Tell us about your musical journey.
I was raised in Thripunithura, which is the art city of Kerala.
After my graduation, I worked for an IT company for about a
year. But my mind was completely into music. So I decided to give
up that job, and moved to Chennai to peruse the love of my life,
Music and hence did my sound engineering course in 2006. After
completing the course, I worked as a sound Engineer, assisted
some legendary music directors and along with that I used to try
and compose songs. By end of 2009, I started my own recording
studio and got to work with a lot of fine musicians.
Yuvvh which was my maiden project happened in 2012. All the
songs were composed by me when I was working as a sound
engineer back in 2008. I had always wanted to do an independent
album, and so I brought those compositions together and called
it Yuvvh. The distribution was by Sony Music and yuvvh was
sony music’s first ever Malayalam Project and it was a huge hit
which went viral on internet. After Yuvvh was a tamil – Telugu
bilingual movie called Shivani, and then an album called Love
policy and Namsthe. After that was a project called Kamasutra
3D. Five songs from that movie were in 2013 Oscar contention
list for best songs and best scores category. And after that was
Madhura Naranga(Malayalam movie) which was a big hit and ran
for more than 100 days. And now its Dhuun which is released in
April 1st. It’s a Hindi pop album with 7 shades of love. It’s a very
experimental project and the lyrics are done by Chandan Kataria.
Songs rendered by Shaswat Singh, Sooraj Santhosh, Saptaparna
chakraborthy, Roshni Suresh, Neha Venugopal and my self.
And currently working for a Tamil Film named Meow directed
by Palaniyappan and one Malayalam movie with the director
Sugeeth. On june starting composing for a Marathi and a Telugu
Film.
Where do you draw inspiration from while composing
music?
I get inspiration from everything. Everything around us has
music. I do have a passion and appreciation for art. A passion for
catching the vision of a project, imagining, and giving that vision
color, vibrancy, and life.
Sometimes I let my mind drift over things and at some point, a
concept takes shape.
Which has been your most interesting composing
experience?
My most interesting composing experience was, when I worked
for Kamasutra 3D, Madhura Naranga and Dhuun.
Kamasutra 3D was a periodic movie. Each song from that movie
were of different genres. One of the songs was about the Naga
Sadhus. It was a great learning experience to explore music in
that genre, to go in depth about their life style and music. Due to
budget limitation, I could not go in for an elaborate orchestra. So
I experimented layering the patches of the same instruments with
multiple tracks, and managed to record with a single musician. I
got a lot of appreciation for that particular work, that It actually
gave a feel of a big orchestral session. That was really exciting and
challenging at the same time.
The best experience about Madhura Naranga was that, it was spot
composing where, I actually sat with the director of the movie,
and composed on the spot. That was new, joyous and exuberant.
We have heard of spot composing back in the olden days, where
the composer and Director and others related to the film sit
together and work out a song. But these days things have changed.
Dhuun was again very experimental. Apart from normal fusion,
I have tried to explore into different genres and how effectively
EDM genre can be used and how to make trance music etc.
Though its my independent project, all the songs were composed
on the spot after I got the lyrics in hand.
You've composed for movies across different languages,
how do you different iate one from the other?
I don’t see a major difference, yet, what I feel is, every language
has its tradition and culture. So one must be aware of those
because, only then certain feelings and emotions can be rendered
and conveyed effectively to those audiences. So mainly it’s the
musical culture and tradition. All other things remain the same
according to me.
What's your take on the current scenario?
The genres in music are expanding.
Today with electronic technology at its peak, we listen to
unaltered music very rarely. It has altered how music is heard,
performed, and composed. What I feel is, if a song is recorded in
its originality and perfection right at initial stage, avoiding any
scope for pitch correction later, then such songs will definitely
leave a long lasting impression because originality and versatility
cannot go unnoticed.
Also talking about independent albums today, there are a lot of
challenges in the promotional phase when it comes to private
music. It definitely gives a musician an individual recognition
and hence it should be used to experiment new genres and also
used to make music that are new and unheard of. At the same
time, our record labels, visual medias, print medias etc., must
take a little more initiative in promoting Independent music’s
and Albums.
Which is your most favt composition?
My favorite composition has to be Nenjodu cherthu form Yuvvh
because, it was something that just happened. When I sat down
to compose, the lines just came into my mind. Aarum kaanathe
from Madhura Naranga also happened in the same manner. So
both these songs are very close to my heart.
Who is your favt composer of all times and why?
My favorite composer will always be A R Rahman sir because,
we grew up listening to so many songs and music from so many
musicians, but he just redefined Indian music. He has been a great
inspiration for me, to come to this field of composing. His skill at
using synthesized sounds and beats in his music is commendable.
He broke all the boundaries of "Indian music" for the best, and
took it to a different level.
You've also made independent albums. How do you
differentiate from films?
A film music is always script dependent. When writing music
for film, the main goal is to sync dramatic events happening on
screen with musical events in the score. But when it comes to
independent music, we have more control and freedom to take
decisions and experiment. It also helps to make an individual
recognition as a musician.
What's your message to readers of the magazine?
I would like to say,” Please listen and support Dhuun.. the songs
and videos are now available on every Digital Platforms.
Please support and encourage good music and good songs. Do not
judge a song by the star cast or a huge promotion.”
The
Score Magazine
www.thescoremagazine.com
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