suraj mani- the singing sensei

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.

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.