The interview which appears below, was originally published on Indya.com in May 2007. ©The rights to this material are reserved to the owner. If you have any concerns or comments, please send an email to info@rahmaniac.com.
Having collaborated with legendary Indian composer A.R. Rahman recently for Alive – the title soundtrack of Aishwarya Rai’s Provoked film, singer Karen David is working hard on her debut album right now. The music video features Karen, who also plays a role in the movie as Nandita Das’ colleague.
However, Karen, who hails from Shillong, Meghalaya, is no stranger to showbiz. Right from the age of six Karen has had an opportunity to work with some of the leading names in the entertainment industry including Bill Cosby to star alongside him in a TV commercial.
But Karen’s connection with Rahman started when she was noticed by him for her performance in the original star cast of the West End musical Mama Mia! in 1999, Rahman, who was developing the Bombay Dreams play with Andrew Lloyd Webber at the time, was very impressed by Karen and asked her to assist him in the development of material for Bombay Dreams. But Karen says if things had gone her way then that meeting would have never happened.
“Rahman had come and seen me perform. So the next day the producer of the show told me you need to go see this man at night. And I was like ‘No way. What do you mean? I’m not going to a strange man’s house at 11 at night!’ The thing is I never knew who he was. And I almost didn’t go till I spoke to my mother in Toronto that day and she was like do you know he is the biggest musician in Bollywood and that’s how I went,” says Karen. And that meeting has resulted in a seven-year long friendship both personal and professional.
Since then Karen has continued to write and compose with A.R. Rahman at his Panchathan Record Inn studios in Chennai regularly. She says that her association with the musical legend has helped bring out the best in her. “You know anyone who has a good voice can sing and become a singer.
But what it is to be a performer is something that I have learned from him. He has changed me as a performer. He has shown me how to sing from the heart, to sing from my soul. And that has been the biggest influence that he has had on me. It’s been fundamental!”
“I remember the first time I recorded with him at the end of it I felt like I had just gotten off a treadmill. It was that intensive. He just made me do it again and again and again till he was satisfied. You know the man does have a quirky side but I love him all the more for it!” adds Karen. She’s currently working on her debut album entitled Me Versus Me which will be out at the end of the year and once again Rahman will be amongst other artists who will be collaborating with the singer.
Speaking about her album, she says it’s almost like she letting her diary out for the entire world to hear and listen. “This album has everything that I have experienced and felt and witnessed. It has a song called Shillong and describes the city I was born in and how I feel more at home there even though I left when I was a baby than I have ever anywhere else in Canada or the UK. I’m working with a lot of people on this album and will be recording in Chennai soon because I want all the Indian sounds the sitar, harmoniums, tablas- all on my album to sound authentic.
And therefore I am coming to India to record it with Rahman at his studio,” signs off David.
