BENGALURU : Live shows from living rooms, interactive sessions and online music jams... As many in the music fraternity wonder when their next outdoor show would take place, they are re-inventing themselves to reach out to their audience. For musician Jason Zachariah, the lockdown has been a blessing in disguise. His routine otherwise involved about 13 shows a month. On July 3, Zachariah, who is also the co-founder of Nathaniel School of Music, will release his fourth album, The Absence of Laughter (a piano reprise), after having spent the last three months mixing, mastering and giving the album finishing touches.
This particular album holds a special place for Zachariah, who has dedicated it to his late father, John K Zachariah, who was the principal of Bishop Cotton Boys’ School, who passed away two years ago. “My dad inspired me to take up the arts and more importantly, to also respect it,” says Zachariah who has been releasing one riff every day for five years.
Work on the album started over two years ago, and it was to be out in December 2018. “In fact, Dad had heard eight out of the 13 songs and passionately supported it. However, after his passing, I lost interest until recently when I decided to bring it to fruition,” says the musician, who has also dedicated it to Dennis Ostern, a close friend who died suddenly, and also sung one of the songs in the album.
Over 40 musicians from across the world, including Kedarnath Havaldar (tabla) and Ashwini Koushik (flute), have contributed to the work. The main song, The Absence of Laughter, was conceptualised on the piano like his other songs. “When my brother, Jonathan Zachariah, took a look at the work, he came up with an accompanying story that became a music video, that of a clown who smiles his way through personal problems, and came up with the album’s name. Most of the themes are such, not very straightforward but entertaining,” he says about the songs in the album, which also touch upon women empowerment.
An audio engineer, Zachariah says most of his work is instrumental in nature. Having already started work on his next album, which he hopes to release by the end of the year, the musician says, “That’s going to reflect all the changes that have taken place in my life in the recent past.”