Jayanth Ramachandran shares with us his passion for making music
Jayanth Ramachandran
He calls himself The Sine Painter. A name that was derived from an indie puzzle 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 continues till November 27.
“It’s easily one of the best things that has 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 are 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 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 coming to terms with. It really is a dream come true,” he gushes.
When you look at this bespectacled guy, it’s hard to imagine this unassuming former research lab assistant 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, “But 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.”
And it is this ability to dream that big moment, 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 arranging music, similar to that of painting, except I’m doing it with sound. Hence The Sine Painter,” he elaborates.
So confident was this passionate youngster about his journey ahead that Jayanth quit his job as research lab assistant to get into music full time. And he never regretted it once. “It was a well educated decision and I had confidence in myself to move ahead even if this failed and 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 have need to do, to ensure I got somewhere. It wasn’t the romantic ‘I’m gonna blindly abandon everything and pursue my passion’ kind of a deal. I knew pretty much 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 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, says Jayanth and it’s clear the excitement levels are at an all time peak as he gears to make some music, literally speak!
The Sine Painter’s music covers a varied and versatile genre but personally, Jayanth enjoys exploring what he calls the “deep and melancholic sides of dance music.” Getting a tad philosophical, he elucidates further, “I personally really enjoy music that causes you to get consumed by all the subtleties, layers and intricacies for a while, and that’s the feeling I try to capture and put in 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 finish.”
And this quest to explore hidden dimensions that keeps Jayanth inspired. Ajanta grew 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 asserts.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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