For concert pianist, rock music always an attraction

Neecia Majolly is no stranger to awards and recognition. She is credited with releasing the first ever Western classical music album in the country — ‘The Renaissance Begins’ — in 2009 and is believed to be the first Indian Western classical pianist to have a piano album released by Universal Audio, USA.

Her project ‘The Majolly Project’ has been a force to reckon with in the international musical arena and has won accolades like Best Emerging Artist and Best Song at the Global Music Awards in 2015. She recently won ‘Alternative Artist of the Year’ at the fifth International Music and Entertainment Association Awards (IMEA Awards) in USA. She is the first Indian artist to win in this category.

Neecia spoke to Rajitha Menon about her work and the importance of this award.

For which project did you win the award?

It was mainly for my debut album ‘Please’. The award was for my work as an artiste and this was based on the work that I did in the album. The album was brought out in May last year. However, four singles were released much before and these either won or were nominated for many other awards. The full album had a total of 13 songs.

Can you tell us a bit about ‘Please’?

It is not a feel-good album. The genre is alternative rock, almost goth, and the themes are based on various issues like the environment, politics, women, personal tragedy and so on. So if someone wants to cheer up, this is not an album for them (laughs). I wrote all the songs myself. Some of them are focused on piano and vocals while some have been arranged by other musicians.

When did you become interested in music?

My parents were both musically inclined. At the age of two and a half, I was introduced to the piano by my father. I was trained in Western classical music but ever since I was small, I always wanted to do rock. It was a bit difficult to follow this since I was concentrating on classical music and establishing myself. Thankfully, this dream has come to fruition now.

Has there been an increase in the interest for Western classical music?

Generally, there has been an increase in interest in music, especially from parents who want music lessons for their children. We can see that from the number of music schools that have cropped up. Western classical music follows this trend and both kids and adults are taking to it in a big way.
In this field, the piano remains the favourite instrument, followed by vocal studies and the violin.

How important is this award?

In my speech at the awards, besides thanking people who I needed to thank, I also spoke about how I believed this award would be an inspiration to independent musicians in India. There is a lot of talent here but they are restricted by infrastructure or finances.

The majority of the music scene is dominated by Bollywood and it is difficult for non-film musicians, irrespective of language, to make an impact. Some bands have done it but it’s not enough. I hope this award inspires them to put their foot in the door.