MUKESH AMARAN
ALBUM ARTicle:
ARU
Arundathi Manakkad is Aru, the brains behind some of the most interesting music posters that invite you and I to get up and go watch the performance. A visual layer to music is always an important, although commonly unnoticed aspect that has always been a constant. From the album art, the poster design, Visuals down to the photographs of the performance adds value to the product itself which is music. Aru is one such person in the music scene who has taken her liking for music and visual art to create some amazing artworks.
Like many of us science students, Aru was expected to be an engineer of sorts. But Srishti school of art was where she ended up. She credits the course to have helped her think differently which she considers her biggest take away from the course. Aru has also been in touch with music for a major part of her life.“ My dad would try to teach me Carnatic music with a harmonium every Sunday since I was 5, I hated it, I always wanted to dance! I remember I picked up the violin in school only because I wanted to miss class!”, she comments on her initial stages of getting into music. But she slowly started to get into music and by 17 got a guitar by saving up and has been making some music ever since.“ It seemed wondrous and out of reach. I decided to save up money and I bought my first guitar, since then I’ ve been making small bits of music here and there”, she comments.
Aru is a story teller of sorts. A listener, who is highly intrigued by how the music community works and what each artist has to offer. Stories of artists and their music finds deep appreciation and emphasis in Aru’ s work.“ I listened to the music these musicians played, over many times, watched them play live at SoFar whenever I could. I tried to understand them as artists and I picked out one or two elements that stood out for me that had something to do with them as people or their music and I emphasized this in my art. I try to make the subject interesting to me. If I’ m asked to make an album cover, I listen to the music over hours, ask questions to the artists and create a narrative in my mind This narrative helps me see a story in my mind and I start fleshing this out.” Says Aru, on the process she undergoes before creating.
Armed with a very detailed illustrative style but with spontaneity, Aru looks for a story while she creates any kind of artwork. Her posters and artwork are definitely worth high praise and has been raising the standards of the music scene as a whole. Like I always say, the scene grows when every single aspect of it delivers some high-quality art and not just music alone.
The Score Magazine
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