The system that’s broken, Now what will we do?
We demand change!
We demand acceptance
We demand change!
We demand justice & truth
Won’t take it no more.
These are the lyrics of Rohan Solomon’s latest single titled ‘We Demand Change’ that recently made it to the Top 30 on the World Indie Music Charts. This is Solomon’s first song of 2021, after he released several well-received singles about the different shades to life in the pandemic last year.
About ‘We Demand Change’, the former Cyanide vocalist says, “The song calls for introspection, for seeing what’s truly within us and taking that one step towards change — big or small, it doesn’t matter.”
The track starts with stomps and guns being loaded and fired, which hints at violence being one of the the mesad - dressed in the song. A powerful beat goes throughout the song but it does not feature any drums. “In the line, ‘The system that’s broken, for centuries too.’, the song talks about both the internal and external thought processing systems,” he adds.
While Solomon has written and produced the song, he cocomposed it with Harshit Verma. “The instruments used are guitar, piano, bass, and stomps and gunshot samples for the beat. The orchestra comprises multiple instruments like violin, viola, cello, double bass, trumpet, trombone, timpani, celeste etc.”
The whole video was filmed in the middle of the second wave via Solomon’s iPhone largely in his home garden. “I took the help of a boy, Dharminder, who works as support staff for my family [to shoot the video]. My friend Cheilean Jacob who lives in the US edited the video and added the lyrics to the screen,” adds Solomon.
The musician/producer feels that there needs to be a change in the core foundation of humanity. “I am sure there is a possibility for a world where anger and violence is not the default setting for any kind of dispute or disagreement. This just seems to be something that downloaded into our brains, but this can change,” he adds.
Not leaving the message of his song just to the song and video routine, Solomon has also started a series of live chat titled Change Bringers on Instagram that will feature some real Change-bringers of the society. “It’s my humble attempt to carry forward the same sentiment by playing a very small role in spreading awareness about these good folks who are sparing time from their daily lives to make a difference.
The first Changebringer we featured was Viraj Kalra, India’s top rated Executive Coach and co-initiator of the Covi10 task force that has been working tirelessly in the last few months to help people. We are yet to confirm who is next, but the line-up has a beautiful mix of school students to adults, who are focusing on making a change and helping the society.”
Solomon will release two singles later this year. “These are two very special tracks made for two organisations that are doing a great job. One of them is Students For India, for whom I have had the privilege of writing their theme song. We will release the track ahead of Independence Day,” he concludes.