suraj mani- the singing sensei

motherjane for jd awards

maktub launch

Hi everyone.

as part of our pre-launch activites for maktub which commences  from the 18th at 3pm I have abused my own blog!

Basically there have been a  of entries about maktub, the making, the next album lyrics etc that would be better not viewable right now.

So if u here for any story about motherjane and my journeys with the band, you will see entries upto maktub.

then you will see a long gap in the dates followed by this post.

see you at  www.motherjane.in

would like to hear your comments  and feedback  on the site itself.

That content of the website will be largely driven by fans, friends & visitors

take care

maktub

suraj

rock in india

I've been down with a bad cold for the last 2 days. so no posts. However to start things off again let me just say that motherjane had an awesome gig at the rock in india gig on march 14th.

To be frank i thought the Indian bands all sounded much better than machine head! Hope nobody chews off my head for this comment. It's just and opinion, not a judgement!  I actually couldn't see the performance of casino blues but everybody else really rocked.

Even megadeth had very poor sound. I am not so sure that Reynolds is doing such a great job anymore. I've seen much better from them over the years and would sure appreciate a return to the quality they became famous for. The last international show where i loved the sound was the Mark Knopfler gig. And his band structure is ridiculously clean and simple. I think the crowds will soon start clamoring for better sound as the listening experience is definitely affecting the overall perception of the class of these shows.

The scheduling and execution of the show by DNA was impressive in the sense of how it was handled. However the time given for our (indian) bands was a tad too short. We just went ahead and had a blast as is our wont these days.

We also tested out our In- ears from AKG, Harman Pro. Awesome! Actually it was quite a gutsy decision to test out such a thing for the first time at such a major show. We really are positive thinkers! I also used the AKG dynamic mike and it really handled well. Feels nice to know that i can know start playing with the dynamics of a mike since i will be using it continuously from now on.

The highlight of the day for me personally was that motherjane received glowing compliments from Vehrnon, Roberto and Alwyn from millenium. These are guys that all of us in the band look upto.

I also must say this! The more I see and talk to vishal of pentagram, the more I like him. The image that he has as a frontman is in direct contrast to the kind of person he is. 

Which brings me to another thing. I like the way in which the indian bands handle each other. There is a definite sense of camaraderie between bands that augurs well for our industry.

Power to rock!

And to the crowd who turned up in such large numbers on a working day in the hot afternoon sun. What can I say. On behalf of all of us let me end this post with a big thanks. Its amazing how many friends we have out there these days.

Respect - part 2

 

Anyone who loves his/her work is an artist. You have to be able to pour your heart and soul into what you do and find yourself there.

 

I was at Kerala rocks a few days back and talking to a few bands there. I remember telling Abhijit (Guitarist- Heretic), that he should really find himself at the centre of whichever musical genre he creates. That is the true calling of art.

 

Bob Marley found himself in the middle of his brand of reggae, Elvis found himself in Rock’ n roll, Led Zepp, Queen, Dire Straits etc all found themselves in something that I can’t even classify into genres!

 

It really doesn’t matter what kind of music, art or career you want to pursue. Just remember that you are what breathes life and individuality into it.

 

God knows that this world needs much more artists, much less mass production and a consumer that himself is discerning and appreciative. Then the aphorism of “work is worship” would ring truer to my ears.

Respect!

 

The powers that be in the music industry claim that it is suffering and according to me here is one of the central reasons. You cannot have a music industry that flourishes independent of the musician. That guy over there busting his ass on stage, playing his heart out and loving every moment of it is also working.

 

No one has the right to ask him why he isn’t doing it for free!

 

Incidentally as some of you may know I run a business as well. One of my customers owed me a large chunk of money at one time and when I stopped work saying that I would continue after being paid what was due to me, the following situation arose:

 

He was upset(!). That’s ok with me. It was intended. He then told me that so many other people worked for him without being paid much more. I congratulated him on that, reminded him that we had never offered to do so, that we still wanted our money and that we remained very clear on that. He actually then started giving me gyan (which to be charitable to him, he believed to be valid) about the merits of what others were doing, followed by forceful recommendations that my company should do the same!

 

Something kinda broke inside me at that time and I said something to the effect that “if you go out on MG road, you would find hookers there any day. Now it is fine by me if you want that kind of woman, however please don’t start asking me why I don’t send the women I love over there!”.

