Asif Ali Beg has been singing for as long as he can remember. In school he earned the nickname “Little Jimmy Osmond” after his mother trained him to sing most of the stars popular songs on All India Radio's “Wonderland” and “Yuvvani” Programmes, for a princely fee of Rs. 5/- per song. From the Osmonds Asif graduated to Abba. He says, “They are my favorite pop group ever. Abba represents all that is clean, pure and true in commercial pop music”. He has not had any formal training in music but in the three years has been taking Hindustani vocal lessons. “My training comes from my experience and from listening”, Asif says. He wowed the crowds for six years at the RAMADA PALM GROVE HOTEL after which he joined the local gig band AQUA FLOW with whom he performed for three and half years. “After some times I got tired of reproducing other peoples music like a Xerox machine. I wanted to do something of my own”. So he teamed up with Merlyn DeSouza, a talented pianist and composer whom he used to design clothes for. And that’s how Mantra came about. They released ‘Jantar Mantar’ in December 1996 which fared well all over the country taking them to Delhi, Goa, Chennai, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Cochin to perform series of concerts.

Asif listens to all styles of music but feels his forte in pure pop, though he admits to a weakness for Latin American music.

His favorite bands/singers: Abba, Elton John, Sting, Tina Tuner, K.D.Lary, Paul Simon, Prince. Along with Merlyn he has composed an album for the Red Iron International, the hit tune “Miss India” for pop singer Mehnaz, several corporate jingles for multinational companies and of course their very own Mantra songs. Asif is currently working on his second album with Mantra, so watch this space for more!!