Alex Mathew is a playback singer with many films to his credit including Albhuthadweepu, Mahasamudram, Youth festival, and Sathyam. In this interview with varnachitram.com, he talks about his career , experience in singing and shares his insights about the music industry. This is the second and concluding part of the two part interview.
varnachitram.com: So the recording depends on the grasping power of a singer. He has to learn the song as fast as possible and sing..
Alex: Yes, they need such singers. Now we have Idea Star Singer, Amrutha Star Singer and so many singers like that. Everyone is a singer. Everyone wants to be a singer or Sachin. These are the only two things Indians do now. If you can sing about 80%, the remaining 20% can be fixed by the recording engineer.
varnachitram.com: Does this affect even established singers?
Alex: All singers are lazy. In old times Das Sir used to do early morning sadakams. You can see the magic in his voice even now. You will stand up when you hear his voice. Same with Jayachandran Chettan also. They are the Harley Davidson of singing. We are like Yamaha R1 which was made yesterday. They are real legends. We are not working hard.
varnachitram.com: Do established singers also come to the studio, listen to the track and sing without knowing anything as you described? Or do they get time to practice and make it perfect?
Alex: No No No, What I described happens to everyone. They all come in and sing immediately. What I described in detail was not my case alone. It happens to all. Sreekumar Chettan lands from America, goes directly to the studio, says hello to everyone and sometimes asks for a cup of tea. On the strength of that tea he will sing. Sreekumar Chettan is a super singer. He learns very fast. He is from a musical family. He can sing any song with ease. He will sing Pallavi and then go to Charanam. Then he will listen to the song again and say he did not sing the Pallavi correctly. He will sing again.
varnachitram.com: Alex, you are singing a lot in Telugu and Tamil….
Alex: No, still I am singing a lot in Malayalam only. Most Malayalam songs are recorded in Chennai. When I go there, I meet Raja Sir, Vidyasagar Sir and ask if there is any work. When I meet ten people, one will say there is one song. Sometimes, there will be no song, at least I will sing a track.
varnachitram.com: ..is there any difference in recording style for Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam
Alex: Everyone from Michael Jackson to Bryan Adams is singing the way I told you.
varnachitram.com: Has the Sound Engineer become the important person then?
Alex: Music Director is still the important person. After the singer goes away, the Music Director and the Sound Engineer will sit and fix the song. Some songs have this electronic voice in them at the end..That is an idea in the mind of music directors. Sometimes the songs are in radio voice and this tone change is done by the Sound Engineer.
varnachitram.com: We hear this electronic voice a lot in Deepak Dev’s songs
Alex: (sings Karalee Karalinte Karale in electronic voice). Yes, this is what I was saying.
varnachitram.com: Does this track singing help you a lot?
Alex: Yes, definitely. Mostly tracks are sung by the music director himself or by an upcoming singer. I have sung tracks for Vidhu and Madhu. Even though they listen to my voice and learn the song, they will make some changes suggested by the music director. Sometimes after recording a song, the director will come and say they need a change in lyrics. Then they will call lyricist on phone and say, Sir, we want a change in Karalee Nenjinte Karale. Then he will say, let us make it Karalee Karalinte Karale. Then they will recall the singer for re-recording. Earlier you had to sit in Chennai to get a song. Now if you pay Rs. 1500 you can reach Chennai fast in Air Deccan. You can reach anyone fast.
varnachitram.com: A R Rahman is giving break to lot of new singers. Have you tried singing for him?
Alex: Rahman Sir is fed up with me. In his library there are four CDs of mine. Once I went to his studio to see him on a Friday and there was a crowd outside. I thought they all came to see Rahman Sir and stood with them. Then someone handed me a packet of Biriyani. The guard asked me to leave and I told him I wanted to see Rahman Sir. Sir was not there it seems. Every Friday Rahman gives food to the poor and I was in that crowd. Once I went to his sister’s studio and recoded. His sister told it is difficult to meet him as he is very busy.
Last month there was the audio release of Seetha Kalyanam and it had music by Sreenivasan Chettan. I asked the organizers if I could meet him. They told no. When Rahman Sir came and was climbing the stairs, I dived and touched his feet and handed him my CD. He said “Thank You”. I told him this is not Seethakalyanam CD, but my demo CD. He said OK and handed it to someone. Later I saw that it was in the hands of his assistant Noel. I met Noel Sir and told him it is my demo CD and he said he will keep it in Rahman’s library. I had my doubts if Noel would throw this away. Sayanora is another singer who goes with Rahman Sir for world tours. I sent one through her. Then through another person, I sent two more CDs. Recently Sayanora handed my CD to Rahman Sir and told this is my friend, you should listen to it. Sir said, I am fed up with him, I have three CDs of him in my library.
varnachitram.com: So hopefully he will listen to at least one of them
Alex: Yes, he listens to all CDs in his library, but he will not give a chance just like that. Recently he was the judge on a star show program. He selected three people for the final. There was one guy who was standing aside, he was a sufi singer, I forgot his name. Sir called him and said you are out of the show, but you will sing one of my songs. Sir used him in Lagaan. The tone stayed in his mind and when he thought of a character, he called the singer. These songs stay in his mind and even if there are a thousand CDs in his library, he will remember the voice if needed. This is not just Rahman Sir, all music directors are like that.
varnachitram.com: You have worked with so many music directors. Can you compare their styles?
