I was also looking for Srinivasamurthy, who accompanies AR's concerts
and conducting the strings orchestra in recordings as well.

- Bergin

On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 8:28 PM, Thulasi Ram <karoke...@gmail.com> wrote:

>    Srinivas element was surpising. i din know that.
>
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 9:10 AM, Gopal Srinivasan <catchg...@yahoo.com>wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> THE INSIDERS
>>> Font Size
>>> Dipti Nagpaul D’Souza
>>> Posted: Mar 15, 2009 at 1113 hrs IST
>>>
>>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-insiders/434152/0
>>>
>>> Meet the reclusive managers, technicians and singers who make up Team
>>> Rahman
>>> T. SELVAKUMAR, 45,
>>> MANAGING DIRECTOR OF
>>> RAHMAN’S MUSIC SCHOOL
>>> In the early 1990s, when Bollywood was just beginning to rave about a
>>> phenomenon, A.R. Rahman
>>> met music programmer T. Selvakumar in Chennai. Both were musicians
>>> trained in the alchemy of
>>> sound, both shared their hopes of setting up their own studios one day.
>>> As Rahman’s stock rose
>>> in filmdom, Selvakumar notched up a reputation in the Indian music
>>> industry as a master
>>> technician. Soon, he got into the business of supplying high-end music
>>> technology equipment.
>>> “That’s when our acquaintance changed to friendship,” says the man who
>>> has helped Rahman set up
>>> his many state-of-the-art studios. To him also goes the credit of setting
>>> up the first and only
>>> Apple-certified music, special effects and film editing technology
>>> training institute in the
>>> country.
>>>
>>> Selvakumar was one of the few people who knew about Rahman’s dream of
>>> setting up a music
>>> school. “He wanted to start a school of music technology but I insisted
>>> he couple it with
>>> teaching.” One day in 2007, Rahman decided that the time had come. “And
>>> when AR wants
>>> something, he wants it right away. He asked me if I would manage it for
>>> him and I didn’t see
>>> why I should refuse him,” he says.
>>> A regular day at the school sees Selvakumar taking classes in audio and
>>> video technology and
>>> ironing out numerous administrative hassles. He also continues to deal in
>>> Apple equipment.
>>> Whenever the company launches something new, Rahman is his first client.
>>> “AR’s one of the two
>>> most tech-savvy musicians in India,” he states, proudly. Who’s the other?
>>> “You wouldn’t expect
>>> this: Ilaiyaraaja.”
>>>
>>> CyberTech International
>>> The most reliable solutions for
>>> www.cybertech-int.com
>>> Musicians Institute
>>> Finest contemporary music school at
>>> www.mi.edu
>>> A R Rahman Songs free
>>> Only on Guruji.com Music Search.
>>> www.guruji.com
>>> Ads By Google
>>> NOEL JAMES, 48, MANAGER
>>> Over two decades ago, Noel James was playing the piano as a lounge
>>> musician at a hotel in
>>> Chennai when a certain jingles composer walked in. “Rahman heard me play
>>> and asked if I was
>>> interested in working with him.” James agreed. That was the beginning of
>>> a partnership that has
>>> lasted to this day. James has since grown to become Rahman’s manager and
>>> chief public relations
>>> officer. He occasionally assists the composer in stage shows and handles
>>> much of his
>>> coordination — with musicians, clients, talent and even the media. The
>>> road to Rahman, it could
>>> be said, goes through James.
>>> Born and brought up in Mumbai, James got hooked to music at an early age.
>>> After graduating from
>>> Loyola College, Chennai, he got a degree in violin from the prestigious
>>> Trinity College of
>>> Music, London. “I played in a band called Jumping Jewels, handling the
>>> vocals and guitar. That
>>> was before I went solo,” he says. He worked part-time with Rahman
>>> initially but became a
>>> permanent member of the team, singing the jingles and helping him with
>>> production.
>>>
>>> Being Rahman’s manager has meant that James does not get much time for
>>> his own music—except
>>> when he plays at church. He has no regrets though. “God sends messiahs to
>>> earth, whether it is
>>> Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed. It has been quite a while since He sent
>>> someone. I believe
>>> A.R. Rahman is such a messiah who works through his music,” says James,
>>> for whom familiarity
>>> has only brought more appreciation towards Rahman, the musician and the
