Growing up in Chennai, Vivek Siva learnt Carnatic music. In another part of the city, Mervin Solomon trained in gospel music.
Little did they know then that many years later, this training would come in handy for their work, and, in fact, become their USP. Vivek-Mervin, as the duo is known today, are among Tamil cinema’s sought-after composers, because they bring with them two different forms of music that help them dish out interesting, catchy tunes.
“We keep learning from each other, and that helps us get some nice tunes,” says Mervin, whose collaboration with Vivek has yielded many hit numbers, in films like Gulaebhagavali, Pattas and Sulthan.
Vivek-Mervin’s work method is slightly different from traditional music composers who team up with a film director to listen to a situation and then come up with a tune. The duo meet up daily at their Virugambakkam studio and work on a musical idea, based on what they went through that particular day. “We might walk humming a melody, or might have heard something on the radio. We pretty much do not have an agenda,” says Vivek, “We sit on the piano and put something on – it could be a potential song for a film or a bad tune that we would never play to audiences. But the process remains the same. We do not have the age to say that we derive inspiration from life experiences. So, the emotion of that day drives the tune we get that day.”
And that tune might find its way into a film someday. Or become an independent song. “When we compose something without restrictions, it has taken wings and gone to greater heights,” adds Mervin.
Their ‘Orsadhaa’, a popular independent number released in 2018, is the result of one such idea, as is the ‘Gulebhagavali’ title track.
Sometimes, old song ideas are unearthed when film situations turn up. In Dhanush-starrer Pattas (2020), the duo used a rough music idea they had worked on back in 2017. “But we don’t completely re-use it. We use it as a starting point and then detail it according to the needs of the film and the characters in it.”
Music composers Vivek and Mervin
Changing tunes
Their RJ Balaji-starrer Singapore Saloon, which released last week, had three songs and featured singers like Arivu and Ravi G. The duo’s upcoming slate of work includes Jinn and Hitler. “What pleases us are they are very different kind of films, helping us try out unexplored aspects of music.”
Jinn features ‘Kutty Ma’, an ‘Instagram-friendly track’, as the duo describes it. “The brief from the director was that it should be a dance track that people try out reels to,” explains Mervin. Does social media shorts and reels put pressure on composers to work on a catchy stock tune that stands out instantly? “For certain songs, the brief itself is that. It all boils down to decreasing attention span and how songs are consumed. We have evolved from the Eighties when songs used to be about six minutes or even more. In the Nineties, the length came down. In Anirudh’s era, the second charanam was dispensed off with and now, we have hit the one-minute mark. We are all evolving to cater to that market, but not every song can be worked on in that pattern,” says Vivek.
Music composer Anirudh has played a vital role in their career; in fact, it was Anirudh who recommended them to the makers of 2014 flick Vadacurry, one of their first hit projects. The three have remained friends till date, with Anirudh even crooning a track (Jai Sultan) under their composition. “All his films and music has worked; that’s like scoring a century in every match. It’s amazing how consistent his work has been,” adds Mervin.
Music composers Vivek and Mervin
In 2024, apart their film projects, Vivek-Mervin also has independent songs under their ‘VM Originals’ banner lined up. For this, they have roped in singers like Sivaangi, Nithyashree, Adithya RK, MS Krsna and Harsha Vidyasagar. “In the current scenario, audiences don’t really care if it’s an independent song or a film number. If it’s a good song, it will be supported. We are happy that audiences have loved our work. We never set out to become film music composers. All we wanted to become musicians... and that is the role we are playing even today.”
Published - January 29, 2024 02:56 pm IST
