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Music Has No Language Barrier – Madras Chorus – Mithun Hariharan

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Music Has No Language Barrier – Madras Chorus – Mithun Hariharan

August 01
00:27 2020


File Pic: H. E Venu Rajamony – Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Appreciating Madras Chorus.
From the right side: Priya Ravish (cofounder), Vinayak Desai (Event Host – STP), H. E Venu Rajamony – Ambassador of India, Vinod Sehdev (Promoter of Madras Chorus), Mithun Hariharan (cofounder), Ravish Pattabi (cofounder), Prashanthi Subramaniam (Wife of Mithun), Surmeet Lamba (Event Host – STP)

The musical band from Netherlands who believes music has no language, recently released “Invest In You” – announced the ‘Winner – Best Of Asia’ at the Intercontinental awards 2020. ‘Invest In You‘ was also the 2020’s First Raga of the Week broadcasted by BBC & Honored by GLOBAL MUSIC Awards.

Invest in You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORnIfJ3Uzqg

Since being formed in 2017, they have become one of the most recognized bands in the world. The pan Indian band continue to produce hit after hit and break barriers with their music. When listening to their music, you close your eyes and for a few minutes you are transformed to another world, a world where there is no war, no COVID19, and no worries, a world which can only be described as heaven.

We decided to sit down with Madras Chorus and learn what makes this band so special, and why they have transformed the music world forever.

1. When was Madras Chorus formed?

Madras Chorus had its official launch in January 2017.

2. Who decided to put the band together?

The idea to officially form a band was decided by a group of local music enthusiasts. We have been performing as a group at various forums for different gatherings across India and hence came up with the idea to form a band which is PAN Indian and not defining a particular community or state or country. And together to organize shows which caters to everyone.

The Management team consists of Myself (Mithun Hariharan), Ravish Pattabi & Priya Ravish. Local artists like Harikrishnan Kesavan (Singer), Sreekanth Madhavan (Percussion), Arun Veerakumar (Singer), Supriya Sreeram (Singer), Sarath Sasidharan (Drummer), Sangeetha Jayaram (Singer) were the first ones with whom we thought to form the band and later there were many who joined.

3. Madras Chorus is from the Netherlands but you are an Asian band, has coming from the Netherlands influenced your music in anyway?

Yes, it has had a great influence in helping us bring the world together under one musical roof. We customized our compositions based on western music style; at the same entertaining and making the Europeans aware of the rich Indian musical heritage both classical and bollywood styles.

Clearly this has helped us in embracing the world music, combining them with our traditional Indian and Bollywood styles.

4. You were announced as the Winner as the Best Of Asia at the Intercontinental awards 2020, to be nominated is amazing, but to win is very exciting, how did it make you all feel?

Excited, totally out of the world feel it is! It gives us the confidence to contribute more passionately to the musical world with a belief that perseverance, patience and hardwork always pays off. Believe in yourself and sky will be the limit.

5. You talk about music has no language, can you explain more about that?

Team Madras Chorus’ mantra is ‘Music has no language’ and we believe it’s the only language which can connect people and unite the world. Our shows have music of all genres, styles and languages and we have our audience spread across nationality. Our audience seem to just enjoy and most importantly enjoy the music together laughing and dancing all through. The word ‘Madras’ is just an emotion to connect people across the globe musically.

Mayhem in 60 Seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkAGuHXE-9o

6. Mithun Hariharan, as the Co-founder of Madras Chorus, who have been instrumental in the success of the band, but you only got the love for music at the age of 31. Why did it take you so long to find your passion for music?

I assume it had to happen at 31 only, perhaps! Well, the first step was supposedly to identify that musical talent in me. This could have been spotted by someone else early in my life or it had to be me, at the right opportunity. In my case, this didn’t happen in the earlier stages because of different priorities and challenges. Though I did mixing and arranging of tracks for local events and their videos, this specific part of that inherent passion for music in me went unnoticed. Thanks to Madras Chorus for helping me rediscover and better myself with each passing day.