>>> man.
>>>
>>> DEEPAK GATTANIi, 46, CONCERT MANAGER
>>> Behind every power-packed Rahman concert is Deepak Gattani and his team
>>> at Rapport Global
>>> Events. “We manage his live entertainment business but the relationship
>>> isn’t a client-service
>>> provider one,” he says. Gattani first met Rahman through singer
>>> Hariharan, another client.
>>> Since that meeting, he has handled all of Rahman’s tours and
>>> performances, and more recently,
>>> has been managing Rahman’s endorsement portfolio as well.
>>> Whenever Rahman is in Mumbai, Gattani finds himself seated next to him.
>>> “But being with him
>>> doesn’t mean that he’ll talk anymore than he usually does,” he says with
>>> a laugh. “His concerts
>>> have to be technically high-end, with something different each time.
>>> Working for him means
>>> making no mistakes and planning in advance.” Gattani is dogged by
>>> international clients’
>>> proposals for Rahman concerts after his Oscar win. But, as of now, his
>>> priorities lie with
>>> organising Rahman’s first-ever live concert in Kerala, scheduled for May.
>>>
>>> S. SIVAKUMAR, 41, CHIEF SOUND ENGINEER
>>> A novice who had just finished a diploma in sound engineering in 1992, S.
>>> Sivakumar got his
>>> first break when he was appointed assistant audio engineer at a reputed
>>> studio in Chennai. The
>>> designation was deceptive. The actual work assigned to the young man was
>>> to stand and wait in
>>> the machine room and change tapes once each roll was over. Then Rahman
>>> happened. “I had been
>>> working for about six months or so when A.R. Rahman came to the studio to
>>> do the mixing for
>>> Puthiya Mugam. He wanted an assistant and asked my seniors if I was
>>> interested. That was 15
>>> years ago and I have been with him since,” he says. A native of
>>> Thanjavur, the rice bowl of
>>> Tamil Nadu, Sivakumar is now one of the noted names in sound engineering
>>> in India, the main man
>>> behind Rahman’s AM Studio and his chief sound engineer. He has worked in
>>> all Rahman films since
>>> Gentleman in 1993 and was a part of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical
>>> Bombay Dreams.
>>> According to Sivakumar, Rahman’s contribution goes beyond just
>>> transforming film music in
>>> India. He was also the first composer to include the names of all those
>>> who worked on the
>>> project on the audiotape/CD jackets — an acknowledgement of many backroom
>>> operators like
>>> Sivakumar, who would otherwise be invisible to the world outside studio
>>> walls.
>>>
>>> K.J. SINGH, 47, SOUND ENGINEER
>>> He doesn’t sound his age and Rahman thinks the sound engineer’s voice
>>> bears a hint of a
>>> European accent. “He keeps teasing me that he’ll soon find me a
>>> voice-over project overseas,”
>>> says Singh with a laugh. But the camaraderie between the two took time to
>>> develop. Singh says
>>> when he first met Rahman five years ago during a concert, the composer
>>> would just stand next to
>>> him without saying a word. “He’s shy and doesn’t waste words. There have
>>> been times when I
>>> would turn to find him standing behind me for 10 minutes! It felt
>>> strange, but later realised
>>> that’s how he is,” says Singh. “But once he gets to know you better,
>>> there are no reservations.
>>> You’re family and he’s open to sharing all his knowledge.”
>>>
>>> The technician has done numerous Rahman concerts and films, starting with
>>> Rang De Basanti and
>>> recently Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na and Delhi-6. The two were first
>>> introduced by the latter’s
>>> chief sound engineer, the late H. Sridhar. Rahman noticed the two friends
>>> shared a good
>>> wavelength and often brought them together for his projects. “I think AR
>>> noticed how seamlessly
>>> we both worked. If both Sridhar and I had handled a project, one could
>>> not make out whether a
>>> track was managed by him or me. Rahman made good use of that.” Based in
>>> Mumbai for a decade
>>> now, the sound engineer likes to explore new talent and, at the same
>>> time, work with the old.
>>> His clientele boasts of names like Hariharan, Indian Ocean, Rabbi
>>> Shergill and G.V. Prakash,
>>> Rahman’s nephew. Singh is most looking forward to his trip to Chennai
>>> next week. He is
>>> determined to make the maestro throw a party for each award he has won
>>> for Slumdog Millionaire.
