Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Brunch
Which artists have you been listening to, lately?
“It is almost like nature telling us, ‘You guys stay inside and don’t pollute. I’ll take care of myself.’”
MILLENNIAL MUSICAL CHOICES
But everyone is a victim now, Rahman adds. I nod in acknowledgement. How has his team been managing without access to equipment, I ask.
“I think everybody is aware of, you know, recording at home. They all have a laptop or an ipad or even a phone, and they just need to add a mic. The biggest stars who have won the Grammys, for instance, if you look at Billie Eilish, she recorded music with her brother in a bedroom studio. Covid-19 is reinventing how we make music,” he says.
I’m taken by surprise at the mention of the 18-year-old Grammy awardee who has lately been on the top of the music charts in the West. So I ask: Do you always look out for young musicians and see what they are doing? Is it your way of being proactive in the music scene or are you just interested?
He laughs. His knowledge of Billie Eilish, he confesses, is due to his son, Ameen.
“When we went for the Grammys this year, we saw her sweep the awards and then when I met Bono (Irish singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of rock band U2), he also kept commenting on her technique of singing,” Rahman says. “You can learn from anyone. You can learn from a child, a teenager, or even a chaiwallah.”
He pauses briefly and laughs out loud at his unintentional political comment. “That’s not what I meant,
“THERE IS A STIGMA AROUND
BEING A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN. PEOPLE SAY WITH PRIDE, ‘MY SON IS A DOCTOR’ BUT YOU DON’T FIND THEM SAYING, ‘MY DAUGHTER IS A MUSICIAN’.”
but yes, knowledge is not limited.”
Collaborating with other musicians virtually must be a challenge, I suggest. In March, lyricist Prasoon Joshi had collaborated with Rahman and other music artists to release an album as a fundraiser for Covid-19. What did that experience teach him?
“Having no physical collaboration legitimises a new way to work. It shows that not everyone needs to go to a place to do things they can do at home,” he says. A
Zoom meeting with Prasoon Joshi and some back and forth with the lyrics and tune resulted in the antara of the song – with some help from his daughter, Khatija.
“Before, we would go to a recording studio and we would need a bunch of mics so we could properly record, eliminate the noise, etc. Now we can do anything. It’s all possible. Which is why people are now proactive. Now everyone’s like: ‘Oh, you won’t give me a chance? I’ll do my video with you.’ It’s great!” he exclaims.
Meanwhile, classes at K M
Music Conservatory, the school of run by Rahman in Chennai, have gone online.
“I feel that this is also a lesson: if human beings are united, then nothing can shake us. Everybody contributes to something and it makes a difference to the world, even though we don’t know it at the time.”
RAHMAN’S MANY ROLES
Rahman was once a man of few words. But he seems very comfortable in this interview. What has changed, I ask.
He laughs. “We all gain some experience. I’ve worked with nearly three generations now, starting in 1982 and seeing the ’90s, then the
2000s and now the generation of the 2010s. So, things change. But values don’t change, you know. Ultimately, our emotions speak to us. Musicwise, too, certain things like melodies and what touches you do not change.
The approach to the ideas matters. Like this (articulating his thoughts) matters, because today sound is a form of emotion and thinking.”
Over the years, Rahman has mentored many young musicians. Whether it is his music school or giving new singers their “big break,” he has had a role to play in a lot of lives.
“There is a stigma around being a professional musician,” he says. “People always say with pride ‘Oh, my son is a doctor, lawyer, engineer.’ But you don’t find them saying, ‘Oh, my daughter is a musician’, with the same pride. But music gives beauty to people and a sense of peace and security.”
Having started his career 28 years ago without necessarily bowing to big music production banners, Rahman claims he was “very lucky” to have begun at the right place at the right time!
“I think everything is done for a reason. The past five years have been a certain kind of energy. Energy of shortcuts and remixes, and all that stuff. Remixes are fine, it’s not a bad thing but you can’t take something which is not yours,” he says. “People with power should have more responsibility. I might be quoting Spiderman but I believe people should bring beauty into society.”
HOPE IS WHERE THE HEART IS
This is why it baffles him that India pays so little attention to its classical music. “You go to Europe and when you listen to BBC Classic FM station, they say: ‘World’s best music, Classic FM.’ But we are always apologetic about our [Classical] music. The moment you present something with pride, you create a taste for something beautiful,” he says.
This is one of the many things he would change in the world of music if he had the power to do so. “And, as I earlier said, there needs to be responsibility with power. Those people with power must say, ‘Okay, I’m doing this 10 per cent for money and 90 per cent for reviving culture.’ Reviving the energy of the foundation of music is important. Our dancers and classical musicians get more audience and fame abroad than in India. The new generation is good, they are multitalented and they need a place. Art collectives need to take this forward. So, it’s important for each metro to enrich and immerse the audience,” Rahman says. Eloquent!