Alex: They all record the same way, but have their own styles. Their composing and musical styles are all different. Vidyasagar Sir has one style, Raja Sir has one style, Kishore Kumar has one style, but in the studio, the recording is all the same.
varnachitram.com: Who is more easy to work with and learn from?
Alex: All of them are strict when they come to the studio. There are not fun and games. If you sing properly they will become happy and then will talk to you. If you go and try to be friendly then they will put you in your place. We are singers and have to do our job with sincerity. If they give suggestions we have to listen. Music Directors have their own tensions. Singers will sing and go home. MDs have to mix the song, decide which company to give the music to and there are so many head aches. They will laugh only if the movie clicks. It is a full tension job.
It is not like a software company. Only the owner of a software company will have tension. The employees just have to eat hamburger and work. Ours is creative work. Everyone from the singer to the light boy works as a team and is creative. There is so much tension for the singer, the writer, cameraman, light boy. Only if the movie succeeds you will get your next job. So you pray in churches and temples for the success of the movie. Not just my song, but the song of others also. You pray for the success of the cassettes and movies. It is a group prayer. You cannot be selfish in the movie industry. In this industry you have to keep everyone happy. You have to show respect. You touch the feet of directors, not to make them happy, but for their blessings.
There is one problem in the film world. Everyone is good. It is a play of God. There are people of all religions, Christians and Muslims, but there is only one God. You wont see this in any other industry. Here you can see a thread on Lal Jose’s hand from a Christian Church, chandanam on his forehead and a ring with Allah on his fingers.
varnachitram.com: So film industry’s strength is team work and group prayer…
Alex: It is a big deal. You have varnachitram.com where you come in the morning and are talking to me. You have a place to sit. These people don’t have a place to sit. Someone has to create money from somewhere. He has to think he has to produce a movie. The producer has to think of a music director. The music director has to think of the singer. All these are blessings of God and nothing else. This is like gambling in Las Vegas.
varnachitram.com: What is a memorable or striking incident in your playback singing career?
Alex: My first song is the most memorable one. I asked God for one song. Now I have sung in 32 films. When the first song as OKed, I was very emotional.
varnachitram.com: Of all your songs which one do you like the most?
Alex: My favorite is the one for which I changed my voice – Chakkara Mavinte Kombathu in Albutha Dweepu
varnachitram.com: Why did you change your voice?
Alex: It was a film with 300 dwarfs by Vinayan Sir. These dwarfs have a compressed sound. I went with them for a few days and realized that my voice is not suited for it and I have to change it. Normally this compression is done in the studio, but I have the talent to mimic. So I changed the voice and it became a big hit.
varnachitram.com: We asked about the favorite song, what about favorite music directors?
Alex: I have to work with everyone, right? Only if everyone gives work, I can survive. Mohanlal Chettan works with Priyan Chettan to Ram Gopal Varma. You have to be versatile. If you are trained, then you can sing any song. When we go to each music director, you are scared because you don’t know what type of person he is. First time I met Vidyasagar Sir, I tried to make a conversation with him. He asked me to stop talking, sing the song and go away. When I sang, he was impressed and chatted with me. Now I know his nature. This is not just my experience, it happens to everyone like Das Sir, Sreekumar Chettan etc.
varnachitram.com: What are your future plans?
Alex: Just sing properly and make a career. I want to win some awards. It is a dream to win the State and National Award.
varnachitram.com: You seem to have some interest to go into music direction..
Alex: No, I have no interest in that. I just want to sing. I go to composing sessions because I have interest in that, not in music direction. When I see the tension of these music directors, the easiest job seems to be singing. Each song is like 3-4 minutes. We take some four hours to sing it and go away.
varnachitram.com: We want to thank you so much for spending time with us.
Alex: Thanks.
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First of all, Alex Who? Never heard of him before.
Second, he thinks Michael Jackson and Bryan Adams run to recording studios and record songs like Alex Mathew. It must be pretty deep well in which Alex is living. Bryans Adams and Michael Jackson own their recording studios and record at their will. They don’t have to catch Air Deccan and fly like Alex.
Santosh,
From the reading, I gathered that he was referring to the recording process and not about flying in Air Deccan:-)
Micheal Jackson, is he in the music scene? I think he hasn’t recorded in a long while.
I too have no idea who Alex Mathew was, but learned quite a lot from the interview. Seems like the music industry is not how it was once.
Was Alex really serious when he said that NRI producers are dumb?
Premk,
Don’t you think they are?:-)
sk,
Look at all those mimicry movie producers who are businessmen from Kerala. What do you call them? dumber?
Quite rightly, Karthik:-)
I have seen a lot of references to Mr.Alex in the web. So many blogs and write ups…..is he from Punnavely? Who is he???