The interview which appears below, was originally published on South Side Show in February 2009. ©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.
Our very own Ashanti Omkar got an exclusive interview with the man of the moment, A.R. Rahman, Oscar-winning composer of the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. Read the interview below:
AO: If you had to pick an ideal acceptance speech because I know you have the Golden Globes one and the BAFTA Awards which was very short, what would be your ideal acceptance speech when you chilled out in saying it, without millions of eyes on you?
AR: There’s no ideal acceptance speech. You forget something always. When you have a piece of paper, it looks ugly. Normally I would just say “All Praises To God” and escape, but now I need to say things about people that worked hard, like, you know, “Sam Schwartz is my agent in Hollywood and the PR people, Hindi PR.
And I have to say all the people who have given extraordinary opportunity for me to do music in India which became a bridge for me to do… um, go to the West, to get the love from the audience, and all the people who have given good suggestions, you know, all the singers, all the recording engineers, all the musicians, all the lyricists are very important, all the people who acted all of the lovely ladies and the guys in the action movies,” so there’s no end actually.
AO: So there’s a long list then, actually?
AR: I can’t hold any of my own awards. I can just represent all of them and get… (laughs).
AO: And you know one of the sad things that has happened recently is H. Sridhar (Rahman’s sound engineer who has passed away)
AR: It’s sad in a way and it’s happy in a way actually.
AO: Yeah?
AR: Happy because you can see the whole world point of view in two different angles, one as never being born and being born and having the torture of living life and living your life and making other people happy is also one thing.
So here’s a person who has worked so hard, who has made other people happy who had made a great contribution to art and he’s pushed me on recording and has guided me so much in the beginning days.
I owed him for having all this extraordinary technology we had, with the support of him and both us withstood through that stuff and in a way when you see a person die with a good name and people come to mourn and comfort mourners as I was then old and cynical and abusing the inner community (laughs) which we also see that, but I also wish that, you know, I should go in a way where I’m not cynical and not pessimistic about the talent which I hunger and embraced it anyway, so that’s very important, and to get a good meal every time. I pity his family though because I think he died very young. He was only 48. His kids are great.
AO: Great musicians as well I hear…
AR: Yeah, they are good. They’re gonna be hopefully joining me.
AO: Really? Excellent! That’s great to hear. Speaking of that, who do you think… It’s a question that many people have said. Who do you think your successor will be? I ask this because you’ve left an indelible mark already in just over a decade.
AR: I don’t know. My kids-I just want to probably educate my kids in music and let them have a choice. If I think that, well I know a lot of musicians who have done the mistake… well maybe not a mistake, but in my point of view, like great violin players and great trumpet players, you know, they’re all like “My sons should not be in music.
They should find another, more stable job.” They’ve enjoyed the pleasure of being musicians, which is a strange case of us not having any more musicians, or very few musicians who want their sons to be going into that. I feel it’s in a way, betrayal not to put your kids into the art which gave you livelihood and gave you the respect and love from the people.
AO: So, what’s on your iPod right now?
AR: I don’t have an iPod now (laughs)
AO: What music are you listening to?
AR: I’m mostly listening to a film because I’m constantly traveling. In L.A. I was listening to a hip-hop station and in London, a classical station.
AO: So what does it feel like to be getting this massive recognition? We’ve been waiting for this for years. I know your fans have been waiting for years to see this. I always say, “Is the Nobel Peace Prize next?”
AR: I think the whole attention thing gets wrong if you’re craving that stuff. I just want to do my bit and get out. And I wanna build with people, not destroy them like [Barack] Obama says (laughs). That was a great statement that I loved from Obama saying that “Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.” That goes for all of us.
AO: How does it feel though, all the adulation and accolades because I know you were saying that in Hollywood, the Golden Globes, they barely pronounced your name right and suddenly all of the press wanted to take pictures of you and speak to you?
AR: Yeah it’s a weird thing actually. When I first went to the first Critic Awards, no one in the press wanted me. They said “Who is this guy? Get out. I want Danny Boyle or Freida Pinto.” So the next awards which were the Golden Globes, they said “Oh, why don’t you join all of them, sir?” So the next on when I won a couple of awards and they said “Oh can I have a single photograph of you?”
AR: It’s a great feeling.
AO: That’s a great feeling, starting from square one to, you know, all in three days (laughs).
AR: It’s an amazing thing though, bridging the gap between Indian cinema and Hollywood. I positively think there’s a world of talent there, but what they lack is someone to guide them toward what the world’s tastes would be.
Some of the bands I watched. I was a jury for a couple of shows, just incredible energy and incredible enthusiasm and originality. So for me, I positively think that I don’t get all these awards personally. It’s like a bridge for outstanding artists yet to come. It’s for them and I wish them good luck, yeah.
AO: And of course you got plenty of territory incentive and an incentive for poverty eradication
AR: That’s too overblown. It’s very spoiled compared to what can be achieved, but if it’s a seed, it could grow big and spread. It’s good to grow a seed now and all these things can be achieved, maybe it can be achieved. The way the world is going, anything’s possible, as long as it’s constructive and not destructive.
