Singer, songwriter, producer and audio engineer Rohan Solomon is again making waves together with his newest single ‘We Demand Change’, launched on June 15, 2021. The lead vocalist of the erstwhile alt-rock band Cyanide, who was as soon as “shy to sing because he thought he didn’t have a good voice”, is at present a musician to reckon with. He was a part of the group ‘By Chance’ when he lived in New York and upped his manufacturing abilities whereas working on the largest studios there. If in 2019, whereas in Delhi, he had composed a trilogy — ‘Blue Sky’, ‘Hard to Breathe’ and ‘Time’ — in 2020 the pandemic triggered intense and reflective numbers equivalent to ‘Keep Holding On’ ‘Victoria Secret’ and ‘Without a Trace’.

This 12 months’s first launch ‘We Demand Change’ is a compelling observe that stirs feelings of “outrage, despair and hope”.

Connecting with us via an e-mail, Rohan shares excessive factors of his journey, his inspiration, collaborations and why Cyanide was disbanded. Edited excerpts:

The acoustic guitar and solo vocals of ‘We Demand Change’ contact a private chord. What was the method concerned?

That’s normally the basis of my songs; I all the time begin with simply an acoustic guitar, my voice, a notepad and a pen to jot down the lyrics. I used to be annoyed not solely as a consequence of COVID-19 but additionally the incidents of racial hate and violence everywhere in the world. I used to be clear I needed to jot down a track that talks about these points.

I made a decision that I can’t use ‘normal’ chords on this track. Each chord needs to be attention-grabbing and have a couple of additional notes. I didn’t use a regular guitar tuning, as a substitute used DADGAD, which is a chord in itself. These chords obtained the emotion proper after which the melody of the verse began popping up in my head.

All of this labored out simply with the guitar and my voice. All the things else was added later. As an illustration there aren’t any drums in the entire track, however there’s a beat, a rhythm that’s fashioned by sounds of stomps and gunshots. This instantly units the tone for the track. The ultimate piece is the symphony orchestra (co-composed by Harshit Verma and myself) that envelops it.

You launched three tracks in the course of the pandemic – was that the free time or the angst of the scenario that impressed you?

I’d say that the method of placing these songs out stemmed from each. Having extra free time allowed me to work on these songs and provides them slightly additional consideration for which I’d have wanted exterior assist in a traditional scenario. The method of doing it your self, together with the video made it tiring however rewarding. The angst of the scenario undoubtedly obtained my feelings effervescent, which I wanted to channel.

Cyanide was a profitable rock band, why did you all department out on particular person paths?

At Cyanide, we have been all very shut pals and had quite a lot of enjoyable enjoying music collectively. There was by no means a defining second the place we determined that “we are disbanding Cyanide”. It simply felt like a pure subsequent step for all of us. Everybody had different musical aspirations that they needed to discover and they’d not have match for Cyanide. We’ve got no regrets.

As for me, I simply felt like I wanted a break from the stage and performing reside. I used to be extraordinarily enthusiastic about being within the studio setting and making data. I knew nothing concerning the technical features of manufacturing music, so I went to New York Metropolis to study music manufacturing.

How did your New York stint assist you to develop?

It was a tremendous studying expertise and positively formed me a sure approach. It uncovered me to a number of native “scenes” and the kind of artists that I’d meet there. All people has their very own cliques and circuits. Manhattan has obtained its personal scene, ditto for Brooklyn and Hoboken. The extra reveals you attend, the extra acquainted faces you discover in these areas. The expertise is superb and so various.

Additionally, working at one of many largest mainstream studios in Manhattan, I used to be uncovered to artists equivalent to John Legend, Toni Braxton, Anderson Paak, Immortal Approach and lots of extra. Simply being within the room with these artists both within the type of a recording engineer or assistant engineer, I’d study a lot. It’s like being a cab driver driving George Lucas and Mario Puzo and overhearing the complete storyline of Star Wars and The Godfather earlier than they have been even launched. Seeing the drive and imaginative and prescient of the artists at that stage is superb.

Rock musicians who thrive on reside reveals should be lacking all of the motion in the course of the pandemic. How did you maintain your ardour and creativity?

Effectively, although I went right into a zone the place I needed a break from performing reside, I’ve these days been getting slightly enthusiastic about the potential for getting again on the stage and enjoying reside. Because the lockdown won’t permit that, I’d go reside on Instagram from time to time and simply carry out with my guitar for a couple of individuals who would be a part of and chat with me. It’s a good approach to join with individuals and it offers you a way of how your final single might have affected somebody.

So far as sustaining my ardour goes, I’m extra obsessed with making music within the studio than I’m about going out and performing (at the least as of now). I really like writing and producing my very own songs and producing songs for different artists. It’s such a present to have the ability to take another person’s imaginative and prescient and get inside their head and make it come to life.

Who’re your musical influences?

There are such a lot of! I assume the highest 5 are Michael Jackson, Foo Fighters, Bryan Adams, The Beatles and Daughtry, amongst others. As an illustration, I used to be all the time confused about what I needed to do musically. I used to be shy about singing and didn’t assume that I had a great voice, so I figured I’ll choose up the guitar and work on that. I used to be by no means capable of develop into a lead guitarist. I didn’t wish to simply be a vocalist with out a guitar as a result of the guitar was like a safety blanket for me. Then one high-quality day, I watched a reside video of Metallica and noticed what James Hetfield does; he performs the rhythm guitar and sings. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters does the identical factor. Impulsively, a lightweight bulb went off in my head and gave me the concept that being a vocalist/rhythm guitarist was the best way to go for me.

I really like vocal harmonies my songs have quite a lot of them. This affect got here from vocal teams beginning with The Jackson 5, The Temptations and The Beatles to the 90s vocal teams equivalent to Backstreet Boys and Hanson.

Did you prepare formally?

My first publicity to music as was after I was 12 and my cousin taught me a couple of chords on the piano. It was such a life-changing second for me and I went on to determine the remainder of the chords myself and transcribed them onto the guitar with the assistance of some chord books.

My mother was a music main skilled in Indian classical music and she or he used to observe each morning. I keep in mind waking up at 6 am each day and singing together with her. That was my casual coaching I assume. On the entire, I’m self-taught.

Your future works and collaborations?

I’m working in direction of placing collectively an album. It’s coming alongside slowly however absolutely. I shall be placing out a Christmas track in December this 12 months. I even have two tracks that I’ve sung and produced for an organisation ‘Students for India’ who’re a bunch of faculty children serving to society by making and distributing masks, arranging meals and milk for the underprivileged and sanitary pads for ladies.