MEERA C
Right from my early phases in singing, I ' ve been really lucky to have got to oppurtunity to team up with several legends of the industry and also learn a lot of things from them. I ' ve learnt a lot from stars like AR Rahman, KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Akriti Kakar, etc.
You ' re one of the youngest sound engineers in India. What ' s the story behind that?
From the beginning I ' ve had great interest in music & in singing / performing them, to be specific. But during my 10th std I got exposed to the field of Sound Engineering through workshops and a few online videos, that I got to witness. The process of how a film song is made, right from scratch to interpreting your ideas and making a full fledged song really caught my interest. By then I had also started doing a few public performances / shows in Bangalore, w. r. t my singing. I also understood that learning sound engineering in depth would help me improve my singing skills on the whole. With the beginning of my plus 2, I had made a decision to pursue sound engineering, professionally in future. I got myself educated about the different instititutions offering Sound Engineering in Bangalore, though there are a very few of them. In between all this, I started doing well in my singing, started doing a lot of individual shows in Bangalore. I also the 12th std pressure coming in with all the entrance exams. Eventually, I decided to do a degree at Audiolife School of Sound Engineering located at J. P Nagar, Bangalore. I also got a govt. merit engg. seat at the BMS college of Engineering for a degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. I did both these courses simultaneously everyday, one in the morning and the other one in the evening. That was one hell of a phase where I ended up really stressed every single day. I used to travel about 50 kms everyday and did most of my studies while commuting.
But the Sound engineering lectures were more of a stressbuster, because it was full of music and sound. At my sound engineering instititute I got to learn the various aspects of making a song which involved composing and producing, music arranging, recording, mixing & mastering and Post production. I was made aware of a few industry-standard DAW ' s like Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Cubase in complete depth. The classroom experience was also great as I had people who were atleast 10yrs older to me, as my classmates. Every student was given assignments, wherein he / she had to make their own song, mix and master it and that was evaluated on various parameters. Earlier this year, I wrote my Final examinations, both theory and practicals for the degree in Sound Engineering. The results were announced in April, making me one of the youngest, certified sound engineers of the country at 19!
Today, I have my own recording studio called Albatross Studios where I compose, record and mix music for my own projects and also for a lot of clients. I compose short jingles, ads and covers. The course has also tremendously helped me shape my singing career in the right way.
Tell us your most memorable music story.
There are several memorable musical moments. It happens everytime I get into my studio late night and work on a few projects. I get completely immersed into a song and that makes me feel really good. That time well spent in the studio, makes it really memorable for me. But the most memorable moment for me, was from the recent concert that I did in Dubai. During the month of January, I was invited to Dubai to perform at concert with several stars from Bollywood like Sunidhi Chauhan, Badshah, Zarine Khan, etc. Those 30 minutes spent on stage in front of about 7000 people cheering for your songs was indeed the MOST memorable event for me.
You ' ve worked with a lot of top notch musicians. How did that come about?
Right from my early phases in singing, I ' ve been really lucky to have got to oppurtunity to team up with several legends of the industry and also learn a lot of things from them. I ' ve learnt a lot from stars like AR Rahman, bollywood singer KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Akriti Kakar, etc. But what deserves a special mention was my meeting with singer KK. He ' s been my favourite singer from the first and looking at how he is as person, made me a bigger fan of him. He was extremely humble and also gave me a lot of guidance and tips. I ' ve had the golden chance to perform his most-awarded song " Aashayein " with the singer himself, here at Bangalore. Truly a moment to cherish!
Does age matter much in the music industry?
Yes it does matter and in a huge way. I ' ve seen a lot of people, some from the industry too who discount your talent because of your young age. A lot of people, chose the other over me, just because of the fact that I ' m really young. What I truly believe is one must look at a person ' s talent, his work and his achievements before judging him, keeping aside the ' age ' factor. A lot of courses, institutions have an age limit, not only the in the field of sound. I personally think that one must not be deprived of anything, when he capable of doing it, just because of the age.
How supportive are your parents of your involvement with music?
My parents have been really supportive throughout my journey. Infact, my inspiration has always been my Parents, who wanted me to do what I like and have been supportive in all my activities related to Music. It is because of their encouragement, that I ' m doing so much of Multi-tasking and yet doing well in my tasks.
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