Ramesh McLean Srivastava (born June 26, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band

Voxtrot Voxtrot is an American indie pop band formed in Austin, Texas, in 2003. Their first recordings were released in 2003, and their debut EP, '' Raised by Wolves'', was released in 2005 to critical acclaim, garnering attention from music bloggers as ...

, active from 2003 to 2010. After the dissolution of Voxtrot, Srivastava has also released solo material under his name, including his debut album, ''The King'', in 2014.

Early life

Ramesh Srivastava was born on June 26, 1983, in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

,"Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database
FamilySearch
(1 January 2015), Ramesh Mclean Srivastava, 26 Jun 1983; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (2005); citing

Texas Department of State Health Services Texas Department of State Health Services is a state agency of Texas. The department was created by House Bill 2292 of the 78th Texas Legislature in 2003 through the merging of four state agencies: the Texas Department of Health, Texas Departmen ...

. to Patricia Noel Goettel and Rajendra Kumar Srivastava. His father is from

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, while his mother is American, from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He attended

Leander High School Leander High School is a secondary school in Leander, Texas, United States, and is part of the Leander Independent School District. It was established in 1983 and was the only high school in district, until the establishment of Cedar Park Hig ...

Leander, Texas Leander ( ) is a city in Williamson County, Texas, Williamson and Travis County, Texas, Travis Counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 59,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and 87,511 at the 2024 census estimate. A subur ...

, and later attended the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, majoring in literature.

Career

In 2002, after graduating from college and returning to Texas, Srivastava formed the band

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

. They recorded one extended play and released a self-titled album, which garnered critical acclaim. In 2010, the group disbanded, with Srivastava stating that their career trajectory had been one of "long, simmering build, explosion, and almost instantaneous decay." The band played their final show at the

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in Manhattan's Bowery neighborhood. The venue has enjoyed a fabled reputation among musicians as well as audiences. In 2013, industry insiders polled by ''Roll ...

in New York City on June 26, 2010, Srivastava's twenty-seventh birthday. In 2014, Srivastava released his first solo record, ''The King''. The record was performed live as a four-piece on a nationwide tour of Japan. On May 6, 2022, the group announced they were embarking on a reunion tour through the latter part of the year, along with the release of archival recordings.

Personal life

In 2007, the ''

Dallas Voice ''Dallas Voice'' is a weekly LGBT newspaper based in Dallas, Texas. Established on May 11, 1984, it was the first newspaper in Dallas created specifically to serve the LGBTQ+ community. Owned by Voice Publishing Company, Inc., the newspaper publ ...

'' published an article in which it was implied that Srivastava was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

, though a subsequent article by the same publication stated that this was unsubstantiated. In June 2020, Srivastava confirmed publicly in an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post that he is gay.

Discography

Voxtrot

Extended plays *'' Raised by Wolves'' (2005) *''

Your Biggest Fan ''Your Biggest Fan'' is the third official EP by the Austin, Texas-based indie pop band Voxtrot. Released on November 17, 2006, in the United States, it was available as both a three track CD and a two track 7" single. The track "Trouble" was l ...

'' (2006) *''

Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives ''Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives'' is an EP by Voxtrot, released on April 4, 2006, in the United States and September 25, 2006 worldwide. In 2022, it was remastered and combined with the band's '' Raised by Wolves'' EP as a reissue compil ...

'' (2006) Albums *''

'' (2007)

Ramesh

*''The King'' (2014)

References

External links

Official siteRamesh
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Srivastava, Ramesh 1983 births Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow American indie pop musicians American indie rock musicians American male musicians of Indian descent American male singers of Indian descent American gay musicians American male guitarists Singers from Austin, Texas People from Travis County, Texas Songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Texas 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists American male songwriters