Sathya brings an African genre to Kollywood

Music composer Sathya who was hailed for his  background score and the Mayilu song in the recently-released horror film Bayama Irukku tells us about the challenges involved while using live instruments for his compositions rather than techno and bringing ‘Trap music’ — a popular genre in West Africa to Tamil cinema for the first time.

Talking about his new film Theedhum Nandrum where he has incorporated the ‘Trap’ genre, the Engeyum Eppodhum composer says, “Theedhum…is a dark film directed by Rasu Ranjith of Nalaya Iyakkunar fame. It has several elements like robbery, romance and sentiment and gives the potential to try out a new genre for re-recording. That’s when the idea of using ‘Trap’ music came up. African singers in independent albums mostly use this, and I have composed a song with a Trap theme, which is new to Kollywood.”

The composer opines that using live instruments over techno music will enhance the soul of the songs and the sequences. “For most of my songs, I prefer using artistes who play live instruments. You will never get the brilliance of using traditional instruments in any other form,” he asserts.

Talking about his other untitled film which is directed by Ezhumalai, a former assistant to Prabhu Solomon, Sathya says, “The story revolves in and around a temple. The untitled flick is a romantic thriller and a commercial flick; it has a lot of scope for music. To get that authentic touch, I visited the Sivan Temple where the movie is being shot.”

Sathya never hesitates to introduce new singers if a song requires a particular expression. “I have brought in a new singer  (for Pucca) — Shivai based out of Delhi, an independent vocalist who is getting busy with Bollywood now. I needed a new sound and voice for a particular track.”