Showing posts with label Stuart DaCosta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stuart DaCosta. Show all posts
Autotune is your best friend until you have to sing live-The Yellow Diary
8:18 AM
The Yellow Diary band members (clockwise) Stuart DaCosta, Harshvardhan Gadhvi, Himonshu Parikh, Sahil Shah and Rajan Batra
The Yellow Diary talk to us about their learnings since they took the plunge to becoming full-time musicians almost a decade ago
Arnav Khanna (BOMBAY TIMES; December 25, 2023)
Back in 2015, this group of guys chucked their 9-to-5 jobs to pursue a career in music. They called themselves The Yellow Diary. Ask them if there was any fear about opting out of the ‘regular salary and secure future’ that came with their jobs, and the band, comprising, Stuart DaCosta, Harshvardhan Gadhvi, Sahil Shah, Rajan Batra, and Himonshu Parikh, tells us, “Fear of the unknown will always be there. But we wanted to create music and that gave us a rush of joy. It helped override the fear.”
But was that enough to pay the bills? Not always, says Stuart, and adds, “It took a lot of gumption to hold our ground, especially when financial pressure was piling up. It is easy to bite the low-hanging fruit. But ultimately, we wanted to make original music and that’s what we did.”
‘We didn’t want to be a cover band’
“There was a lot of pressure to be a cover band during our early days, but we only wanted to make original music,” says Stuart. “It’s not that doing covers are ‘bad’, but the songs you cover already have an inherent value attached to them, so it is easier to please the audience with them. Original music creates its own value. It really just boils down to what you seek as an artiste. Originals allow you to send out your own art, your own message and connect with the audience,” says Rajan.
‘Autotune is your best friend until you have to sing live’
“If you’re going to just be a recording artist, autotune is going to be your best friend. But if you go live and need to perform looking into the audience’s eyes, that’s when it gets tricky” says Stuart.
Rajan adds, “I feel music in its most beautiful sense is when it’s played without any production. Quality comes from the perspective of what you can afford, so it’s important to have the skill to write something that touches hearts whether you’re backed by extensive equipment and studios or not.”
‘Now, there’s a listener for every kind of artist’
“There is way more freedom for art and music to exist in today’s day and age,” says Harshvardhan Gadhvi. “People are going to more concerts and exploring more genres; so, there’s a listener for every kind of artiste. Even in movies, nowadays, there are multiple artistes on a single playlist.”
‘The audience is more receptive to us, but I don’t think we have made it yet’
“We still have a lot of untapped potential. I don’t think that we have made it. Roz-Roz for us was the song when we noticed a huge shift in the way the audience reacted to us. The way people sing it along at concerts, the streaming numbers, that song has been huge for us,” says Sahil.
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“Money was the last thing on our minds when starting off. I feel if your basis for doing music is money rather than passion, then you will be broke for a long, long while.”
The diversity and the number of artistes involved in Gully Boy is abundant-Rohan Rajadakshya
8:12 AM
Co-creators of Gully Boy soundtrack, Salvage Audio Collective, on bringing Ranveer Singh starrer hip-hop film to life
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; February 27, 2019)
Ranveer Singh's ode to India's desi hip-hop uprising, Gully Boy, banks on more than one factor when counting its success. Apart from an array of stellar performances from the leading actors and supporting cast members alike, the 18-song soundtrack and a commendable background score were inarguably elements that lifted Zoya Akhtar's offering.
Six-member group Salvage Audio Collective, that shares credit for creating the soundtrack with Karsh Kale and Ankur Tiwari, say they have been gratified. "We have been consumers and disciples of hip-hop music for years. Hence, most of our research work for the film had us [retrace] songs and records that have moved us in the past. We are also [admirers] of international icons like Ryuichi Sakamoto and Nino Rota, and home-grown heroes like A R Rahman."
The band - comprising Sohrab Nicholson, Rohan Ramanna, Stuart DaCosta, Viraaj Saxena, Rohan Rajadakshya and Shane Mendonsa - spent the first few weeks working on the project by lending each vital character a musical theme. "We created a pool of motifs that could be used as raw materials. Then, Zoya began coming in regularly, and made the process collaborative. The interesting thing about this process was discovering how much of a team sport filmmaking is," says Nicholson.
While interaction with the film's muses Divine and Naezy wasn't necessary, the group did seek help from Kale to pen and perform a rap section that was used as part of the score. "We also got rapper Rahul Piske, and our in-house multi-instrumental whiz kid Viraaj, to lend some beat-boxing [elements]. The diversity and the number of artistes involved in this project is [abundant]," says Rajadakshya.
While fans have been demanding that the background score be made commercially available, Mendonsa alludes that the chances of it are slim. "[The score was created] with the intention of serving the film. So, releasing it independently is not something we've considered yet. Never say never, though. Hip-hop is still young in India, and is getting attention owing to this film. We hope musicians will explore the space."
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