SOULFULLY AMBIENT
Barely a week since its world- wide release, musician Eashwar Subramanian’s Ambient album has debuted at the top 10 in the official Apple Music playlist titled A List Indian Pop. Eashwar gets chatty with us
Music is often percieved as cathartic by many. For musician Eashwar Subramanian, the whole inspiration behind rustling up the ‘ Ambient’ music that he makes, sprouts from a similar ideology. His recently released album Ambient Hamlet testifies the same. “The intent of the music I produce has been to spread a sense of peace to listeners by providing a soundscape, that runs in the background. The album is essentially an effort in ambient music and the kind of emotion rather than energy it gives listeners is something tranquil and idyllic to listen to, while they are working on something in the office or reading a book or sitting at home enjoying their solitude.” Barely a week since its release, the album is garnering momentum among
the youth and elderly alike – Spring Ostinato from the album
Ambient Hamlet debuted at no. 10 on the official Apple Music playlist, ‘ A list Indian Pop’. Speaking of which he says, “I am glad that the album though unconventional is finding an audience, sometimes in the most surprising and unexpected places.”
A n o t h e r piece from the album S e a s h o r e
Story found a place in the Stasis Report playlist, a respected ambient playlist by noted ambient sound exponent — Marc Weidenbaum, who has authored a book on the ambient legend Aphex Twin and the Apple Music playlist by OK Listen. The musician, who currently pursues a music production course at Rainbow Bridge, a music school run by renowned musician Sanjeev Thomas, hopes to create a new wave in the music scene, and is excited about his music that will be aired by a University in South Africa. “I hope to continue learning, evolve as a musician and create music that helps spread some peace and harmony. This is slated to happen towards the end of the year, and the only intent is to let young adults get a taste of what it feels to combine ambient music sensibilities with easy listening.” Hailing from a traditional upper middle class Indian family, his music influences were hugely tainted with Indian classical and Carnatic music. “I grew up in an environment where music was always a part of the household. My mother and father were quite the catalyst towards introducing me to the world of music that they had grown up listening to and much of those memories of music were listening to songs by greats like Ilayaraja and Yesudas, K i s h o r e Kumar and a whole lot of C a r n a t i c m u s i c . N a t u r a l l y then, my parents enrolled me into Carnatic vocal classes at the age of 12, which by today’s standards is still considered to be quite a late exposition. But then along with formal education in Carnatic music, my interests gravitated in school towards pop music and western classical that ranged from listening to Michael Jackson, Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.”
Inspired by stalwarts like A. R. Rahman, Ludovico Einaudi, Nils Frahm, Max Richter, Hans Zimmer, Olafur Arnalds and Brian Eno, the musician hopes to unleash the magic of ambient music to music lovers across the globe. “I essentially look at music as a beautiful escape and tend to draw my inspiration from the sounds I hear or from some interesting tone on the keyboard or any instrument. But, at the core, the inspiration to create music is largely around creating something that will bring in peace and happiness. I will be releasing more ambient music early next year.”
The album is an effort in ambient music and the kind of emotion rather than the energy it gives listeners. — EASHWAR