7. You have gained worldwide success, so what is your secret?

Teamwork! We are not professional musicians but we are extremely passionate about music and start with a clear end in our mind for all our productions. We are musicians at night! I have to thank each and everyone – the Madras Chorus team, my Guru, various musicians who have executed their part so well, our media team and most importantly my family who has always been there to encourage and inspire me to get better!

The secret is – this is not a one man show. Without the team and each one executing their part we would remain unnoticed. Though none of us are fulltime music professional’s, we start with a clear end in our mind for all our productions. Musicians, Media team, support from family, bringing them all together is the key to our success.

Insights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9bryP8u6sA

8. The Awakening – which was the Winner: Global Music Awards, ICMA, Akademia, is so smoothing. It makes me feel like I am walking through a forest feeling relaxed and happy, how long did it take you to compose the music?

Thank you! Happy to hear once again, that my music creates such an impact on your mind.

The composing part was easy! A beautiful sunny autumn morning walk inspired me, which is when I got that spark to compose something as beautiful, as fresh, as calm as that autumn morning. I went back home and was easily able to play on my keyboard this track in one go however the next phase (production) was a difficult one!

For someone who had discovered his intense passion for music just a few years ago and started learning it very late in his life, it was hard to convince everyone about the beauty of my first composition. We recorded the first rough draft, had to shoot the visual’s within 45 minutes as apparently that very morning happened to be the last sunrise of Autumn for the year. In that limited early morning hours, we had to do several things in parallel. Aswathy Arun with choreography, Arun working on various locations to shoot the visuals, and finally me with the heavy work of editing, and it all together took several weeks to finally get to the final result that we see now! A beautiful musical composition with the visuals aptly suiting the track is indeed very challenging. And then keeping the confidence in my abilities, believing the fact that it is never too late to bloom and self motivating myself fighting against various challenges and obstacles as indeed another big challenge.

The Awakening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucZXGs2zhNE

9. Your music has also been played on the BBC, how did that happen?

We launched the Album “Spirit of Life” on 7th Dec 2019, and “Invest in you” was the first track to be released. We have been extremely fortunate that this beautiful track got noticed and was aired as the first raaga of the year 2020. It is always a joy when your hardwork gets appreciated.

10. You have a huge Indian following, but you also have followers from all over the world who speak different languages and have different beliefs, do you believe at a time of trouble that music can bring everyone together?

Music is one language which can bring people together.

In the difficult times we have been facing now, we have been able to bring different people together in the Netherlands virtually in a recreated magical track – ’Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’, sending in a message of ‘Unity In Diversity’. Only music can unite & heal the world and make it a better place to live in.

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8zXUkXV0rk&t=66

11. You have played at lots of different venues, but what is the one venue you would like to play at and why?

Royal Albert Hall – the world’s leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage. Would like to follow the footsteps of the legends.

From a local venue perspective – Duycker in Hoofddorp has been outstanding, that’s where we created the magic.

12. You have a large fan base in the UK, so when can we expect you to visit the UK and perform?

We would love to perform across the world, especially in the UK spreading lots of love, happiness and positivity. Once this pandemic comes to an end, we will be there to make people dance and sing together with us. Looking forward to being there soon in our musical mission to unite the world.

13. When you are writing one of your hits, how does it all begin. What is your technique in putting your music together?

Listening to the director, hearing various other compositions which have been liked by the listeners and executing the inputs parallely in a smart way is the key!

To cater to the likes and tastes of the listeners is very important as they are the ones who decide or give their verdict. Though we follow some of the mandatory items in a sequential way, the overall production runs in parallel. It is very important to have a good team synchronization in the way we think and execute the entire musical cycle.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/embed/C8zXUkXV0rk

Media Contact
Company Name: Madras Chorus
Contact Person: Mithun Hariharan
Email: Send Email
Country: Netherlands
Website: www.madraschorus.com

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