Indie Heat Interview: Kail Maheswaran, Mooshika Music
Lonnie McAfee (Lonzo) interviewed Kail Maheswaran for CosmicJAAM.com in 2011. Lonzo is an Associate Editor, reviewer and music critic for CosmicJAAM.com. To comment on this interview go to Lonnie's blog at http://cosmicjaam.com/wp/lonnie/Kail Maheswaran is the producer and band front man for the indie label Mooshika Music. He is based out of Miami, Florida.
CosmicJAAM: Tell us briefly about your own background and some of your earliest introductions to music. Influences? Favorite venues? Getting cops called on you?
Kail: I was born the middle child of three kids in the Bronx, New York, to a Sri Lankan father and Puerto Rican mother. Neither of my parents were musicians, but they had a great appreciation for a variety of musical styles and there always seemed to be music happening in the house. A lot of 70’s American funk music , but also classic American, Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican dance music from the 50’s , 60’s and 70’s , as well as Indian and Sri Lankan dance and devotional music, was played around the house. Some of my earliest memories have to do with feeling and experiencing all this wonderful music, jumping around to it and having all these images and imaginative play going around in my head.
When I think back to it, I always felt deeply involved and emotionally moved by the music I was listening to, even when I was three or four years old. This love of music continued to grow and develop over the years.
My family moved down to Miami, Florida, and I spent most of my formative and adult years here in Miami. As time went on, I decided that I wanted and I needed to create and perform my own music. So, I spent a great majority of my teenage years listening, practicing and playing music with my brother and our musically inclined friends. Over the years I have played in many different bands and in many different roles too. I taught myself many instruments, but had formal education in jazz harmony and composition.
As I mentioned before, my influences started coming in early in my childhood listening to the various music my parents and family listened to, but as I grew older and especially when I started writing and performing my own music, I wanted to be original, or at least original in my approach, to a given style. I saw what was popular style-wise or popular technique-wise with my peers and I was influenced to do the opposite. I consciously didn’t want to jump on any bandwagons , I wanted to be my own thing , an individual, despite it being successful or not .
CJ: What role do you feel the democratization of the music production process plays in today’s climate of social upheaval and public outrage? Does it have a place?
Kail: It does have a place. I feel everyone wants their voice heard, their efforts realized and appreciated to some degree or the other. When it comes to the production of music it can get tricky, especially when dealing with passionate and opinionated band members. Each artist has their individual vision of how a particular song or specific part should be handled. But, at some point, all these individual ideas and energies need to be focused into one unified expression. I’ve been the producer of most of my group’s music and have found that by establishing an open communication with and between group members, and taking other's valid suggestions and opinions into consideration when developing the final product, builds trust and enthusiasm from them that they are truly an invaluable part of the artwork. One gets the best energy, vibe and performance from the others when they feel mutually appreciated and respected for what they bring to the table, and that carries over into the music.
CJ: What are your experiences with speeches or protest songs in speech-restricted regions?
Kail: I have had past experience with performing styles of music in areas where the music itself was met with hostility. A group I played with in the past was hired to perform a few sets at this particular club that apparently had a very bigoted, ignorant owner, or perhaps he was the manager. Our group at the time was multicultural as well as multi-genre, we started into our Rap , Hip Hop set songs and the owner leaped at us, cursing us out, looking like he was about to have a heart attack over the style of music we were playing . We were in disbelief over the reaction and the racial slurs, etc. It was almost comical how he was carrying on, I think we made him even more angry as we laughed in his face while he was paying us the full amount he was obliged to despite the half-a-gig performance.
CJ: How relevant does music remain in shaping the worldview of today’s perpetually distracted youth? Does the message get them out in the streets or just to click “Like” on Facebook? Or is it the same?
Kail: Music is still very relevant in terms of how it shapes the views of today’s youth. The problem is that the majority of music, especially popular music, is vapid, and intentionally distracting the youth from what really matters or from what’s really going on around them. It’s not music for art sake or for a means of personal expression for uplifting or creating change or awareness in others, but music solely as an advertisement of a product to go out and buy several other products. Unfortunately, this has been happening from the beginning of the music business, certainly from the times of selling music based products. It’s a shame because music in its essence is sacred, powerfully healing and should be respected.
CJ: Where and how do you spend the most time writing songs? How do you keep track of your ideas?
Kail: Recently ,I’ve been writing my songs in isolation, immersing my self in a mood, a feeling, a concept, and then fleshing it out on my own. On my soon to be released new album titled Wish Tree, I spent most of the writing sessions alone with my guitar and thoughts. The songs on this upcoming album are very personal and more introspective than my other works. I would meditate on what a particular idea means to me, or how I felt about a particular thing, and let the muse take me on a personal journey to where the song needed to go.
On other albums, songs grew out of group improvisations and then we’d go back and “trim the fat”, so to speak , and rework and rearrange songs into shape and form. So this upcoming album is more of an individual effort.
I usually record my ideas an a little recorder, sometimes I’ll write out the music on paper , but later on looking at the paper doesn’t convey the little things like maybe the way I sang the melody or how I stressed the rhythm in a particular way, etc. So that is why I like it better to capture the ideas on a recording.
CJ: You’d mentioned the cultural origins of your act’s moniker-- The Rat, eh? I can certainly identify with that. How do you personally feel about being the rat? Or is it more about having the rat at your disposal, should you need it?
Kail: To me, the concept of the rat, my association with it, is that of it’s symbolic nature in relation to the God concept in Hinduism. It is the vehicle, the medium of the spirit (God), the muse. It represents the various desires, energies and passions of mankind which are all controlled and harnessed by the rider into an expression of the sublime, the fuel to attain higher states of being, realization, and understanding, which through the process, transforms the initial components.
Also, I see it as a sort of symbol for the underdog , a ‘meek shall inherit the earth’ type of thing.
CJ: Do you find it difficult to balance work with art? As an up-and-coming musician, how do you reconcile the necessities of everyday life with the ability to make the art you want to make?
Kail: I do find it hard sometimes to balance both. I find that in the past I would spend a lot more of my time physically creating and working on my craft which I miss being able to do. Nowadays, I spend more time conceptualizing my music, working out ideas and issues in my head before I even get a chance to touch my instruments. In some ways that might be better for getting a different or overall perspective on a song before getting caught up in the physical technicalities of the part. But, I do miss being able to immerse myself for hours in performing and listening to music, like I used to early on.
CJ: What advice can you offer musicians who are today where you were, say, two years ago?
Kail: Keep true to your original vision of who you or your band was when you all first set out , and try to maintain that while reaching your goals.
For more information on Kail’s upcoming album Wish Tree and his music, go to mooshikamusic.com
To comment on the interview go to http://cosmicjaam.com/wp/lonnie/
