Ayan De likes to pull melodies out of a mundane world. The much sought after music producer who goes by the moniker Paralights reveals, “One day I decided to ‘mic up’ my room just to see what kind of sounds I would hear.” Who would have thought that the creak of a chair or the thud of a tumbler being placed on a table could work it’s way on to a studio-recorded track? But this Chennai boy, now based in Mumbai, seems to find his tunes just about everywhere.
His debut EP, ‘Scores For Your Background’ which released online last month promises exactly what its title suggests. A five-track set list of ‘ambient electronica’ to set the mood for the daily grind of life. “There were a lot more (tracks), but I took some of them off because I don’t think my vocals are that great,” he admits modestly.
So what kind of tunes do these compositions set the mood to? “Uh everything,” he responds quickly. “Coffee-making, Facebook-posting, even a night of insomnia.” This last composition, aptly titled Wide Awake was as one would guess, was inspired by the real deal. After three years in the business and a wide repertoire of indie clientele including The Riot Peddlers, The Lightyears Explode, Blek, Microphon3, Null Friction, and Goddess Gagged – Ayan admits, sleep isn’t one of the plus features of music producer’s lifestyle. “On a bad day, I might get two hours of shut-eye tops,” the 26-year-old tells us. “And bad days come around a lot,” he adds, with a dry sense of humour.
In fact, given his hectic recording schedule, making a solo EP was never intended in the first place. “I would just make random tracks that I could piece out separately for other production gigs,” he explains. But as luck would have it, these time-pass compositions did get their share of support from friends. “I already had about 20 tracks ready to go, just by experimenting with new techniques I wanted to learn,” Ayan continues. So the base riffs were ready easily enough. “It would start out with just a beat,” he says simply. “There was no thinking of a theme or a subject – just whether it sounded good enough to record or not.” However, the musician states in retrospect, “I’ve done my fair share of deleting as well: 312 tracks, over two years to be very specific.” This is saying a lot considering all his compositions are a one-man operation. “I play the piano and guitar – all learned at home in Chennai,” the music producer-cum-composer reminisces. “I remember heading out to The Unwind Center after school with my guitar, playing for a few culturals.” No doubt, he’s has come a long way from that beginning, over a decade ago. Presently he says, “I’m working on a solo project with a real veteran in the business - Siddharth Basrur (vocalist of Goddess Gagged).”
There’s also EP number two on the way. However on a sidetrack, one has to wonder: where does the name Paralights fit into all of this? “I hate coming up with names,” Ayan responds immediately. “I was using a synthesizer a couple of months ago, and I noticed the patch name: Paralights.” Much like his melodies, born from random inspiration – the name seemed to fit just right. (Listen to ‘Scores For Your Background’ on http://paralights.bandcamp.com/)