Yes, singing has its genesis in exuberance and it applies to anybody and everybody. Many a time, singing in the shower just reflects this fact; a person, all by himself, singing in joy, in his own personal and private place, the bathroom.
So when Sunil Koshy, a techie and a trained singer, decided to help his bathroom singing friends, he did not expect that the idea would find so many 'drenched' singers.
After creatively titling his idea as Mug to Mike, Sunil, who has sung for many albums, serials and has also assisted in films, decided to conduct workshops for bathroom singers. Ably assisted by his wife, Archana Hallikeri, the workshop is conducted at Sa Studio at Thyagarajanagar.
“We all are pretty occupied in our daily monotonous work. We hardly find any time to learn music. So when some of my friends, who were hardcore bathroom singers asked me, 'Where and how to learn music?', it struck me. And after some brainstorming with my wife, we started Mug to Mike inspiring bathroom singers to come out of the closet and try their talent," he states.
The duo created a Facebook page and urged reluctant singers to join the workshop. "There is no age limitation and anybody can sing a song of their own choice and language. To register for the workshop, you don’t have to be a good singer; all you need is a passion for singing, and yes the experience in bathroom singing is a must," Sunil states.
The First Session
To begin with, the members get a chance to record his or her voice in the high-end studio. "In order to understand the singer's voice, we record without music. Later their recording and a detailed analysis of their singing is mailed to them after the workshop," says Sunil. The session costs `500.
The Advanced Session
Singers who are interested can also attend the advanced session after the first session, which is provided at the couple's home from 10 am to 6 pm with lunch being provided. The cost of this session is `1000. "During the session, we use the demonstration method and teach voice exercises focussing on the improvement areas as well as on accent and pronunciation," he said.
Third Level
After the advanced session, a free follow-up session is conducted. "I encourage them to sing along with music and also suggest to buy a keyboard or harmonium. I am also planning to do a show with all the advanced participants in the near future," Sunil says.
Coming up
The first batch started on April 27 this year. So far, around 150 members have participated and seven batches have been completed successfully. The next two batches will be on July 13th and 14th.
According to P S Kumar, the 65-year-old artist and Kannada Rajyotsava award winner for Fine Arts/ Sculpture, the sessions were indeed a unique experience. "Learning the basics of singing with actual pronunciation, rhythms, breath control and recording of voice in the studio was a great experience. It gives some sort of relief to the mind," he said.
For details, Email: frommugtomike@gmail.com or call 9845286308. Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/FromMugToMike
m revati@newindianexpress.com
Passionate pursuit
Hailing from Kerala, born and brought up in Abu Dhabi, Sunil graduated from KLE Society of Engineering in Belgaum. At present, he is a team leader in one of the IT companies in Bangalore.
“My passion was to learn music but it was quite difficult to balance both work and singing. Because of my passion, I was working on and off,” says the 35-year-old techie.
Taking sabbatical from work and going in search of music gurus, he finally realised his dream.
He has been trained by eminent gurus such as Vidwan R R Keshava Murthy, a senior violinist; Pandit Venkatesh Godkhindi, the senior most flautist of Karnataka; Ustad Faiyaz Khan, an Indian classical vocalist; Guru Shashikiran, Carnatic Vocalist; and T V Gopalakrishnan, a Carnatic and Hindustani musician from Chennai.
Sunil has also performed with many film musicians in Bangalore, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
On his future plans, he says, “Other than planning to do a show with all the advanced session participants, I also plan to collaborate with top musicians and release independent music.”
India's first
Sunil created 'Reboot' - India's first audio film of 40 minutes and released it in November 2012. It's a narration of an fictitious Indian techie, which includes six songs and short dialogues in Kannada and English. Some of the best musicians have played along with him including Keith Peters, Maxwell, Alwyn Fernandes, Ustad Faiyaz Khan and top lyricist Jayant Kaikini. He was also nominated as the best singer in non-film music awards category by KIMA (Kannada International Music Awards) for the song 'O Gelatiye' from Reboot.