Often, in documentaries about all the great bands, there's some reference to people being particular about their sound.
The whole notion of finding a producer for yourself, which is so big, particularly in the West, seems to be missing from the Indian indie community.
For some reason, I don't come across musicians often working hard on their sound. Maybe it is the lack of awareness or myopia.
It certainly became much clearer after putting out my EP that, okay, finding 'the sound' is going to be an ongoing process, like a quest. And, uh, it's not going to be a one-time thing.
It's difficult, frankly, to keep listening and keep making music.
You could rather be practical about life, and it could be so easy to get drawn into the difficulties, forgetting to chill out as a musician, to make music and put it out there.
Many musicians are just not able to put out their first song because of endless insecurities, taking it too seriously, and not finishing it.
Because in some sense, they start expecting way too much from themselves. The difficulties of the still-evolving music community further catch up, and it becomes tedious.
There's no switch.
I understand you can't just tell musicians and they'll start, um, being conscious about this, but rather I guess it's more of a lifestyle as a musician.
Are you in touch with your art?
In classic words, Have you "not sold your soul"? I suppose that phrase holds so much meaning.
Because if we're making music absolutely without any conscience in there, it becomes like a weird feedback loop.
We're making music that other people want to listen to, and that's what is being put out. And that's what they're consuming.
And I suppose that's the kind of vicious loop the Indian film industry got into,
I've come across videos and podcasts talking about how musicians need some free time. I've come to believe that a little amount of boredom is important to extract your art.
And when you have all the time to, let's say, contemplate this stuff, I suppose you're ready to think about your sound as an artist, because it's something you explore when you're kind of in a safe zone, um, putting out your absolute best work.
The whole conversation here is relevant if you, as an artist, are trying to put out something with your flavor in it.
And I mean, what else is going to be relevant? I recently heard about this AI music tool. It's Sona or Sora. The output is amazing. Like it just made this pop song right away.
If everything can be replicated, then what really separates you from AI music or other artists out there?
It's your personality.
And so if you're putting out music with elements of you, which has your conscience and honesty in it, I guess then you're going to be on this quest to find your sound as a musician.
Then the notion of having a producer is going to make sense because this other thing that occurs while making a song is kind of us getting superbly zoomed in and attached.
If you've ever completed a track or have been part of the process, you see after the final master, how zoomed out the whole thing is and that little detail you were worried about has diminished.
When I heard my music after, let's say a month or two, I was just able to enjoy it broadly. I was not zoomed in.
And this is something that bothers me even while practicing music. If I get zoomed in on something super hard, then the whole perspective is lost.
Well, so having a producer or someone else, or maybe working as a band, makes sense because it involves multiple perspectives.
It's weird how common knowledge it is in the West for people to have music producers.
This concept needs to be out there. I guess that is something that motivated me to talk about this stuff.
Also, when you're working with someone else and you're ready to accept their vision, that grounds you in some way.
I've personally found out that kind of thing is important in the creative process.
Say Bye!
Anubhav Kulshreshtha
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