presenter Mae Thomas recollected a story about Joseph. “Karan used to spend nine to ten hours of the day playing the keyboard. It came to a point that he would forget to use the restroom and his mother would come over to remind him.” Thomas added that Joseph was so good with the keyboard that he could duck under it and play, a possible explanation as to why his Twitter handle was called Madfingers.

Music composer Vishal Dadlani said Joseph was much acclaimed on the Indie scene and played with all sorts of musicians. “He played (with me) in Pentagram in 2013. We spoke several times later about making music together but it did not happen. I feel terrible about it now. He came across as very vulnerable but I have no clue what pushed him to the brink.”

Joseph had performed across India and in New York. His Facebook page says he played rock, jazz, fusion and electronic. He studied the piano professionally at Berklee College of Music in the USA where he learned from veterans such as Danilo Perez, Hal Crook and Jeff Covell.