[Reader-list] Film Music's Young Turks, Shameer Tandon By Prashant Pandey

Sat Jan 7 00:32:49 IST 2006

Kitne Ajeeb Rishte Hai Yaha  pe….

Do Pal milte hain saath saath chalte hai

Jab mod aaye to back ke nikalte hai

Beqarar kar dala

Chalka chahato ka pyala

Bin qatal kiye hee marr dala

Huzoor  Huzoor-e-aala

Both these songs were one of the best that film music industry offered
last year.
The man behind these songs is Shamir Tandon, He is currently head of
the operations (India) of the Virgin-EMI Records, but don't mistake
him for any other nerdy number crunching corporate. Thirty three year
old Shamir is a silent killer who operates in the Hindi film music
industry as a composer with films like Page 3, Rakth, Umar and some
200 ad-jingles.

Virgin-EMI office is located in an old mill near Sewri, which is a
part of the Dock area falling on the Harbour Line. I must say that it
is quite an unusual place for a music label.

It's not a big office. Just like a modest up market music store. … I
see around 6 people working on their computers or talking on phone.
The office is full of CDs and posters of Indian (Shaan & Shuba Mudgal)
and international artists.(Shakira)

I spoke to Shamir Tandon in his cabin, which stacks music
encyclopedias, yearly reports of the international music sales,
Directories, Foreign Exchange tables & Volumes on International laws
on taxation. There are awards and trophies too in his small cabin.

This is what we talked about-

Page 3 is not a musical film. Yet we see songs of different genres in it…….

Yes… see there is a song on the internal journey that the journalist
goes through.Then there are light hearted songs and an item song.

What is an item song? This is keeping in mind that you are composer as
well as head of a music company.

I think there are 2 kinds of funny and dance songs. One is woven in
the films narrative without which the films story is incomplete other
is forcefully fitted in the film to draw audiences. I think the latter
is an item song.   I think item song is a subset of a dance song that
is forcefully put in the film to draw attention. It is a marketing
tool. But there are certain dance songs like in earlier film Don
(Kalyanji Anandji) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0077451/) there is this
song Chora Ganga kinare wala. It's a funny song but its not an item
song because there is lot of action happening-- there is police
chasing someone. So its weaved in the film.

What about Helen numbers? Would they classify as item song?

No even those do not classify because some action would be happening
there would eye contact between the villain and the hero. Or Helen
would be helping the thief to steal the diamond necklace. The dance
gets over. Lights go off.  The diamond necklace vanishes. So those
songs perpetuated a lot of action within the narrative.  But now
people put it just for the heck of it.

You say it… but you have given one of the most memorable item songs of
our times —oh Watta babe….

(Laughs) you are calling it an item song because Yana Gupta danced to
it. But in the film Sanjay Dutt goes to look for this girl in a night
club. So there is some story there. Now if he is going to a night club
you can not have a bhajan there.

In you film Page 3 You have done a song called Kitne Ajeeb Rishte hai
yaha pe(On frailties of human relationships)

This song has praised by one and all including the music critics. But
then in the same album you do a "kua me kuud jaouungii"( I will dive
into the well)  How do you explain this?

See let me ask you a question? If you were to analyze this film…. one
of the greatest hit of Hindi Cinema- Sholay-
(http://imdb.com/title/tt0073707/) how you would you do it? Pancham da
who we all idolize gave the music and Anand Bakshi wrote the songs.
OK? Now you see the album. You have a happy friendship song – "ye
Dosti Hum nahi Torenge"

Then you have a Holi Song where everybody is dancing, then you have a
comedy/love song with the popular couple Hema and Dharamender " koi
haseena jab rooth jati hai " then you have a sad version of "Ye Dosti"

(Shamir sings a line each of all these songs one by one to highlight
the respective mood of the song.)

If you analyze this there are songs for different moods and genre.
It's a compilation for different stock situations.

Say this is hero. He goes to college. He will sing a love song there
with his girlfriend. Then he comes home and there is Rakshabhandan so
he will sing a song with his sister. The mother may also join in. If
the girlfriend leaves the hero then he will be singing a sad song. If
the villain kills his mother and sister then he will sing a song of
revenge.   So a film song album has traditionally been a package.

