They sang their way straight into the hearts of legions of fans, young and old, thanks to their stint on Idea Star Singer 2007- Season 2 . And now the fans of former ‘Star Singers' – Arun Gopan, Roshan N.C., William Issac and Sudarshan Achary S. – have another reason to cheer for the quartet have formed a Malayalam band called ‘Arrows'– perhaps a first of its kind by reality stars in Kerala. The quartet's debut album We are the 1 was released in the city recently by actor Suresh Gopi in the presence of their “mentors” K.S. Chitra and music director Sharreth.
Common goal
“Our story is a true song of friendship,” says Arun. “It's true we met each other as competitors but we hit it off quite quickly and that competitive spirit grew into a spirit of friendship based on the common goal of making it big in music,” adds the youngster from Kozhikode, who is also a student of Ayurveda. Post- Idea Star Singer , for two years or so, the quartet was quite busy with their singing engagements, jetting across the country and the world and they did not have time to meet up, let alone make music. But forming a band was always in the back of their minds and on July 17, 2009, the quartet did just that. The name Arrows is an acronym for the foursomes' first names and was suggested by Arun's father, Divakara Warrier. “We didn't just want to be tagged as ganamela singers and since we already had a fan base, it was just a matter of making good music,” reflects Sudharshan, a graduate in music, who along with the others spent the last six months or so on at an idyllic retreat on Punnamada backwaters in Alappuzha “creating musical magic.”
And the result? An album, with eight songs, that is already rocking the charts. It has five original compositions, a flute version of one of the compositions, a DJ mix of one song and a remix of the old number ‘Kalyani Kalavani.' The lyrics have been written by Rajeev Alumkal and the background music by Shaan Rahman. The four have also acted in the visuals of their signature song ‘Swararagame,' which is on air. “Friendship, naturally, is the broad theme of the album,” says Roshan, a native of Kannur and a student of Mechatronics in Coimbatore as his band mate William, a music graduate who is settled in the city, adds: “The album has got a bit of everything – melody, peppiness, soul, blues… in a variety of beats, Indian and Western. Thanks to Idea Star Singer , we have a rather widespread fan base, so we thought it best to include a range of songs.” So what's next for the foursome? “Music, music and more music! We already have offers to do the music for a couple of movies and of course, other albums are also in the pipeline,” chorus the four as they sign off. The album is available from Saregama and costs Rs.75.