 

That shut him up nice and quick and maybe more importantly his mind opened up to the fact that there is a certain dignity in any labor that just can’t be belittled. God knows that many people in this wonderful country of ours are not educated about this concept.

 

This world would be a much better place if people just did the kind of jobs that they loved to do and got paid for it. I am an evangelist for that kind of thinking and the next time you find somebody belittling an artist I hope you would take that situation to a much better place.

 

 

 

 

motherjane at 10 downing hyderabad

We rocked 10 downing in Hyderabad yesterday. The organizer of the Rock in India festival, DNA networks had asked motherjane to do a buildup gig at Hyderabad. Now we thought this would be a good way of testing out the new AKG in- ears that we now endorse for Harmon and so we agreed. As luck would have it the equipment got stuck in Mumbai and we would only get it in hand on the 10th (ie today)

The other good reason to do the show was to play again in Hyderabad. We had not played there for more than a year now and we wanted to reach a new audience and play our new songs to them. Turned out to be a brilliant idea!

In spite of the organizers look of petrifaction when he realized that we would not be doing any covers,( I kept getting subtle hints from the management of the pub that their crowd would expect some popular covers) we just dismissed the request with our nicest possible smiles. Someone even told me of how Parikrama just did a show two days back and were even asked to do summer of 69! Of course they scoffed at the idea and did AC/DC, etc etc.

The man on the scene from DNA, one Mr.Ashwin Ramaswamy was in fact pretty frazzled when I met him in the DNA office in Bangalore for some co-ordination meet a few days ago. He realized that we would not be playing covers and that spelt out possible disaster for him since he had never heard motherjane before and had no idea what our originals would sound like. I can tell you with a definite sense of personal satisfaction that Ashwin is now a big believer in motherjane. That is one more person that we consider a close friend now. It’s amazing how you build them up gig by gig.

However here comes the main point of this blog. It was this gem of realization that was actually born out of this conversation that I had with Ashwin after his initial protests on the only original set-list that we were going to play. He was worried about this approach in a high class pub which featured mainly page 3 crowds and not the regular black shirts that patronize the indie rock scene.

I remember telling him in mock frustration that if people had persisted with these kind of attitudes we would have had a scene where the Beatles would have been asked to cover Elvis. I mean probably even Metallica, or a Maiden or Pink Floyd etc would still be doing covers of the King! We would go to a music shop and the shelves would have only one artist – Elvis! To give the guy credit, he didn’t push the issue further even if his duty or rather his office may have demanded it.

It is always a mistake to patronize your audience and say that they will like this or that kind of music and it’s high time that we embrace this realization. Motherjane will always believe in this and we once again proved a point yesterday when we played to a bunch of beautiful people who just seemed to warm to the band with every new song just as we warmed up to them. They just stood by us and kept egging us on for one song after the other. There were even scenes with requests for encores!

There were even a few couples who came up to us after the show and said that they would now actually travel to Bangalore to catch the Rock in India fest on march 14th.

Never underestimate your audience when you perform what you love to play. You may be very surprised at what you can achieve. Even better is the fact that they may be surprised with their ability and inclination for a new music genre that gets them high! Like the wise men said, the finger that points to the moon is not the moon itself”

Good music of any type, is still just another finger and everyone, everyone is looking for the moon.

Rolling stone magazine features motherjane!

Had an interview yesterday with Priyanka Blah from Rolling stone magazine which has launched the indian edition.

P.S:(yes that is actually her name! I did tease her about it and not surprisingly, i was not the first to comment on how journalist-like it sounded!)

She was largely asking me about our new release Maktub and when it was going to come out. Gave her a sneak preview of one of the songs and she said she loved it. She also has our first album which she really likes and she has attended motherjane concerts before.

Priyanka was there at the Rock ethos concert and so the list of people and events this one show is triggering off to root for motherjane seems to be increasing. I wonder if Bob Rock or Rick Ruben had also attended?!!!

Anyways we can expect the article on us in the April edition which should coincide with our release.Nice!

Veery nice! Will keep you all updated.

motherjane signs endorsement deal with Harman Pro!

