By: Karun Lama
Based in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia city, Vasu J Das, who is a passionate guitarist associated with several local music bands in the past, turns his passion for music into a professional set-up – ‘Boon Studio’ and ‘VJD Creations’, to fulfill his long aspiration of establishing his music production studio, thereby, providing a platform to the budding vocalists, especially the new ones. In his ‘Boon Studio’, Vasu, who is also a mechanical engineer by profession, puts on all his skills and expertise in creating quality music of different genres. This musical set-up has so far been highly successful in regard that music enthusiasts are of the appreciation for the quality of music produced there, that too, at a very nominal cost and even free for many aspiring ones.
As he reveals himself as a self-learned man as far as music is concerned, his journey is indeed an insightful one to peek at for aspiring musicians. This piece of the column, let us know from the person himself about his new venture and peek into his understanding of music and career.
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Below are some excerpts from a telephonic interview with this unexplored personality and a passionate music composer, Vasu J Das –
Karun Lama: Amidst your professional career as an engineer in a reputed gas firm, how did the thought of this new venture come up in your mind?
Vasu J Das: I have always been fascinated by musical instruments, but never had the opportunity to learn one. The hurdles could mainly be either the financial part or the strictness imposed by the guardian. Similarly, the ones who could sing well might have to compromise on the same ground. To help these young and fresh talents and to help them overcome the financial restriction in producing their songs, I felt the need of stepping in and doing something.
Karun: What is unique in Boon Studio? Also, the same sounds pretty interesting. Your comments.
Vasu: One of my maternal uncles has been a fan of the former Australian international cricketer David Boon. Also, the day when I was born, my paternal uncle had had his very first job. They both had agreed to call me ‘Boon’. Thus, I named the Studio, Boon, to call it a blessing to the talented ones.
We are the only Studio here, where we don’t have any hourly charges. Our clients can drop in as early as the Studio’s working hours commence and leave when it closes. Or if they are not satisfied with their recording sessions on that particular day, they can come back and do it all over again. Apart from all these, the charge for one particular song, as compared to any other professional studio is substantially less.
With the help of my excellent team VJD Creations, we write, compose and produce songs, mix/master them, create the artwork, shoot their videos, edit them, and upload their music on all leading audio and video platforms. It’s like, they simply have to lay in their voice and the rest is on us. And this entire package comes at a very affordable price.
Also, every month we offer a FREE package to one such talent, and his/her selection is done by our Talent search team.
Karun: Some say that music is an inborn trait that not everyone is gifted. On the contrary, some others say that music is just like other disciplines or skills that can be learned. What is your take on this?
Vasu: As they say, “You can drag a horse to the river, but you can’t make him drink”. I believe it’s all based on interest. One’s interest is the most important aspect, not just in music but in every other field. If one develops the interest, the rest follows gradually. If one is born talented, that’s wonderful. Even if somebody is not born with any such skills, they could easily develop them with a bit of effort and attempt in the proper direction.
Karun: Being a passionate music lover, you didn’t choose a full-time music career. Do you sometimes feel you could have reached great heights at this time already if you had started such a venture much earlier?
Vasu: I believe the best way to carry and maintain a profession and a passion simultaneously is to be able to balance them. At the moment, I have to create the financial strength for my music production for which my Engineering job is playing the said role. Once I feel, from thereon, Music would carry me through professionally as well as financially; I would happily choose it as a full-time career plan. At this point, I have to mention that I am blessed to serve a company that has such understanding colleagues. They never disagree if I have to perform a task related to music.
Karun: Would you like to share a little bit about your prospects?
Vasu: I simply wish for my clients to be able to work with all the leading names in the local, national as well as international forum of music. Undoubtedly it would take a good load of time and a big amount of effort. For this, I am ready to deliver quality songs and hand them out to the world so that these bunch of talented singers, get good and lasting exposure.
Karun: How do you see the evolution of music and the industry in Assam or NE region in particular, and India in general? Also, shed some light on the Assamese contribution to Indian music at large.
Vasu: The evolution of music, as I see it, the rate has been slow and also not everlasting. Everybody out there wants to ‘cut through the lot. They try to come up with new and ‘different’ music. But as could be seen, they end up making renditions of the already-popular songs. This needs to change.
Assam is a very rich state in terms of music and related trait. We have extremely talented singers but sadly, everybody wants to end up in Bollywood. Well, it’s not wrong to have a destination, but why can’t we try to put the Assamese music to the whole world. Assam’s signature tunes could be heard in just a handful of Indian songs (in general). I am still waiting to hear ‘Pepa’ on a modern-day Dance number produced by an overseas music composer.
Karun: As you have been associated with several metal bands as an artist in the past, to what extent do you see the influence and popularity of western music in the regions like Assam and Northeast? Is there any threat to the native or folk music and culture from such western influences?
Vasu: We get to learn a lot about music from our Western counterparts and the same applies to them as well. I, personally, am not ok with just the basic major and minor chords. I want to venture out to the major 9ths, minor 13ths, and so on. For which we need to listen to songs that use these chords. And Western music has these in abundance. A lot of musicians from the NE are well-versed in these. Bands and artists like Soulmate, Alobo Naga, Papon, and many others are good examples. Thus, Western influence has played a major role in the region.
The best part of music is if you mix the sound of a French Horn with ‘Gogona’, or Clarinet with Assamese Dhol, you could still get people to bounce off their seats. In other words, there’s no threat to our culture or music from the Western end.
Karun: What is music for you?
Vasu: Article 19 (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution: Freedom of Speech and expression.
(The author is a writer, columnist & can be reached at karunlamascholar@gmail.com)
