This is the story of three men in a boat. No, they weren’t a butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker; they were a musician, a musician, and well, another musician. Armed with only their instruments, their wits and a desire for change in what may well be turning out to be a static industry (for the most part), they braved the elements (along with the video editor of their production) at the crack of dawn, to embark on what promises to be an interesting journey. This journey is called ‘Reel Goa Sessions’.
Reel Goa Sessions involves finding true Goan soul through something that is ever so synonymous with Goan being: music. Recorded at a location which is organically Goan, sites for such videos could be anything from the coast, to an agrarian setting, to a lonesome gulmohar atop a deserted hill. Participants get only one bite at the cherry, and songs are recorded in one take, live and with minimal editing. This is all done with the objective of staying as close and honest to the environment as possible.
“This is a concept I’ve wanted to do for a very long time; just trying to capture the sheer essence of real Goa in a reel. I think that that is what has happened with the first episode. When I analyse the contents, I think back on when Tushar (Kamat) jammed with me on the song in April. At that time, it just kind of worked. So it was at the back of my mind, and then the coming together of it happened serendipitously,” says singer-songwriter, Vince Costa, who is the main ideologist behind the concept, while discussing its origins.
The debut video of Reel Goa Sessions amassed over an impressive 426 views on YouTube within the first day of its posting. Featuring an improvisation of the song ‘Captain of your Heart’ from Vince’s debut album, the video also sees popular Goan musicians,Tushar Kamat and Marwino da Costa take the…well…boat (for want of a stage).
Tushar Kamat, one of the co-collaborators, has made massive waves over the past year. His songs, ‘Hello Patrao’ and ‘Take A Taxi, Go’ have been critically acclaimed as well as commercially successful. However, Tushar finds that these little indie projects, devoid of commercial appeal, stripped down to their very soul, are the ones that are easiest to relate to. “I met with Vince earlier this year, after having already listened to some of his work. At that time I told him about a couple of tunes that had presented themselves to me when I heard his album. Being as open a songwriter as he is, he thought it was worth doing something with it, and here we are,” he shares.
Of course, the peril with such experimental projects is that very often artistes can start second-guessing themselves; wondering if the collaborations are better than the original work itself. This theory is one that Tushar pooh-poohs, saying “If your work is great, then it will draw the attention of other musicians who will in turn want to add additional dimensions to it. At the end of the day, if someone presents rubbish to a mass audience, no other artiste will want to jump the bandwagon. As such, any artiste who is approached by a co-collaborator, should take pride in the fact that his work is so good, that someone else wants to be a part of it.”
This in turn, is a point of view shared by the other collaborator on the video, Marwino da Costa who believes that the essence of music lies in its grit, minus all the buffing that polishes its natural state. “I am always willing to add my two cents to an original project, especially one that is as natural as this. At the end of the day, when you have no re-takes, when its one shot only, you just play like you would in a natural setting; all soul and no fluff. I love working with music that flows so freely and I am really proud to be a part of the pilot venture of a project like this, because I really believe that it can pave the way for greater things in the future,” he shares.
But while the glory is often shared by those in front of the camera, the guts that are spilled in the process are often at the back end of the project; and from fending his team off from stray dogs, to ensuring that people didn’t walk through frames, to controlling drones and ensuring that cameras didn’t topple over when placed in sand, much of the same glory has to be shared with the man behind the camera: Dunstan Dias. “It was a massive feat! I think many people who were present on site thought that we were some kind of celebrities and wanted in on the action. Between that and trying to hold cameras steady, I think that we pulled it off like we intended. I think that this experience will hold us in good stead and give us the momentum we need to focus on other organic settings for future session of this project,” the young drummer and videographer shares.
While the sessions will be experimental in nature and cross musical expression and genres, Vince believes that within the next six months, Reel Goa Sessions will find its feet and be an independent platform by which Goan artistes can find a new means of expression. And while many a Goan may be jaded and not have faith in this, thinking it to be just another mushrooming project, perhaps we need to be like Vince, and heed the words of the epic hit by the 80’s band Journey; perhaps it’s finally time that we ‘don’t stop believing’.
