Tuesday, February 16, 2021

An Upside Down Tale

I'm happy. 

The world's quite messed-up right now, but I'm happy. 
If this isn't a testament to my selfishness, then I wouldn't know what else is. 

Success has a lot to do with my happiness, and vice versa. That elusive album finally happened, and happened well. Years of playing with several bands, implicitly gave me good insight into how to approach this production process. 

This is all in retrospect, of course. 

The actual way 'Upside Down' unfolded was a little more chaotic and unpredictable. While there are several people who have aided this piece of work, these lovely folk bubble-up to the top, chronologically.


Anushya

Anushya Badrinath
Technically the first person to hear all my songs, at every stage of development long before ‘Upside Down’ took any significant shape. Trooper that she is, enduring countless cacophonous renditions that iteratively bubbled up into semi-acceptable IG upload worthy versions, Anushya would patiently provide feedback and solid encouragement. Although I may have a few miles on my musical journey, this album would not have been, if not for her. 
Thanks, Love. 

Sylvester 

Sylvester Pradeep
After all the songs structures were ‘done’ (at least in my head), and since most of the songs had a fairly traditional structure with a space for an instrument solo, it only made sense to approach somebody whose playing style I loved and was quite familiar with. So obviously, Sylvester. (for the uninitiated, I play bass for The Sylvester Trio and there is really no need to wax emotional about Sylvester’s guitar skills; that’s already an established fact)

The initial plan was to put in a couple of electric guitar solos, followed by a pinch of programmed drums. Sylvester was the first person who floated the idea that some songs deserved ‘more’ (while also emphatically stating that some should be left as is). His kind and welcoming response to the songs is what made me re-think the home recording route, and actually consider the possibility of roping some professional help for the entire process.
I could already sense this project getting out of hand.


Paul

Paul Daniel
A lucky encounter introduced the Sylvester Trio to Paul's sound engineering talent. We had roughly 3 hours to record a song from scratch at Alive 1 Studio and what resulted was of quality we'd previously only heard in world-class level recordings. 
Needless to say, he topped my personnel list to approach for the engineering of 'Upside Down'. Not only was Paul kind enough to agree to listen to my scratch tracks, but kinder still to offer his services at Alive 1 Studios.  This is where things took a drastically different turn. Safe to say  that the whole 'home-recording' bit was now long forgotten, and the access to a studio like Alive 1 for recording, meant that my songs could have acoustic drums tracked, live. 
Things were changing, and very quickly.


Joel

Joel Rozario
And that brings us to Joel, who needs no introduction.


The Sylvester Trio’s practice sessions happen at a sweet little jam studio created by Joel at his ancestral home (literally that; it’s over a 100 years old!) recently renovated, and treated sound-wise to standards good enough to give most jam-rooms in Bangalore a run for their money. 


Joel had offered this space as an alternative to recording at home, and even more generously, his services on the drums which I had to turn down, quite reluctantly, owing to my initial plan of intending to engineer ‘Upside Down’ myself, and obviously quite diffident about my acoustic drum tracking abilities.

Of course, that plan changed after Paul’s offer.

Considering that we’ve been band-mates for nearly 6 years, It’s no surprise that Joel’s understanding and interpretation of my songs fit so well with what I had in mind; there was very little I had to ‘explain’, and it was as if he knew exactly what had to go with each song.

In this album, Joel has ‘played to the song’, while managing to maintain his characteristic flavour.  
There are very few drummers I know who can do that. 


Osi

Osi Gomango
 With Joel entering the mix, literally (kind of), and with a personally set time  constraint on studio session time, the next important aspect to sort out was the bass. I truly believed that my songs deserved a well thought of and carefully crafted bass part and as tempting as it was to play the bass parts myself, considering the timeline and my skill level, I saw no possibility of that happening in such a short span of time. 

Turn to the Pro, and enter Osi Gomango.

Years of experience, and unfathomable insight into bass playing, is what Osi brought with him. His vast experience with multiple bands over the years contributed immensely to the jam sessions for ‘Upside Down’, while he astutely suggested parts and transitions that aided the growth of these songs into finer and more mature versions of their earlier selves. I couldn’t be more grateful. 

This association with Osi was a learning experience in musicality, professionalism and extreme skill levels. I consider my self blessed. 



What started as a thought, structured around a home studio setup, eventually mutated into this. Parting shot wise, I owe so much to the musical ethos of Bangalore and her vibrant collection of musicians and (swiftly dwindling) performance venues.


'Upside Down' is available for streaming and free download, here.



 

Saturday, August 15, 2020

To Me

When i gaze over this hazy spin

The spiral locks eye with me and says

“Come on in”


Though it might be just a single line,

Undulating in time, so fine

Weave of a legend or tale of a liar

Reaching out for me like the arms of a fire

She takes control of my senses, six — and says

“just wait until you feel what’s in this mix”

And when my eyes roll in to the back of my head

That’s when the madness will reveal itself,


    To me



So i dig my heels into this groove,

The world is spinning by, but i cannot move

It’s a feeling that’s so contrary

Of being moved around while i’m stationary 


Round and round while i take this tour - she says

“there’s a lot to be guessed, and you can never be sure”

But when my eyes roll in to the back of my head

The beast of confusion retracts its claws and speaks


    To me



Stepping on that box I take my shot 

But he laughs and says ‘Is that all you’ve got?’

And I stand there like the fool on the hill

Sans insight and only half the skill 


It slips away and that’s exactly when - she says

“Well you’ve lost now, but you can try again”

So when my eyes roll in to the back of my head

That’s when I see what music means 


    To me


**************************************************

Some conversations are so meta and imaginary


Stroll

Stepping out for a stroll in my mind 
Hoping to steer my thoughts, but only to find
There’s no up, no down, no left no right 
This broken moral compass keeps me up all night
While it’s getting increasingly clear
    
    That there’s only here 

Imprisoned in a spot, for my crime 
I’m sifting these zany thoughts, through the lens of time
These knotted lines are strange, they make no sense 
And presently, the past makes my future tense 
So I’m inclined to believe somehow 

    That there’s only now 

Each moment passing, feels the same 
Like visages through the glass, of a photo-frame
Countless faces i see, but it’s one, no doubt 
That’s filling me with thoughts I'm not so proud about
And even though they might say it’s taboo 

    I know it’s only you

**************************************************

The simpler the rhyme, the scarier the implication

Friday, August 14, 2020

Silly Geometry

                

      Start with a point, grow it into a line

      Criss-crossing through all of time

      All these lines, curved in time and space

      Arranging you and me in the same place

      But now just feels so anachronic, so

      Frame-drag me into yesterday


        Because as soon as you appear, you start to leave

Why does time have to be, so cruel to me?


          Stuck in this silly geometry        



      Dotted my i’s and i crossed the t’s

      Might even say that i’m at ease

      Ironed it out and now the jig’s complete

      Ready for this extraordinary feat

      But this fabric is so convoluted

      I wouldn’t really have it any other way

        Because as soon as you appear, you start to leave

Why does time have to be, so cruel to me?


          Stuck in this silly geometry  



        You take away a piece of me when you go 

        What kind of sorcery i just don’t know

        And all that there is left to do is wait



      Opened my mind, now i feel so free

      But it’s hard to get a grip on reality


Because as soon as you appear, you start to leave

Why does time have to be so cruel to me?

I roam around this loop so endless

And now i’m just a royal mess

Because i’m stuck 


          Stuck in this silly geometry 


*************************************************************************


Damn time loops and desire.


(That album's finally happening.)