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You
arrived in Japan after finishing University and deciding to travel.
You have said that your biggest shock was that no one spoke english.
How long have u been in Japan now and how long did it take you to
get a hold of the Japanese language ?
I have been in Japan on and off for
the past nine years. Learning Japanese is still an ongoing process
for me and I hope to eventually master the language.
How did you get your first singing job in Japan ?
I started off playing in cafes and
bars and some talent agency people scouted me and gave me the opportunity
to do session singing. After that I really pursued this direction
and with it came songwriting for various projects.
Are you an anime fan ? If so, any favorites?
I think Wolf's Rain is actually
one of my favourites
Who are your favorite/most inspirational artists or composers ?
Jeff Buckley, Crowded house, Nitin
Sawhney,U2, George Harrison and too many more to mention.
Do
you have a favorite song or piece of music ?
I can`t say that I have one favourite.
I love all sort of different music and I have several favorites.
Yoko Kanno is one of the most gifted and versatile composers working
today. How did you come to meet and work with her ?
Her label (Victor Entertainment)
actually tracked me down after they heard a cd that I did with a
Japanese DJ/songwriter named Tatsuya Oe AKA Captain Funk. The cd
is called "Songs of the Siren" and was actually quite
critically aclaimed in 2001
Mai Yamane (another artist who has worked with Kanno a number of
times) has said that alot of the time she would be asked to give
her vocals for the track but creativley she wasnt that involved.
This of course varies from track to track but how involved are you,
creatively, in the production of a track with Yoko Kanno?
I
often write lyrics for the songs that I sing so in that sense I
have some say in the creative process.
When did you become involved with Wolf's
Rain ?
About
a year and a half ago Yoko asked me to work on Wolf's Rain
and I of course accepted her offer.
Can you tell us a bit about making the track 'Strangers'.
I think that
Strangers is a magical track and is definetly on of my favorites.
We started recording on a cold and rainy winter evening in Tokyo.
The process was long ,but, the end result is satisfying.
Is
there any material you worked on for Wolf's Rain that hasn't
made it out to the public ?
No,
"Strangers" is the only track I have been involved with
so far.
Can you tell us anything about the elusive voice that is Gabriela
Robin ?
Sorry...I have been sworn to an oath of secrecy
Whats
your lasting impression of working with Yoko?
She
is a very hard working dedicated songwriter who seeks perfection.
Apart from lending your singing and songwriting talents to other
projects you are also part of a band called 'The Beautiful Losers'.
Can you tell us a bit about them ? Getting ready to promote the
cd's release in Japan ?
The
Beautiful Losers are myself and Brett Boyd and we both work as songwriters
in Tokyo . We have backup musicians when we are on tour here and
abroad. Our cd should be out in January so yes! We should be in
promotion mode soon.
You
have your own band called 'Shiva Blue' as well ?
Shiva
Blue is defunct at the moment as I am concentrating on working
with the rest of The Beautiful Losers.
What are you working on at the moment, whats next ? Another anime
project ?
I just finished
some songs for Konami games Beatmania series and I am working
on a song for a T.V drama as well as a lot of commercials. Yoko
Kannos label people and managment cam to our last show in Tokyo
so there is a possiblity we wil be doing some anime music quite
soon, hopefully under The Beautiful Losers moniker. I am
waiting to hear about some new soundtracks ,but, I won`t know anything
until about January 2005.
You have recently had a song you sung, "eternal turquoise",
used in a commercial for Yamaha.
Yes
it`s true that I sang a song for Yamaha, however, i was not aware
that the song title was "Eternal Turquoise" . I sing commercials
regularily and I usually have a few commericials on air at any given
time.
Is "eternal turquoise" going to be released on CD ?
Once again I am not sure if this is the song that I sang as the
title was called "Get back in love again".
(
Edit. – After
doing some more research we found that the song ‘Eternal Turquoise’
was in fact ‘Get back in love again’. Somewhere along
the line it appears that Yamaha have changed the song’s title
from Raj’s original.)
With
your music used in games, television series' & commercials,
is there a field you prefer to work in more than the others or is
the process relativley the same from a singer/songwriter's perspective
?
The
process is basically the same except that commercial music is on
a tighter time line and we are under pressure to make the client
happy as fast as we can. Commercials change seasonaly so they are
basically 30 second spots.
If you could have any project in the world to work on, what would
it be and what would you be doing ?
It
would be to work on The Beautiful Losers full time touring the world,
recording and sharing music and good vibes with lots of great people.
My dream is in the process of becoming reality.
And finally in closing, what's Raj Ramayya's rakuen like ?
A
beautiful beach with great surf, my acoustic guitar, spicy food
and the company of people who have a great sense of humour.
______________________________________________
A
selection of CDs that Raj has appeared on
(Chinchiromai) / Hakata Movie OST
- THE HEART-SHAPED GUN-
Lyrics/Vocals: Raj Ramayya-
The
Millenium Hits on TV
-
Time To Go/full moon -
Lyrics/Vocals: Raj Ramayya
Cowboy
Bebop Mini Album: Ask DNA
-
Ask DNA -
Vocal: raj ramayya
-
COSMIC DARE (PRETTY WITH A PISTOL) -
Lyrics: Raj Ramayya
GUITAR
FREAKS 5thMIX & drummania 5thMIX Soundtracks
-
BOBBY SUE AND SKINNY JIM-
Lyrics/Vocals: Raj Ramayya
Gungrave
OST
-
Here comes the rain -
Lyrics/Vocals: Raj Ramayya
Wolf's
Rain OST
-
Strangers -
Lyrics/Vocals: Raj Ramayya
______________________________________________
Rakuen's
Requiem would like to thank Raj for taking the time out to
answer the questions we had and on behalf of myself, the website
and all our readers, wish him all the best for future projects and
continued success with the Beautiful Losers.
If you would like to learn more about the Beautiful
Losers and listen to some samples of thier music then
head over to thier official website here
(or the link below). You can also check out Raj soundtrack to the
commercial he did for Yamaha
'Get back in love again' (or "eternal turquoise"). View
the commercial at Yamaha's website by clicking here.
VISIT
THE BEAUTIFUL LOSERS.NET
ELECTRO - ACOUSTIC - INDIAN - ALTERNATIVE - ROCK
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This
interview is © 2005 Rakuen's Requiem |
