[arr] ***ARR's Kumudam Interview - ENGLISH TRANSCRIPT ***

Sat, 20 May 2006 20:46:46 -0700

Hi all,

For the benefit of Non-tamil fans, I hav written this english transcript of the video interview (original is in tamil) of ARR in www.kumudam.com

 
When new forms of music were emerging  - i.e. technology based music - you brought it to Tamilnadu - At very young age. How did u make this successful combination of music + technology?
I wanted to become an Electronic engineer. My father was the first to bring Synth to TN. I was about 8-9 years old then. I realised that my music is my future. I was then exposed to MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). It was like playing a keybord through a remote control. All this came in during 1984-85. One of my friends bought this computer for me - Yamaha CX 5 . At that time I was learning music and was also playing for other composers. I was around 15-16.

You were doing all this while at school?
Ya...spent my morning at school and my nights working on music

Was your dad around at that time?
No. He passed away in 76. I was 9 years old then.

Your dad was a composer. After he died, how did u continue to be in the field?
I had no other go. We rented out the instruments to make our living. Then, I felt, it is better to learn to use these instruments myself to make more money to sustain the family!
Till 1984, i was not interested much in music - it was just a means to earn money. MIDI brought in interest to me. Initially, I was very much in to the tehcnological aspect - coz I was learning it. This is similar to what happens when you buy a new cell-phone. You read the manual to know all its features. But, with time, you know all the tech features, and they become a part of your life - You dont need your manual anymore. Similarly, the separation between technical aspect and the musical aspect started vanishing within 2 years... it all merged together. I had learnt the tech aspects, and started concentrating more on the musical aspects. The technical aspects were surpassed and I started going into the creation of the sound. It was a evolutionary process  - from 1984-1988.
While doing Roja, this merger (between tech and music) reached completion. The next question was, will this tech music have soul?
That's where the spirituality comes in. I got the answer to this question in 1990 when I built my studio.  Only with blessings from God will we get music. Otherwise we will get only noise.

How did keyboard player ARR become MD ARR? Where did this path start?
All this started with the construction of  my own studio - Panchathan. My Guru Karimulla Shakad Ali (***not sure of the name***) inaugurated the studio and blessed me. He said, "this is a new beginning. Whatever you do here will be successful."  This was very important for me and my family. This gave me a new confidence. Plus, my unnecessary habits stopped. I also stopped playing for others. I started focussing on my own music, commercials. At that time, I started realising that there is a new path - there's something else than what was happening then.

Your lifestyle is very much different from the lifestyle in cinema industry. How do you manage that?
There's no connection between the art you do and the baggage that might come along with it.

(To be continued next week)


Regards,
Aravind

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