Sine of a genius

The only indian to have been selected for the Red Bull Music Academy, Jayanth Ramachandran shares with us his passion for making music and recounts his journey as a music producer

He calls himself ‘The Sine Painter’ — a name that was derived from an indie video game called World of Goo. But more on that later. For now, Bengaluru-based musician Jayanth Ramachandran is on top of the world. He is the only Indian to have been selected for the prestigious Red Bull Music Academy. On October 21, Jayanth will join 61 participants from across the world in Paris for a musical fiesta that will continue till November 27.

“It’s easily one of the best things to have ever happened to me. I’ve been a huge fan of everything that RBMA has been doing for a couple of years now and have a lot of respect for them. They’re an incredible institution in the music scene internationally and to know that they believe in me and my work enough to select me as one of the participants for their flagship programme out of the thousands who had applied, means a lot. Also, being associated with RBMA has gotten me recognition and opportunities at a pace that I still find hard to come to terms with. This really is a dream come true,” he gushes.

It can be hard to imagine that this unassuming, bespectacled former researcher can display such unbridled enthusiasm. Ask Jayanth what gave him the edge over other Indian musicians and he responds with disarming modesty. “No clue. I used to wonder about this as well,’ he says adding, “I’m hoping to expand my understanding of music by interacting with musicians from all over the world; collaborate with my fellow participants and learn from them as well as from the incredible artistes who will be lecturing during my term; get to know what the music scene is like in Paris and how it has grown to where it is; and finally, work with some state of the art equipment that I’ve only been dreaming of.”

It is this ability to dream big that also made Jayanth visualise his alter ego, ‘The Sine Painter’. It is derived from the popular video game, World of Goo. “I just modified that to make sense in the context of making electronic music, because sine wave oscillators are used in synthesisers to make sounds and I personally find the process of arranging music similar to that of painting, except that I’m doing it with sound. Hence, ‘The Sine Painter’,” he explains.

So confident was this passionate youngster about his journey ahead that he quit his job at a research lab to get into music full time. And he has never regretted it since. “It was a calculated decision and I had confidence in myself to move ahead even if this failed. I had my backup plans in place as well. I spent a good amount of time talking to other musicians from the scene whom I respected, to see what the situation was like here way before I even thought of getting into music full time. They were kind enough to help me out and support me, their positive feedback on my music was a huge confidence booster and helped me figure out what I would need to do, to ensure that I got somewhere.

It wasn’t the romantic ‘I’m going to blindly abandon everything and pursue my passion’ kind of deal. I knew pretty well what I was doing and what I needed to do, when I jumped in. I was comfortable with the fact that it will take a while for me to get where I want to be and expecting immediate results was ridiculous even if a lot of effort was put in. But then, RBMA happened and everything just escalated so quickly after that!” Jayanth says and it is clear that his excitement levels are peaking as he gears up to make some great music now.

The Sine Painter’s music covers a varied and versatile repertoire but personally, the young man enjoys exploring what he calls the “deep and melancholic sides of dance music.” Getting a tad philosophical, he explains, “I personally really enjoy music that causes you to be consumed by all its subtleties, layers and intricacies for a while — and that’s the feeling I try to capture and put into a danceable context whenever I make music. I try to give listeners an opportunity to get lost within the music, and then take them on a journey from start to the finish.”

This quest to explore hidden dimensions keeps Jayanth inspired. He has grown up on a diet of Tamil, Arabic and Pop music in Dubai, but has consciously attempted to stay away from these influences.

“I try to place myself as far away from those styles of music as possible. Mainly because I find that those styles of music don’t really focus on self-expression or creativity, but are usually just meant to follow a tried and tested method to serve a certain functional purpose, which is the exact opposite of how I work and what I want my music to be,” he says.