Award-winning Indian composer and guitarist Eshaan Noorani, knew how to make the most of his time from the comfort of his home and with his passion, music. For five months, he brought on so many new musicians to the social media portray that really accelerated their success in the music industry. Ehsaan is part of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio which consist of Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonsa and himself. The trio have composed music for over 50 soundtracks across languages. They have won numerous awards, including National Film Award, Filmfare Awards, IIFA Awards.
“I was doing Instagram live in the lockdown, every night for five months. I came across different artists from all over India and I figured out, that there were many artists in the North East of India. The North East has got great musicians, I’m not saying good but great in terms of songwriters and music producers. But, unfortunately, nobody was giving them that kind of attention. Everybody knew these musicians are there but people forget. The tribals have got different languages so they sing in their language and mix English into it but most of the groups sing in English,” says Ehsaan.
Speaking about his background, Ehsaan informs that he comes from a family of architects. “We are a very close knit family. My mother and I speak about five times a day. My sister passed away recently. I come from a family of architects. My father, Dilawar Noorani, designed the first skyscraper in Bombay called Usha Kiran. He was written about a lot and it was a beautiful building which stands even now. After he died, it was natural that I would be getting into architecture because I had the aptitude for design and creativity but somehow it all led into music and I eventually went aboard to study music at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, USA.”
The right push from a noted musician goes a long way in encouraging young talent. “A lot of indie artists have got attention now, thanks to the five months of Instagram videos. People were hearing them from all over the world including my Instagram live, where we were sharing their music. Now they have 100,000 to 200,000 followers and people download and buy their music. There are people who have given up their careers and got into music full time. It is a responsibility of an artist like us as you have to nurture these people as it is your legacy. You need to push these guys and get them into it and it just enriches the musical soil of the country,” explains Ehsaan.
The composer trio and multi-instrumentalists Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy have been working together on hits for more than two decades and they have their own creative ups and downs. He shares the chemistry, “We are 28 years together. It is not fighting but a creative process. I have left Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy 20 times, taken my bags and left and said I’m not coming back. I stayed away for two to three days and they know I’ll come back and then I go back. It is about creativity. Creative people are emotional people, so when you trying to draw a line between subjectivity and objectivity, there is going a difference. I tend to be objective, like ‘I think this is terrible’ and Shankar tends to be very subjective, ‘I think it’s very beautiful, how can you say that?’ Loy is neutral like an iceberg and eventually he will make a statement that will end the argument. He knows that it is something that is growing.”
They are next working on Zoya Akhtar’s film, ‘The Archies, Meghna Gulzar’s ‘Sam Bahadur’, Sooraj Barjatya’s son, Avnish’s directorial debut film which has very melodic, old school music and later on Farhan Akhtar’s film, ‘Jee Le Zaraa’
Why do the same songs get remixed even now for new films? “I don’t know whether record companies don’t have trust in artists who create music. I do believe there are people who write good music. There’s a track record where people have written hits, it’s not like you can’t do it. They believe that old artists can’t do it anymore and the new artists are puppets of the business. More than anything, I feel sad for them but that’s the way it is. You have to survive. So whatever is valid but in the big picture you would want it to be something different,” he says.
Ehsaan says that since he is a guitar player, his favourite music genres are blues, rock and jazz. “There are so many Goan musicians in Mumbai and many have recorded with us as well. Many senior musicians have passed away but I do know a lot of musicians who are here in Goa, especially members of bands like Syndicate, Big City Band and Lynx. Goans got a great heritage in music,” concludes Ehsaan.