Are you a really techno kind of a guy? I mean do you play around with softwares?

No never. This is for the technicians to do.  I just compose off my
head…whether I am in the washroom or car or taking a walk.  See there
are technical people to take care of these things. There is a sound
designer, arranger, recordist. Some of the young composers are very
good with softwares…but it not a must. You can say that it is not a
qualification.  You might think that senior composers are failing to
catch up with technology but it is not true. Recordists and arrangers
and sound designers who all of us work with are quite clued in with
the current advancements in technology. So they take care.

So you do a tune and sing it in a Dictaphone?

Yes that's what I have been doing. All 200 jingles and all songs
happened that way. See music making is a very collaborative effort
there is a lot communication that happens. The director of the film is
the captain of the ship. Say page 3… it is Madhurs' brief that I am
executing. The arrangers are executing my brief. The players are
executing the arrangers brief. Yet there is lot of cross collaboration
and talk-back.

Do you strive for a particular sound? I mean is there a Shamir Tandon sound?

No not really because for that you must done several films. I am just
starting out so I do not know you can label it like you do for Anu and
Rehman.I am sure as I do more films something will emerge that people will
refer to as a Shamir Tandon song or sound. This develops over a period
of time. I don't think anyone who is doing his first project will
say," This is my style". But there are certain dos and don'ts that I
keep in mind.

Like?

Like I am a melody guy.

You mean… melody versus harmony?

No … I mean it has to sound sweet… Then I am firm that I will not run
away from technology. I am not saying that I will create new sounds or
be heavy on rhythm. I am just going to be a natural composer making
film songs. Then I love live acoustic sounds. Most of my songs are
live acoustic. Even club tracks that I do I put in some live Dholak

Tell me a bit about your background? Do you come from advertising?

I am a management graduate. I have done cost accountancy (ICWA). I
started my career with firms like Kotak Mahindra and Birla Global
finance. Then I started freelancing with Moonlight (A Bombay based
Production House) where I did more than 100 jingles in different
languages. When entertainment industry started opening up in 1999 and
professionals started to come in this industry…I jumped into
entertainment industry bandwagon. I did event management for a while
and then joined EMI Music as a Marketing manager. Through & through I
started serving the company and today I head the operations….but this
music ka kida was always there. There were lots of compositions that I
had done since childhood. So I have started to flog them to producers
and directors.

Do you have mentors?

I consider Kalyan ji –Anandji bhai as my teachers. Though no body can
teach you composing…either you can do it or you do not. Yet there is
lot that you can learn just from watching and talking. They lived near
my house and as a young guy I would go to them….. sit and talk to them
and see them record a song.. It was great fun…they did so much
experiment. See their sound in Saraswati Chandra( Chandan Sa Badan) ,
Qurbani ( Aap jaisa koi, Laila Laila) even Tridev (Oye Oye) that Viju
did. I learnt all from just watching them.

Are you from Bombay?

Yes.

Ok tell me one thing……you were doing music all this while … then you
left hardcore finance and joined a music company. What was your first
lesson that your bosses taught you at Virgin Records.

Well we are a multinational company so certain systems are no
different from a McKenzie or Arthur Anderson or say Hindustan Liver.
We are a product company… we manufacture and sell cassettes and CDs.
So we adhere to international systems. Remember this is not music –
this is the business of music so the same break even analysis, online
manufacturing, distribution approval has to be done.

I can see lot of books on international trade and tax laws on the
racks in the next cabin.

Absolutely how different is this from selling a premium chocolate or a
brand of liquor. Music is a product that has to be profitably sold.

You also started this trend in India with music companies tying up
with various brands and coming up with stuff like Bacardi blast &
Seagrams mega mix. What is it? Is it sponsorship? Surrogate
advertising?

