Dealing with STRESS

Written by on in My views
Dealing with STRESS

Rather than de-stress, I eschew distress via (secret) breathing techniques.

Continue Reading

Psst… The Secrets of Romantic Songs

Written by on in My views

Namaste, Dear Music Lover, Most great Bollywood movies have at least one romantic scene as part of the story. Often, the leading characters either have a “magic moment” (such as when they first meet, or when a relationship takes a turn, e.g. the couple endures some shared experience—like a fright, struggle or other plot complication) […]

Continue Reading

Voice as an instrument?

Written by on in Vocalising

Namaste, Dear Music Lover, I want to share with aspiring singers a tip about working in Bollywood playback (movie soundtrack) singing: there is usually some (intended, maybe) literal link between song lyrics and a movie’s visual action/story or hope that songs convey emotional moments or feelings to highlight or support the cinematic narrative, and they may […]

Continue Reading

Acting Naturally

Written by on in Mumbai

Namaste, Dear Music Lover, First, I must note that this post is not mainly about thespian (theatrical/screen) acting. It’s really about what’s termed as composure or how one carries oneself on stage (and of course, wherever else one performs). Other related terms: posture, carriage, stage presence and persona. Being “in the limelight” (in other words, […]

Continue Reading

DANCE (is not only for pros)!

Written by on in Dance (Film) Music
DANCE (is not only for pros)!

Namasté, Dear Music Lover, Dance is among the most ancient modes of human expression. Virtually every global region, country or locale has some form of traditional-cultural dance… in general we call many such dance forms folkloric or folk dances. Hindu classical dance is nice, too. India’s dance traditions are about as ancient as any others […]

Continue Reading

Tech Talk/Update (a true rarity for me)!

Written by on in Mumbai
Tech Talk/Update (a true rarity for me)!

Namasté, Dear Music Lover, I remain so focused on Bollywood movie songs that I have delegated some “routine” activities like web site administration to Footman Joe (my manservant), who along with limited guidance from a few others at Team Antara/T–Mantra Music covers this aspect of my so-called online presence. Whereas generally it’s more like an […]

Continue Reading

Modernity v. Tradition

Written by on in India

Namasté, Dear Music Lover, Certainly I’m not here to push for one or the other, nor to tell anyone but myself how to feel, yet I think of many singers… we struggle with being some specific identity or balance of influences that “places” us in the constellations of singers as one or the other for […]

Continue Reading

Kindness costs us nothing

Written by on in Suggestion or two
Kindness costs us nothing

Kindness costs us nothing. Why bother hating—if it’s far too difficult to prosecute or defend? Which it usually is. Kindness. Let’s keep it in mind. I want to add a sort of quick “disclaimer” here and let everyone know that I had no intention to jump into the fray over whether Sonu-ji one of my dear […]

Continue Reading

On People Pleasing Dysfunction (Amy Morin/PT)

Written by on in My views

Namaste, Dear Music Lovers, One aspect of being “in the public eye” is the tendency of artists/performers to fall into some variation of “people pleasing behaviours” and I’ll admit it’s practically a given for singers. If we’re not already overloaded with pressure to produce excellence by a music director or composer, we can find ourselves […]

Continue Reading

Exploring Queendom (for fun)

Written by on in Mumbai
Exploring Queendom (for fun)

Namaste! Dear Music Lovers, Queens are keen… The idea of royalty is quite ancient. Recently I wrote about mothers as objects of our admiration. The much-promoted and press-covered British Royal wedding of

Continue Reading

Top
Language Preference»