Musician Vinod Krishnan has had a productive past six months, with three singles released back to back. Creative expression has not slowed down for a raging pandemic and his latest, ‘Haunslaa’, is in the same vein: a call for other artistes and creators to keep their spirits up.
“Every creative block, rejection and criticism is worth it. The joy of creating and the success that follows, become sweeter,” writes Vinod on his Instagram handle, @vinodsmusic.
As part of Indian Raga with Mahesh Raghvan and Aditya Rao, Vinod has made Carnatic mix of American hits such as ‘Shape of You’, popular among audiences young and old. His indie repertoire, on the other hand, comprises mostly Tamil songs; ‘Haunslaa’ marks his foray into Hindi vocals.
“Some melodies lend themselves more easily to certain languages,” explains Vinod overphonefrom Atlanta, US, where he lives, “You can see that with [AR] Rahman’s songs. They may be in both Hindi and Tamil but certain songs will sound better in Tamil or certain in Hindi.”
“I am ready, going steady” — the chorus in English was what he came up with first. And then, working with lyricist Anurag Mishra from Mumbai, the song came into being. Though the mix and master by Keshav Dhar in Delhi gives ‘Haunslaa’ an indie vibe, the tune in essence, is roughly based on uplifting Carnatic ragas.
Acknowledging how the number of social media live concerts have shot up during lockdown, he says, “Independent musicians are investing time and money to be on social media but how much of that converts into income, I’m not sure. Because of the money behind marketing and promotion of bigger artistes, the audience’s attention is scattered. Pre-pandemic it was the same, but at least indie musicians had actual live performances to rely on.”
As creative director at Indian Raga, Vinod knows all too well the importance of live performances and the stage for artistes. The arts educational institution conducts a vigorous seven-day fellowship programme training talented musicians and dancers to work with each other. The ‘Raga Jams’ have now gone online. And the focus, says Vinod, is more on showcasing individual performances. An ongoing campaign ‘Why I Dance’ too, encourages fellow dancers to hold on, and remind themselves why the artform is their passion.
However, he has taken a step back from Indian Raga and its campaigns to focus on his independent music, releasing ‘Kandapadi Kaadhali’ in May and ‘Kaalai Pozhudil’ in February.
The latter is an elaborate production, bringing on board for the video, actors Amrutha Srinivasan and Abishek Joseph George, and director Deepika Chandrasekaran, who has previously worked with Gautam Menon.
‘Kaalai Pozhudil’ describes with loving visuals what marriage means to this generation. “How does the relationship of a married couple look today? A montage of people going behind trees or running in beaches would not work,” he says.
Moreover, it was important to get this one right because this song holds sentimental value for Vinod. “The song was co-written by Deepthi Govindarajan and me a long time ago, when we were getting engaged to our respective partners,” he says. Ten years and one thriving career in music later, it is here.