Namaste, Dear Music Lover, Life is indeed a very precious GIFT, to be celebrated and treasured as an irreplaceable experience given to each of us at birth. Few people are given much warning about when their life will end, so they can only press on with hope and courage (no matter how awful it seems at some points). Often […]
Namaste, Dear Music Lover, Well, it’s been quite an interesting month or so with (I hope) the once-in-a-lifetime ordeal given the 2019-20 novel-coronavirus global pandemic (and resultant COVID–19 disease)! While in the early 2000s, I did seriously consider a career in health sciences, instead my film music odyssey followed some TV appearances in connection with Sony/Fremantle’s Indian Idol show. […]
Rather than de-stress, I eschew distress via (secret) breathing techniques.
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) […]
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 […]
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, […]
Namasté, Dear Music Lover, This will be one of my briefest posts here. I just want to acknowledge the importance of gaining control over one’s own mind—being a key aspect of training oneself as a pro vocalist. We are given notes and guidance from composers about how to approach various texts and melodies (the voice […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]