My Song
Time: February 2000.
Occasion: Her birthday.
Location: Chennai and Bangalore
On her first birthday since we started going around, I had to give her something that no one else can buy from some where and gift it to someone else. It had to be unique, special, and exclusive. The thought had been at the back of my mind for like a month. And then it struck. A song! Written, composed and performed by me. I started writing the lyrics. Nothing worked out for a week. And then I hit upon 'Stay'. Now, the lyrics aren't profound, but they were better than BackStreet Boys. Smoking away like a chimney, I penned the song and had it ready.
I keep thinking of all that we said. I keep wondering of all that we did. Girl just let it rain, wash all the pain. The touch of your hand, the scent of your hair, is all that I think of, girl I see you everywhere, Girl just break it free, make your way to me. Tell me it'll last, tell me we'll stay..
That was the refrain. The words 'I keep thinking' were destined to become part of folklore (well among her friends at least!). That wasn't earth-shaking, rock-melting lyrics, but it meant something to us. To her. Now, I sat about composing the song. I have to tell you about my guitar skills. I can strum some basic chords. That's about it. But I don't know where I get these lines of melody, I don't know and I never cared. For, I knew I'd never dare to exhibit my musical skills in public. So I picked my fav progression of D, F#minor, G, Asus4, A... and froze on the tune. I practiced for the next seven days. Locked in my room. Strumming on my guitar (that 4/4 vanilla rhythm), smoking more cigarettes. And I played the song to my friends. To my sister-in-law. They loved it. But the big question remained unanswered. How would I record it? I debated the idea of hiring a studio, but my musician friends trashed the idea: they were way too costly, and I had just 800 bucks. So, I chanced upon Ashok Cherian's Sound suite leaflet in EarthBazaar (EB). Tito - who ran EB told me about it. And, Sundar, the bass guitarist was magnanimous enough to do the bass riffs for me. I went toAshok cherian's office in TTK road. As it turned out, I was his first client. We fixed the time. I was to pay 150 bucks per hour, and Ashok would record our live performance: me singing and strumming the guitar, Sundar on bass, and an 'auto-rythm' in the place of drums (I couldn't find a drummer that'd play for an amateur like me). So on D-day - a day later - at around 6 pm I left EB, telling my friends 'hey gotta go man, got a recording.' And they laughed.
So I went over to Ashok's place. The recording room/jam room was a garage. It was converted into a jam room. It was air-conditioned. The new paint violated my nostrils. there was a drum kit in a corner, and some equipment. Sound Suite was not yet fully setup. Ashok sat with me. Sundar came along. And Ashok made me sing 20 times. And I never knew he was recording me. When I started singing, and strumming my guitar, Sundar jumped right in with his volatile bass riff. The bass just turned my tune into something different. Some where along my 15th attempt, I noticed that Ashok was playing along with his guitar, and was giving out some sexy acoustic lead-riffs. Finally, I asked 'Can we record?' Ashok said yes. And I screwed up big time. And then he broke the news that he'd taped some six takes. I had to choose one. I did. And we decided to call it a day. It took me some four hours. The throat was hoarse, and hurt.
The next day I went over to Ashok's place to collect my tape. We shook hands and all. I thanked him for helping me out. I mean I knew nothing about this music stuff. And I ran to EB. I thanked Sundar. And I requested Bryan to play the tape. The place was kinda half-full. And once the tape started playing. I couldn't believe my ears. I mean it was sounding like a song! The tape stopped, and EB erupted with applause. I almost had tears in my eyes. All the pain seemed worth it. But not yet! The intended audience (her) has to like it. So, Nanda and I biked it to Bangalore. We had to ride slow as my bike was new, and we did a 50kmph all the way! My ass was burning like hell when I got down at Chittoor (our stop-over for the night).We started early next morning (on her birthday) and reached his cousin's place in Bangalore around 7a.m.. I kept asking him 'machaan will she like it?' I mean like some 3 million times? He threatened to murder me and I shut up.
I met her in her college. And that was the first time I was meeting her friends and all. Nanda left us. And she and I went for a movie, where she played the tape on her walkman. She kept playing it. She had tears in her eyes. She'll never admit it though. For us it was a defining moment. We've never looked back ever since. It was some kind of a final nail in the coffin? Ah! that sounds weird.... I mean that moment sealed it for me. She realised probably only then that she was in love with a psycho; one that would go to extreme lengths. The song 'Stay' was a hit -ahem - among her friends. One of her friends has made me play that song a couple of times now. 'Stay' has its acoustic version now or shall we say 'unplugged' version?
The Economic Times supplement 'Madras Plus' featured an article on Sound Suite and Ashok told them my story. And they promptly published it. I have a copy of it tucked away... wait a minute, where the hell have I kept the copy? Unfortunately I don't yet have a soft copy of 'Stay'. And I probably wont convert what's on a tape to Mp3. Maybe, I'd record it again? Only time can tell! But yes, I do have a wonderful story to tell my kids and grand kids.
Sundar, sadly, has left no trace, the last I met him, was when he asked me to buy him a drink - and he was pissed drunk. I hope he didn't do that trip for long, and that he'd found his faith in music and life back.
I can't thank Ashok cherian enough. And I'll never forget him in my life. I hope Sound Suite, intended for aspiring musicians, hits it real big. I e-mailed Ashok today, and I hope to read his response tomorrow.
Nanda - my driver on my trip to Bangalore - :-D is an MBA now, he works in an ad agency, and I am sure hates it like mad. I shall upload a pic I shot of Nanda: while he was "half-way" through shaving his mooch off!
Earth Bazaar our wonderful hang out was shut down for reasons best known to Tito. He works with GreanPeace in India now, as a director. The image you see on the right is from one of his expeditions. I hope he continues to serve mother nature in India, and pray that he finds the time, enthusiasm and energy to re-open EB... but I know the chances for EB's rebirth are slim, at best.
Given Below are links to stories/articles on Sound Suite:
A Sound Proposition
Sweet Sound of Music
Given Below are links to stories/articles on Earth Bazaar:
Earth Bazaar
Paradise Regained
Article in EESEE LIFE
Tito's Profile on EcoClub.com
[Pictures Source: Chennaionline and ecoclub]
Add to:del.icio.us|
Digg|
Reddit|
StumbleUpon|
Technorati