They are not really sponsors but partners because people would know
what Bacardi is and what its tastes like if they buy the Bacardi blast
album.  I have a  never-ending catalogue of good songs. I can push 5
good songs on a CD and call it BLAST but I call it BACARDI BLAST
because your expenses are getting paid for so it improves your profit
margins. To run a business you have to subsidize your costs.

What about competition between music companies?

See if you ask Pepsi they would not say that Coke is their rival. They
will say lassi nimbu paani mango shake or pani is their rival.
Similarly music does not compete against music. It is competing these
days with new forms of entertainment. In today's world the consumption
is music is going high but music buying is going down. People have
other things to do. Pocket money of my young buyer is getting diluted
at other forms of entertainment… See this kid has 300 Rupees in his
pocket. Now he goes to a music shop and buys my CD. Or he goes to a
Bowling alley that is located on the same floor of the shopping mall
and spends all that money on bowling…else drinks coffee with his
girlfriend or buys a book. So as a music company we strategize for
these equations… everybody in the market is vying for that 300 Rupees.
 Everybody wants a share in that pie.

Is this 300 rupees of this young guy, a survey result?

No just a commonsensical estimate. So bringing down the corporate
helps you to subsidize your costs so you can concentrate on you core
area which is making new music. Its partnership as they get advertised
as well.

It seems music companies only want to market music rather than make
it.  Aren't music companies supposed to make new music?

Yes absolutely. You have to keep making new music but the old music
have to be repackaged. You have to thematically play around with your
catalog and present new compilations. That's how a Pink Floyd, Rafi,
Kishore sells.

You are running a company which is governed by strong business
fundamentals of the music trade. What about your own creative
sensibilities as a composer?

Do you compose your song trying to make it a saleable product?

No not really. A tune comes naturally. You do not think that now I am
going to make a commercial tune. It just happens. But certainly you
can do lot of things when you are giving your song a definite shape.

That is when you arrange it?

Yes when you are arranging it then you wear your other cap because you
weigh its marketability.

You are trying to balance a high responsibility job and a very
demanding profession i.e. of a film music director …. Does it get to
your nerves?

See if you say there is tension there is tension. If you say there is
stress there is stress. But if you CHOOSE to say," There is none"…
then there is none. See I will tell you…every corporate guy working in
Marine Point or CP in Delhi does something after his office gets over
i.e. going out for a beer in a bar, take his chick out in  a park or a
club, lot of people shop a lot after office. Some head for tennis or
gym. Similarly I go to my music room. For me music is my release. It
is fun for me. I have a job and music is my passion- my creative
outlet. It is not my source of income. The day it becomes my source of
income it will give me stress. If you play a cricket match and score a
zero then you do not care but if you are Sachin Tendulkar and if you
score a duck then you are fucked.

What are your office timings?

Office is from 9.30 to 7.30 or 8

That's a lot…….

Yes every corporate has the same timings. From then I head for my
music room which is one hour drive from my office. We jam up there
till 12 -1230 pm from there I head for home.

So you reach home at 1 am.

(Silence ….I realize I should not have said it)

(Smiles) Yes but I do music on alternate days. And I devote weekends
to my family.

I am sure that your big bosses would feel happy that you have given
Virgin Records, a face but do you face some sort of hostility from
your colleagues because you have a very strong exterior persona that
is linked to the glamour and riches of Bollywood.

No not at all my company encourages me a lot. That's how I have been
able to do so much…. See all the work that I do…. I do not take a
single penny for it. Everything goes to Virgin records. I am just
happy composing. The proceeds of my work and payments are made out to
my company. That's one way of leveraging my career as a composer and
my career as a record label executive.

End Of Part One
==================================================================================================================================

Links to this Article-

http://imdb.com/name/nm1340084/

http://www.24x7updates.com/FullStory-News-Asha_Bhonsle_records_in_US-ID-23386.html

http://www.saindia.com/article/articleview/308/1/38/

http://www.nowrunning.com/MusicReviews/musicReview.asp?it=1705

http://in.news.yahoo.com/050618/43/5z0bg.html

http://www.bollywhat.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=e83e7c5562f96114bb4515c993d7d9d0&topic=6281.msg73948

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By
Prashant Pandey