Local pop at cross roads

In precisely three days, 'Cross Culture,' the latest local pop album, hits the market. And all you lucky people who get your hands on it, would be able to savour all of the creative nuances of this innovative creation by Gajan and Dinesh. With freshly apt themes running throughout, this album will surely be something different to the norm.

And this week, we caught up with the two artists behind 'Cross Culture,' to quiz them on some of the lesser known facts about the duo…

What's your favourite song in the album?
Gajan: "My favourite would be "Slow Down," which features Ashanthi. Basically the male/female combination works very well. It could be described as a jazzy-rap song, and lyrically, it is essentially hip hop, but the music is jazz. We even have a live trumpet playing for it. In the song, Ashanthi portrays a girl who is leaving her lover or fiancé, and my lyrics basically tell her to stay back, slow down and think things over.

Dinesh: "Though I like every single song in the album, my favourite would probably be "Naan Sonnal," and it was the first song I worked on with Bathiya. The song is about worldly life, and how you generally live your life for others, pretending you have it all."

What do you like most about the album?
Gajan: "Most albums, especially by foreign artistes are based on love and hate, in order to break into charts and stuff. But the themes we have implemented are so varied – from identity, being Sri Lankan, love for your mum, brotherhood, individuals and what they've achieved, and of course love and hate, and that would be what I like most about the album."

Dinesh: "I would say the flavour of the album. It's not just one thing, but loads of things were thought through when we were doing this album. I like the fact that every aspect of the album has an idea behind it."

Your favourite foreign artiste?
Gajan: "Obviously Black Eyed Peas, but other than that, the Fugees and Kanye West are two of my other favourites. I even like quite a few of Lionel Ritchie's hits as well. The Black Eyed Peas and the Fugees have been a great influence for "Cross Culture," as well.

Dinesh: "It would have to be Nitin Sawney of Buddha Bar, Black Eyed Peas and A.R. Rahman."

What was most memorable about shooting the video for "Cross Culture"?
Gajan: "We had loads of Red Bull during the shoot, and as a result we ended up being quite hyper. Since they were our sponsors, we had two whole cases full of Red Bull cans, and we started shooting at around 10 in the night, and went on till about 5 a.m. so it was obviously quite a long night!"

Dinesh: "We had quite a lot of fun recording the video. We were doing the shooting on a rooftop, and due to the strong lights we were using, it was extremely warm during the entire shoot. We were sweating so much, right throughout the shoot, all I kept wondering was if we could get this done properly!"

If you weren't a singer, what would you have wanted to do?
Gajan: "I would've wanted to build another Taj Mahal!"

Dinesh: "Well, if I wasn't singing, since I'm working as an Art Director already, I would've just liked to rise up in my profession!"

Any other talents… apart from singing?
Gajan: "Well…I can draw. When I was a kid, my mom sent me for drawing lessons, and I even got to exhibit some stuff at the Wendt, so yeah, I've still got that."

Dinesh: "Talking! I love to talk and I thoroughly enjoy talking to people, at all times! Plus it always gets the job done, so it works for me!"

Gajan's last request was for all school going girls to give the album a chance. "Though most guys enjoy hip hop music, girls generally prefer the more emotional kind of songs. So we just want to tell all you girls to have a listen to 'Cross Culture' - you'll definitely enjoy it."

As for Dinesh, he described the producing of the album as something meaningful that he really wanted to do in his lifetime. And anything for the fans? "Just buy my CD and love me!"

'Cross Culture' is scheduled to be launched, and will be available at music stores on February 14. A trilingual album, it contains 14 songs, and is released under Universal Music and M-Entertainment.