>>> “He can space out the parties but he can’t escape them,” he says with a
>>> wink.
>>>
>>> SRINIVAS, 49, SINGER
>>> In 1988, a chemical engineer travelled to Chennai from Coimbatore for a
>>> day so that he could
>>> sing for Ilaiyaraaja. It broke Srinivas’s heart that he had to lost the
>>> opportunity to a throat
>>> infection. But another southern genius’s success gave him hope and he
>>> approached Rahman soon
>>> after the success of Roja. Rahman took a liking to Srinivas and asked him
>>> to move to Chennai.
>>> In 1994, Srinivas shifted base and started lending his voice to
>>> advertisement jingles and
>>> devotional albums. It was only in 1996, that he gained recognition with
>>> the song Manna Madurai
>>> from Rahman’s Minsaara Kanavu. Then came En uyire in Mani Ratnam’s Uyire
>>> (the Tamil version of
>>> Dil Se), which was his first big hit.
>>>
>>> Now a big name down south, Srinivas has since worked closely with the
>>> composer. “I never knew I
>>> could compose, but watching A.R. inspired me. He’s in a different world
>>> altogether when he
>>> works. And to him, work on a song only begins once he’s composed it. From
>>> there, it evolves
>>> with his many editions and improvisations,” he says. Of late, due to his
>>> busy schedules, Rahman
>>> has entrusted Srinivas with the responsibility of supervising the vocals
>>> during recordings.
>>> “Many would find it strange and menial but it’s an honour to help him
>>> out,” says the singer who
>>> has to take out time from his packed schedule of recordings and reality
>>> shows. “But AR is
>>> always a priority over others.”
>>>
>>> RAQEEB ALAM, 38, SINGER AND LYRICIST
>>> His story is straight out of a Bollywood flick: playback singer and
>>> lyricist Raqeeb Alam was
>>> born into a family of teachers in Bihar but books held no charm for him.
>>> Instead, he spent all
>>> his waking hours listening to music or singing. While in college in
>>> Chennai, he became a
>>> part-time singer. It was during a show that he met lyricist P K Mishra,
>>> who liked him and
>>> introduced him to AR in 2002. But when he met the musician, he got so
>>> nervous, he “couldn’t
>>> sing beyond a line.” The two, however, kept in touch.
>>>
>>> Once, Rahman was scheduled to meet Deepa Mehta for a session for Water.
>>> Sukhwinder Singh, who
>>> was supposed to write and sing a song for the film, had left for Varanasi
>>> because of an
>>> emergency. Desperate for a replacement, Rahman called Alam. “I wrote 10
>>> mukhdas of which they
>>> selected one and then I wrote the whole song,” he says. After its
>>> recording, political
>>> controversy delayed Water by four years. “But the patience paid off. The
>>> song got good reviews
>>> when the film released and was later nominated for an Oscar. I didn’t win
>>> the award but had won
>>> AR’s confidence.” Alam has since written and sung many songs for Rahman,
>>> primarily the Hindi
>>> translations of his Tamil albums. His most memorable is Ek mohabbat,
>>> which Rahman sang for the
>>> campaign to include Taj Mahal in the Seven Wonders Of The World project.
>>> The latest feather in
>>> his cap is Ringa Ringa, which he wrote for Slumdog Millionaire.
>>>
>>> VIJAY MOHAN IYER, 32, LABEL MANAGER
>>> It requires some amount of prodding to get him talking. Vijay Mohan Iyer,
>>> who manages Rahman’s
>>> K M Musiq label, prefers to remain behind his idol’s shadow. “I’m sure
>>> you can skip writing
>>> about me. Why not write about AR?” he repeats after every question. But
>>> here’s the story: The
>>> Mumbai boy first met Rahman on his 18th birthday in Chennai. “But nothing
>>> worked out in terms
>>> of music. I returned, got back to studies and took up a job. One day,
>>> eight years ago, I found
>>> myself seated next to my idol on an eight-hour flight to London,” he
>>> says. They got chatting
>>> and struck up a friendship. “The desire, of course, was to work with him
>>> in some way or the
>>> other. I guess persistence pays. One day, he just asked me to meet up and
>>> briefed me about a
>>> project he had in mind; and that was the K M Musiq label.” Iyer has held
>>> his dream job for
>>> three years and he didn’t mind uprooting his life from Mumbai to a
>>> laidback Chennai. “I missed
>>> the city but AR’s is a different world.”
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> regards,
>> Vithur
>>
>>
>>
>>
>  
>



-- 
www.berginroy.com

Reply via email to