When Chennai musician Harsha Iyer, all of 19 years, broke out into the independent music scene in 2011, with Curious Toys , it was a lot of praise to take for Iyer, who kept at it and quickly released When It’s Time , in 2012. Since then, Iyer hasn’t exactly lived up to his prolific reputation, releasing just two singles until 2013, after which he took a break to study art and music. Ever the youngster, Iyer likens it to driving. “Sometimes when you’re driving somewhere, you think of going in a particular route in your mind, and then midway when a situation comes up, because of, say, too much unexpected traffic or road work, you have to learn to improvise and be flexible to change routes accordingly,” the 23-year-old says.
And that’s the route that Iyer has been treading for two years now — more inspiration and less creation. He took on filmmaking, which led him to enjoy film music even more. In fact, it looks like Iyer might be training to become a film music director soon. Iyer says, “In the last two years, I’ve been absorbing the culture of Tamil films — what Indian films demand musically and how to use songs and background music as part of the storytelling narrative in our films.”
That has spurred him on to completely put on hold any other music he was working on previously to create his first Tamil song, ‘Style Mannanae’, earlier this year. The song, a duet with vocalist Sahana Sujatha, is slated to release in July, with a teaser already exciting fans of Tamil music and the indie circuit alike. Iyer says the song is about, “the dream of love and romance caught between the practical reality of life. The lyrics of the song are written with a sense of humour. This song will be accompanied by a music video directed by my father and myself.” Unlike all his previous work, where ‘Style Mannanae’ also marks a change for Iyer is that he has got collaborators on board, when previously his albums were entirely written, composed and arranged by him. In addition to Sujatha’s vocals, he has got violinist Shravan Sridhar adding to the mood of the song.
‘Style Mannanae’ is part of Iyer’s upcoming Tamil album that definitely has an A.R. Rahman influence. “I’ve always been a big fan of Tamil/Hindi film songs by A.R. Rahman since the 90s and I think he is one artist who has consistently taught me all about being a musician without even my ever having met him, just through his incredible music.”
After releasing his first single in July, Iyer will be wrapping up work on the seven-track full-length album, which seems to centre around the theme of love, with songs such as ‘Kaadhal Idhu un kaadhal’, ‘Kaanamal Thedinen’, and ‘Naughty Sweetie’. Iyer adds that the album will have more collaborations as well, and isn’t just a one-man project. With lyrics written by his father Ashok Iyer, the album hopes to capture a cinematic style of music that’s making listeners see by just hearing. At least, that seems to be Iyer’s aim. “Each one of these songs will be in a different mood and musical style, almost like a traditional Tamil film album can be expected to have a versatile range of situations and musical adventures.”
