Sunil Mantri: How did your new music video Emotion happen?
Asxem Dlean: I was catching up with a childhood friend, Jeremy Surin after 12 years. We spoke for a long time, talking about the paths our lives had taken us on. He was living in Canada, and spent a lot of time surfing. He would surf (http://www.surfwellness.com/) with his friends and make videos of these surf expeditions. Out of the blue he asked me if I would make a chill track for footage taken on one of his surfing trips. At that moment cogs and gears in my brain moved and fell in place. I had always wanted to make a music video for one of my tracks. And it was a perfect combination. Being a swimmer I know what it feels like to be one with the water, it’s something that surfing relates to as well. The motif was perfect for the chill track (Emotion) I had made. Youtube Link :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1UFy-kG2xQ
Sunil Mantri: Jeremy being in Canada and you in India, how did you start the work?
Asxem Dlean: So Jeremy and I got down to business. We sat for hours on Skype going through every bit of footage he had, analyzing it, justifying it, understanding it and so on. We had to. I mean just because we had some videos doesn’t mean you just slap it on to a track and synch it with the beats right? It had to have a purpose on its own. You know something is complete only when every element of it serves some purpose or the other.
Jeremy and I came up with the notion of building a storyline for the song, a progression of sorts. After long hours and multiple chat sessions and immense scrutiny we finally managed to arrange a specific order that made sense. But I’m a sound engineer and he’s a surfer, neither of us knew anything about video editing.
Sunil Mantri: Who did the Video editing?
Asxem Dlean: That was where a good friend of mine Amar, who had just returned from Singapore after graduating from film school, came to my aid.
At this point two things were happening. I was in talks with Amar sketching out the details and storyboard of the video. Simultaneously I was also polishing the mix of Emotion so that I could send it to another close friend Pruthu Parab who was the perfect guy to master it. Pruthu finished the track giving it the perfect quality and rounding up the sound exactly the way I had wanted it to be.
Sunil Mantri: How many days it took to get the video ready?
Asxem Dlean: Once the track was finalized Amar and I sat for 4 days giving the video as much time as possible to make sure the music and story went perfectly hand in hand. Finally all the technical aspects of the video were completed giving the video its calm and chilled out textures.
All the processes and packaging done, we were finally ready to launch.
Sunil Mantri: Tell us more about EMOTION.
Asxem Dlean: EMOTION embodies the refreshing and childlike wonder we seem to have trashed in our youthful exuberance to grow up. The track draws from pure simplicity, and beautifully explains the core of our existence
That feeling of being part of the ocean and being on top of the world is divinely captured not only in the video, but uniquely complemented by the music. Surfing’s freedom, adventure and creativity are perfectly encapsulated in the unpretentious and eloquent 2 chord composition crafted with simplicity.
In Pic: Jeremy with his Surfing Team
The music disregards all the chaos and excess that fills our real lives and focuses on the very basics of happiness. An uncluttered existence, where we allow ourselves to truly feel experience and appreciate the things that actually matter. Clean, crisp and as fluid as water, the track will take you to that special happy place where none of the junk that fills our heads matters. It brings back the dreamy look of a 5 year old as he builds sand castles on the beach.
Sunil Mantri: How is the response you’re getting for the music video?
Asxem Dlean: The video was aired on Nation TV on the 11th of November 2014, and the response from the audiences has been inspiring. The support that the public has shown towards an unknown indie Artist is visible in the sheer number of views, Shares and general positive feedback we have seen over the last month.
Another unique aspect of Emotion, and part of the reason the video and music has been so well received is the fact that in India, this is the first instance of an Independent artist launching a Track with a surf themed video to complement it. No other artist has used Surfing footage as the content for their music videos, and this adds to the unique outlook of the artist as well as the music.
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