Sreevalsan J. Menon does not need the circumference of silence to compose music. The quietness of his ‘music’ room at home, his favourite space at Chetana Studio, long evening walks and even his regular car drive have inspired him. Down the years Sreevalsan has developed a distinct consciousness that enables him to be in the midst of a crowd, in traffic snarls and yet find music, be surrounded by melody and harmony.
Composers cannot be characterised. There are many who need silence; a dedicated space, the harmonium or the keyboard to get started. Sreevalsan, perhaps like some others, cannot imagine being confined for hours in a closed space with a looming deadline.
“Composing for me is very creative and challenging. I enjoy it. But I have never felt the need of a dedicated space or to be tied down for hours struggling to strike a tune. Perhaps, it has a lot to do with my character,” says Sreevalsan, who has amazing multi-tasking skills. He is an agricultural scientist, Carnatic musician, composer, theatre actor and a badminton champion.
During his high school and pre-degree days Sreevalsan was mad about badminton. He even went on to become the Thrissur district junior champion.
At the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, he got seriously involved in theatre going on to win the university best actor award. And then he found his guru and moved to Carnatic music. Realising the need to stop juggling with too many things, Sreevalsan decided to focus on his music and job.
“This involves some juggling too, especially after I moved seriously to composing. I find a creative energy point in composing that excites me though I jumped into it quite accidentally.”
Sreevalsan’s first album Krishna: A Musical Reflection did well and his Monsoon Anuraga , musical compositions based on classical and contemporary poems to convey the various moods of the monsoon, got him his break in films. He made his debut as film composer in Rupesh Paul’s My Mother’s Laptop and the songs were well received. He has so far composed background scores and songs for ten films of which his work in TD Dasan Std VI B , Saint Dracula , Swapaanam , and Ottal went on to win wide appreciation and recognition,
“The songs of TD Dasan… were composed at Thekkinkadu Maidanam, Thrissur, amidst all the noise. Lyricist Rafeeque Ahammed and I took a walk and by the time we were done the tunes were ready with dummy lyrics. The songs of Swapaanam were composed partly at home and in the hostel at the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Pilicode, Kasargod. This place is cut off with no mobile phone coverage; a perfect place to meditate on music. The long evening walks inside the campus that had a sacred grove and all that inspired some of the tunes of this film. Saint Dracula (that won an Oscar nomination) and Ottal (won Special Mention at the Berlin Film Festival) were composed at my favourite Chetana Studio. There’s something in the ambience there that is so inspiring.”
Another of Sreevalsan’s favourite creative spaces is his car. He spends a lot of quality time behind the wheel driving almost everyday from his home in Tripunithura to Mannuthy, Thrissur, where he works as agricultural scientist at the Kerala Agricultural University. Then there are the drives to concerts. “I have found these long hours in the car very creative. The roads, the traffic snarls, the honking do not bother me for I’m in my world of music.”
When it comes to Carnatic music and preparing for a concert, Sreevalsan needs silence and is not to be disturbed. “I don’t know why but I cannot sit and prepare for a concert anywhere but at home and in my room.” This room upstairs opens to the courtyard and the windows to a lot of trees, a temple pond. It doubles up as Sreevalsan’s library.
“When I sit here and sing I’m transported to a different world. You go into a meditative mood. I don’t want to be disturbed. And if someone comes up and taps me on my shoulder I’m startled, it is like a spell broken.”
Sreevalsan believes that each concert is unique and special for him. He considers it an emotional and spiritual experience. So, the preparation for it is intense. He is a torchbearer of a musical legacy that imbibes certain aesthetics that is unique to Kerala, a musical style that is not cerebral; yet mystical, an inward process that evolves in the myriad art forms and musical styles of the masters who preceded him. And it is this aesthetic finesse that he works on - polishing it, reworking it before concerts in his favourite space so that his music will remain true to his moorings.