AO: At a young age you were not only touring but you were also doing rock bands and you’ve been encouraging a lot of rock bands from India. How do you feel about rock music and where that’s progressing?
AR: The idea of public performance is very important because that’s like the only source of income for musicians now. Anything comes out on the Internet; even rough mixes are on the Net. Nobody even thinks twice, ethically. It’s a matter of convenience, I know that. In my opinion, there’s much more in Indian culture which can come out and I’m hoping for that day.
AO: The youth samples. Someone asked a technical question because I had something on my Facebook page. It had something to do with sample libraries. The fact that you wouldn’t create your own and do you have a vast library of them, you know, how does it come about?
AR: What happens is when you’re writing full of music, sometimes you just use some sample and create a song. The melody marries to the song so much that it’s inseparable sometimes and then you feel like “Oh I could have changed it” because that can be used by anyone. Then you get into trouble, like “Oh this sounds like that artist.”
They don’t understand the originality of a song, you know they see the sample. So now I’m trying to avoid that and see what happens. There’s another whole new process to be done to create those little templates.
AO: One thing I know about you is that you’re incredibly hard working; I’ve not seen you work. How do you have time for friends? Are friends the people you work with?
AR: Yeah. I gotta make friends with everyone. I’m not into that lifestyle of social things. Constantly when you are in music you enjoy that the most. It’s better to be in the house with your family or in the studio working, creating something which is going to be a pleasure to people.
AO: And one of the major things that you introduced to India, certainly was not just the incredible sound quality of your music but the fact that you credited all of the musicians, all the singers. Tell me a little bit about the concept behind that. Was it that you were influenced by the West to do that? So everyone got recognized and so many people’s careers have blossomed from this.
AR: You don’t lose anything by crediting them. You only gain more goodwill. When you create something, if something happens to their career, then it’s good for you because when you see somebody happy, you can be happy for them. That’s my philosophy of life. It’s been working out well so far.
AO: One of the major things that you have done is also introduce international musicians. You’ve worked with so many. Vanessa Mae, Ash King, etc. How did these musicians come to you? How do you find these people?
AR: Just casually. If I like the feel of anybody, I have to work with them. That’s it. I don’t care whether they’re famous or not famous, but if they’re contributing to something good and bringing something to the music, I’m open.
AO: And do you ever get the kind of creative block? Does it ever stop your music?
AR: Sometimes it can. You need to get an idea which has to be very focused on certain situations, for movie songs and stuff. Since I probably work on stuff that is easier for us and then go to the tougher things. When you have a good relationship with the director, you can get away with it I guess.
AO: Who are your favorite directors because you worked with Mani Ratnam and Shankar and now Danny Boyle?
AR: I don’t work with anybody if I don’t like them or if they don’t like me. The ones that brought great work and unity were probably Mani Ratnam, Rakesh, Danny Boyle, Shankar, etc.
AO: Sometimes you have a brilliant [score] but the filming of the movie was not that good even though there was a fantastic director behind it. How do you feel when that happens because it must happen a lot?
AR: I used to be very OK with it, as far as four years back. Then people started a big fuss over it like “Why did they wanna do that?” So then I started getting a little choosy. I had my way of getting away with it. I stayed away from doing those kinds of films because it’s so much hard work which is not only mine, but also actors and musicians and stuff that goes to waste, then it’s very frustrating. You don’t want to keep doing this intentionally again and again.
AO: Does this tie in with keeping your publishing rights to the music so you could maybe reuse something in a place perhaps since you got your own label as well now?
AR: The whole idea was to spread the word of what we’re doing here out to the West and it’s happening now, which is great. So at that time people thought I was pulling a fast one, but it’s great that it’s coming true.
I know also for musicians who only created stuff for five years and it sucks the life out of them, so for them, it would be a great asset to have that. You can’t say that you’ll be creative for the rest of your life. We’ve seen that over and over again with a lot of people.
AO: And you have a conservatory with lots and lots of students so you’re educating a whole new generation of musicians. It’s almost like you’re building an army of musicians in Chennai for the world. Tell us a little bit about that incentive.
AR: I’m a great fan of orchestra music. In Chennai or Mumbai, all the acoustic musicians are getting lesser and lesser. The people who were playing instruments, and allowed their kids to come into music, they’re all becoming doctors.
This is to probably nurture a completely new generation of youngsters playing acoustic music, and then the piano, violin, all that stuff. It’s been going well for the past year heading into next year.
AO: One thing I have to say, you looking as young as you did when I met you like a decade ago, what’s the secret?
AR: I got like three or four grey hairs.
AO: (laughs) Just three or four? What’s the secret?
AR: I’m not young looking anymore. You’re exaggerating.
AO: Yes you are. Would you say that it’s your lifestyle?
AR: Most of the musicians look young. Look at Paul McCartney. He’s got a baby face too. (laughs)
