Thread by @milliblog

Wonderful interview with @sidsriram, by @baradwajrangan bit.ly/2AXD6Tq To hear Sid speak repeatedly about Rahman's attention to detail, and explain it with so many nuances was incredible. I loved going back to the 3 songs they were speaking about, and observe what 1/3

2/3 Sid was saying, to compare it with the final output. But yes, at some level, I wished the interview was about Sid Sriram the singer more than Rahman, and that they had expanded on Sid's other famous songs like Inkem Inkem from Geetha Govindam & Maate Vinadhuga from Taxiwaala.

3/3 And on Rahman's cue for Sid for Ennodu Nee Irundhaal from Shankar's 'I'... Meatloaf! Meatloaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love" was a way too direct inspiration even for Shankar, for the song picturization :)

[Continued]
So glad that the @sidsriram interview where he and @baradwajrangan spoke only about A.R.Rahman's music was just the first part. The 2nd part was even more interesting for one big reason - Sid was speaking about Ilayaraja's music! bit.ly/2CTPWCb 1/9

2/9 Now, this is really interesting because he was born in 1990. And he doesn't have a lived-in intimacy of Raja's music. To be fair, as someone born in the mid-70s, I didn't have conscious knowledge of Raja's music till the late 80s perhaps. But I had a lived-in intimacy as the

3/9 music was unfolding. It was only in the 90s that my lived-in intimacy and conscious knowledge of Raja's music collided and magic happened. I then started going down the rabbit-hole of what more I can add to the magic. It was ironic that the last part of the rabbit-hole, of

4/9 me going into Raja's Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada repertoire happened very late in my life, in the last decade! But what joy it was to find a treasure-trove of music from my early years - it was like reliving the 1980s! The other composers with which I went down this path

5/9 (but without the lived-in intimacy) includes R.D.Burman and Madan Mohan, in India, and George Michael in pop music. Most recently, it was with Rob Thomas/Matchbox Twenty. And Rangan pops the dangerous question to Sid, where he asks him to explain the 2 approaches. I don't

6/9 know if Sid has sung for Raja (that is, sung, and something is in the pipeline; or not sung at all), but assuming he hasn't, I'm not sure it is fair comparing them as singer for one and listener for another. As singer for both, or as listener for both seems more fair. But

7/9 Sid's response makes for an interesting perspective - that they both know what high to reach to, in their creations, and are very sure about that. The route they take differs - one seems collaborative, while the other seems so sure of himself in his creative decisions. For

8/9 comparison, to understand this concept, I can only explain it from a field I know intimately - communications. My strength is words and communication. If I had to write a 100 words on something, I have 2 options. I write a draft, improvise it by updating the words, choose

9/9 better words to convey the real intent and then finalize. Or, if I have internalized the subject really well, my words just flow because my story is already set in my head. As I write, the right words just fall into place without deliberations.