Carlton Braganza

Carlton Braganza wears many hats- entrepreneur, entertainer, restaurateur, artist, photographer, designer, writer and mentor. Notorious for having started the cultish music club Opus, which defined live music in Bangalore, he also runs a small events, entertainment and creative company called Trump it.

His musical passion has found him gigging in some exotics places from the Northern Lights in the Finnish Lapland to the Zanskar in Leh. From Thailand to Germany, to Sweden and the UK he has made people dance and sing along at small bars, weddings, music festivals and corporate houses.

During the pandemic lockdown Carlton found himself confined to his apartment in Bangalore and he started Jukebox Jammies an hour long pajama party online in his bedroom, where he took requests for songs from people all over the world.^[1]

Jukebox Jammies connected people with each other and took them all on a musical ride across genres and ages for a hundred consecutive nights, while people lost loved ones and mourned together and celebrated life.

Carlton loves to travel and explore new places and experiences. He is usually found with his fingers in many pies, his heart on his sleeve, a glass in hand and a song on his lips!

Carlton was born in Bombay, (now Mumbai) on 19th March 1972 to Tony Braganza and Jane (née Pais). His father Tony was born in Goa and worked in the Central Railways. His mother a school teacher was born in Mumbai. Carlton has a younger brother named Royston. He went to elementary school at St. Theresa’s in Bandra, Mumbai.

After completing his high school at St. Theresa’s he enrolled at the RD National college where he studied electronics for two years and got into Engineering. Simultaneously he enrolled at ST. Xaviers College studies a year of Math, Statistics and Economics. By age 18 he decided that he wanted to change tracks and become a sailor, as it was an assured career path and paid well. Following his new interest in sailing Carlton joined the Merchant Navy and completed his Chief Mates and sailed till 1997.^[2]

As a youngster he was very interested in art and music and was part of several choral groups. Through school and college he won numerous art and singing competitions.

Carlton married Gina Campos in Jan 1998 and with his wife he started Trump it a boutique events and creative company.

Their experiment Opus in 2003 - a music and art 'restobar' became the iconic place in Bangalore that encouraged and nurtured young talent and changed the live music scene in Bangalore. They went on to open another Opus in Whitefield Bangalore and another in Pune. His next venture was myopusradio, India’s first internet radio station for international music.

The premature and tragic demise of his wife in 2009 was a major setback to their expansion plans. However Carlton continued to run Opus and Trump it.

During the COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdown in India in 2020 Carlton was the first to take the party online! He started “Jukebox Jammies” - a one hour pajama party in his bedroom every night taking requests from across the globe, connecting people and taking his growing numbers of fans on a musical ride across genres and ages for a hundred consecutive nights.

It completed close to 250 episodes and 10M+ views across Facebook and YouTube. With a repertoire of over 2500+ songs Carlton even got featured on the homepage of Rolling Stone Magazine.^[3]

This first online music show, Jukebox jammies launched during the pandemic inspired numerous other similar acts that followed.

Carlton Braganza was felicitated at the INCAIndia Awards 2021 for his contributions during the pandemic.

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