Roupen Minassian

I felt so out of the loop, looking for a “play", “start” or “audio" button. 17 year old Roupen Minassian tried to help me find and play his title track on his SoundCloud channel, but I was adamant on figuring it out on my own…

… And all of a sudden his smooth acoustic voice seeped through the speakers. The song was the Arctic Monkeys' “Wanna Be Yours,” and instead of an amateur garage band quality track that I expected, it sounded professional. If i did not know better, I would have through that this was off an official LP.

He kept trying to assure me that “it’s nothing special,” but Roupen’s suave vocals sounded so honed, and the quality of the track was flawless.

“I can hear myself and it is making me really uncomfortable. I don’t know why, I just don’t like it.”

But he has not always been so shy and modest. When Roupen was 5, he would memorise songs and poetry, waiting for his family to get together, usually at his grandparents' home, so that he could perform. “They had to listen to me,” he tells me trying not to smirk, “whether they wanted to or not.”

Growing up, singing and performing were never Roupen’s priorities.

“I never thought much about singing until year 7 when mum signed me up to singing lessons. Straight away, the teacher told me I was a natural.”

Roupen had found his creative outlet. He entered several singing and musical events hosted by his school, Marist Brothers North Shore, finally signing up to the major school musical in year 10 called Promises Promises as one of the minor lead roles.

2013 was a demanding yet thriving year for Roupen. He entered 3 esteemed singing competitions, including the City of Sydney Eisteddfod, where he a achieved a Highly Commended award, and two competitions with the Ryde Eisteddfod, where he won a first place award and a runner up award.

Roupen Minassian practicing the piano at school

“I also sung at many assemblies and functions at my school and also accompanied year 12 music students in their HSC performance exams.”

This year, Roupen will be playing the lead role of Sky Masterson in his school’s musical performance of Guys and Dolls.

“I have really been looking forward to a lead musical role. We have been practicing a fair bit and I know this is going to be my best performance yet.”

In 2015 Roupen will be sitting his HSC exams, which means putting his music aside and focusing on his studies. But when I asked him what his aspirations were after school it became clear that his future would definitely involve signing and performing.

“I might take a path in music. At the moment I'm not sure where I'm headed. I might go to uni and do engineering. Who knows? My goal has always been to to be in front of a large crowd and feel comfortable. I can be a really shy person. Yet when I'm on stage I am completely different. I was always afraid of embarrassment and being humiliated but now I just say have fun and enjoy it!”