1.Hows the journey been, between and beyond?
Well, recording 'Between and beyond' was an uphill task cos that was our maiden venture so to speak…and we struggled a lot initially, though post production turned out to be fun. For starters I'd considered it wise to record guitars on my own pc, which was pretty old and to cut a long story short, the tempo seemed to vary when Suraj tried to lay drumtracks to it. And so did the rest of the band. The guitars seemed perfect on my system but started acting weird on the studio system. But somehow we managed to fix that without losing our sanity. The post production bit took about a year and a half cos we could never be satisfied. A big thanks to Gopi chetan (T.J.Gopinath) who worked on our sound at his studio. He went to the extent of investing in high end equipment in his studio just to get our sound right. He was a Godsend.
2.How do you guys make your music? Do you jam and stumble upon ideas or do you come up with a preconceived melody and work on it?
'Between and beyond' was a compilation of songs that we jammed up and stitched together, with a vocal line and suitable lyrics added in later. But now we are working the other way round..a good melody line first and then a music structure around it. Having said that, we try not to limit ourselves to searching for that killer tune in a definite format..if a riff kicks in something interesting, we stake claim to it then and there..hehe….
3.Describe your gear and why you like it? What more would you like to add to it?
Im using Ernieball Musicman JPM6 , Ibanez RG guitars , MesaBoogie MarkI Amp with 4x12 Laney Cabinet (for practice sessions and recordings), a Voxtonelab SE floor processor and a Korg 1000G floor processor (for live gigs). I didn't have the MesaBoogie whilst the first album was recorded, and I use the musician and tonelab to recreate that sound for live gigs.
I'd love to add some good effect stompboxes to my amp in future.
4.How different is live playing from playing in the studio?
My challenge is to reproduce the sound I've recorded in the studio at a live gig. I feel more experience in the studio brings about more accuracy in terms of that reproduction.. But on stage, I believe a musician is a performer too, and should have loads of energy, to entertain. I try to strike a balance between accurate tone reproduction and transfer of energy to the audience.
5.Suraj Pallan leaving the band and Anish joining the ranks as drummer was a major change.Was there a challenge to face, and if so, how did you cope with it?
Hmmm..it was a change as both their styles varied. Suraj was a mellow no nonsense drummer, while Anish is like a lion let loose on stage…Coping with Anish was not a major challenge cos we found his style and blended with him as he did with us. The style of music has changed cos we're happy to give the lion his share of space in the creative department.
6.In your opinion, who are the young guitarists to watch out for?
I think Varun from TDT is a versatile chap. And so is Kevin, I forgot the name of his band though. I recently met a lovely girl named Aarabhy with amazing playing skills and a great personality. Theres definitely many more out there, but these are the young guitarists to look out for.Oh, I forgot to mention Manu from the now defunct 'Samhaara'. He's a good guitarist with a great style.
7.What kind of music do you listen to?
I'm lazy when it comes to exploring new genres. I do believe its important to listen to varied styles though..and thats funny. I used to be a classic rock freak, but now I've opened my ears to different genres thanks to good friends who are wise enough to listen to good stuff without limiting themselves to a particular style.
8.Tell us about your performances at the Leela, Kovalam. How does it feel to cater to a totally different kind of crowd in a restaurant as opposed to the headbangers you really want to cater to?
Playing in many different hotels over the past ten years has really helped me in terms of meeting new people with new ideas, and working with varied artistes and learning new styles. At the Leela Kempinski at Kovalam nowadays where we play covers mostly, we experiment (if I may use the term) with songs rather than just reproduce them. That helps to make boring 'done to death' songs interesting for the audience as well as for us, whilst helping us in our creative process. We play our own comps too and thats definitely a winner.
9.What or who influenced you to pick up the guitar?
I've always been restless in a group of people…my folks' disapproving looks were good evidence of that..haha…I always wanted to, and I guess I still do, stand up and be noticed when in a crowd. All the raw energy on stage, long wild hair and prancing about on stage attracted me to the life of a guitarist. Oh yeah, I loved music from the guitar too..LOL
10.Whats your personal practice schedule? Has it changed from what it used to be when you started out ?
I had a schedule when I started out, and stuck to it religiously come what may. But now I've relaxed on the schedule a bit cos a lot of work I do puts me in close contact with sharpening my creativity and skills on the guitar anyway.
11.To those young guitarists who are reading this, what would your advise be on their approach to music?
Don't limit yourselves to a genre. Try everything you stumble on, you'll enhance yourself that way. Relax and enjoy …..thats the only way to play music.
12.Suggest a good place in Cochin to buy a guitar, and why?
Well if I wanted to import a guitar, theres only one person that pops to mind first for dependable information on whats out…Jose Stephen (Jose chettan) of Stelsie music…I could depend on his advise cos he's a great guitarist himself and would understand each guitarists' requirements and apprehensions…
13.You are pretty adept at recording softwares..do you think its mandatory nowadays for musicians to learn that?
Keep oneself updated..constantly…in terms of music as well as equipment…definitely…thats the only way forward.
14.What is the one attitude from Cochin audience that bugs you, and you'd love them to change?
Enjoying at a concert causing discomfort to others..that bugs me and I hate playing to them..grow up assholes!!!!
15.Whats a piece of advise you’ve imbibed from a senior guitarist?
Enjoy what you are doing. And don't stick with something that doesn't provide satisfaction.
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