WOOOOWIE!

the worlds largest professional sound company Harman pro who own world renown brands like AKG, JBL, Crown, Digitech, Vertech, etc etc has signed a contract wih motherjane to endorse their products.

we have already been sent a 6 in ear monitors, wireless antennas with 100 m range, control base with flight case racks, 2 very high end condensor and dynamic mikes etc from the AKG factory at austria!

All this came about as a result of a show we had at bangalore called rock ethos! The country manager of Harman (Mr. Sushil John) was there at the show, since they were using vertech equipment at the venue.

He loved us and immediately ordered for the goodies mentioned above.FEED BACK IS DEAD FROM NOW ON WITH MOTHERJANE!!!! You would understand what that statement is about if you know what in ear monitors do.

Imagine my surprise when he tells me at a chance meeting that I have with him at the sound guy's (Vishnu- from V&P sound) office that he has already sent us such high end equipment for our use.

Its just the beginning of what the harman group has offered to motherjane.

10 years after we started this band, all the good things that can happen to an artist are happening to us now!

thank you god!

rosebowl shoots video for motherjane!

Its been a wonderful week as far as motherjane is concerned.

we did this awesome show at nishagandhi in trivandrum and my personal thanks to all the students at SCT who made this possible.

the crowd was simply amazing. I mean there was this roar from them when we were announced to be the next on stage that warmed the cockles of our collective hearts! Thanks again.

This followed by a trip to ponmudi where we shot two videos courtesy rosebowl. the edit and all will happen asap and we are also looking forward to seeing it.

to be frank, this was our first such shoot and nothing at all what we had envisioned. we wrapped up the first song which was "fields of sound" in one location under very trying circumstances and then rushed to the next location to do "chasing the sun".

We shot chasing the sun in 15 minutes. Its going to be a world record of sorts! All together in 1hr we had shot two videos. I'm looking forward to seeing the final product.

Word of personal thanks to the following guys who made a world of a difference in helping the band set up and get moving - Nithin, Vijesh & Prem.

We just managed the shoot before the sun went down that day. Like sumesh lal from rosebowl commented, "we were really chasing the sun!"

Thanks everyone. It really takes so many people behind the scenes to get any band to succeed.

more wonderful news will follow tomorrow.

Another goodbye.

I am not really sure why I am writing todays post. Its more of a private matter.And yet my heart aches to share.

My Uncle, fondly known as achachan (my mothers eldest brother) was laid to rest today in Marammon, Kerala and I was unable to be there.

He passed away kind of suddenly. Had a heart attack a couple of days back and only his grandson was there with him. Rubeil, my 20 something year old nephew, had to watch his grandad pass away in the car on the way to the hospital. Some things in life are never meant to be easy.

The funeral was decided suddenly as all his children who lived largely abroad made it within a day. I just wasn't able to be there and so I went to another uncle's (another brother of my mother) place yesterday. It was the recollection of this conversation that makes me want to write.

My Uncle was telling me how Achachan actually was unable to walk across the road and yet how he would drive all the way to Trivandrum(which could be some 250km away)  if you could get him behind the wheel of his car!

I smiled at the memory of his famous drives. I mean he was 80 years old and he had been doing this for years. 15 years since he had a heart condition. In fact I just realized yesterday that his heart was working only 15% of its capacity.

He lived much beyond what his heart would have normally permitted an ailing old man to. Maybe because he never lived like an ailing old man.He just lived.

I remember how he was unable to make it for my wedding because he was suddenly exhausted due to his condition. Achu (my wife) and I went to maramon a few days later and visited him.

He went into his room and came out with a very special gift for me. It was a Gold plated Shaeffer pen that my mother had presented to him some 20 odd years back. In pristine condition.

I have that pen with me. It is kept with my most important papers and personal possessions. In fact I tend to write down the final draft of all my songs on special paper using that pen.In my neatest handwriting. Silly, but very satisfying. Its almost like a personal presentation of our songs to my mothers soul.

So much of our selves is part of our ancestors and our elders. And most of the parts we cherish of ourselves are often what we most cherished about them.

A simple conversation, a look, a behavioral  pattern, a memory shared... all these are what makes us remember someone who has gone before us. And sometimes we are lucky enough to hold in our hands little gifts that anchor us to some of the most beautiful people in our lives.

There truly is more to a gift than its intrinsic value. Life proves that to us every now and then, when it snatches our blindness away.

It truly is wonderful to be alive. More than we ever acknowledge or believe so!