Clinton Cerejo and his band will perform in Hyderabad on November 23, after having performed in Bangalore and Chennai editions of The Hindu Friday Review November Fest 2014 . The format will remain largely similar, with the group belting out his popular hits as a playback singer, his compositions for Coke Studio season 2 and 3 and the group will use the platform to unveil a few yet-to-be-released independent tracks. “We’ll gauge the pulse of the audience and mix and match,” says Clinton.
Those clued into film music will know him as the voice behind several hits — Kya Karoon (Wake Up Sid), Sooraj ki Bahon Mein (Zindagi na Milegi Dobara) and Yaaram (Ek Thi Daayan) among other chartbusters. Clinton began his professional musical journey nearly 15 years ago and got noticed when he sang for Alaipayuthey (Sakhi in Telugu) and Kandukondain Kandukondain ( Priyaralu Pilichindi ). He juggles several responsibilities — that of a music producer (for several films composed by A.R. Rahman, Vishal Bhardwaj and Shankar Ehsaan and Loy), arranging vocals, playback singing, composing for films (background score for Kahaani and Ek Thi Daayan ) apart from his own band.
In the independent space, he has teamed up with artists like Sawan Khan Manganiyar, Kailash Kher, Vijay Prakash, Bianca Gomes, Vishal Dadlani and Sonu Kakkar among others.
Ananthaal in store
You juggle several hats as a music producer, arranging vocals, singing and composing. To a lay person, how would you explain these responsibilities?
As a music producer, it’s my responsibility to give form to the music director’s composition until it gets released as a CD. Vocal arrangements are more specialised and I need to look into harmonies, write certain music sections that will incorporate vocals, try and make a few segments sound better and accessible to the listener. When I produce music, I don’t think of compositions or singing. When I am singing, I zone out of other areas.
What have you gleaned from the experience of working with establ-ished music direc-tors?
When you observe someone like A.R. Rahman or Vishal Bhardwaj at work, there’s a lot to learn from there. No school can ever teach you the nuances and dimensions of music the way one learns in a studio.
How do you go about recreating the hits of Coke Studio on stage when artists that you collaborated with aren’t travelling with the band?
I sing a number of songs myself. Apart from me, there’s Bianca Gomes and Indian classical vocalist Sudeep. The numbers are recreated between the band members. The audience today looks forward to original music and welcoming of different material.
What are your forthcoming projects?
I am composing for a film titled Jugni for which I will be collaborating with Pakistan artist Javed Bashir and others. The lines between Bollywood and Indie music are blurring, which is great and allows us scope to bring in more artists. I will be doing the background music for Tevar , the Hindi remake of Okkadu . We are also working on a number of ideas for our new band Ananthaal which includes Vijayprakash, Bianca and me.
