Clinton Cerejo relaxes on the sofa in his hotel room,preparing for the night’s show. He and the Coke Studio team will be on stage atTHINK in a few hours, to close the festival of ideas with some heavy riffedfusion.
A resident of Mahim in Mumbai, Clinton’s roots in music werein his choir at the local church and it was from there that he branched outinto writing and composing music for jingles, Bollywood films and now abrilliant project in Coke studio that brings that best musicians in Indiatogether to explore and imbibe different styles of music.
Music in Mumbai has come a long way since the 90s, whenthere were brilliant bands and musicians but all they did was jam or play rockand blues covers. Today, Mumbai, along with other places in India, has seen thebirth of original music, singer/songwriters, bands that experiment withdifferent styles and mix genres. “We’ve come a long way since the days of IRockand other shows at Rang Bhavan. Today, internet penetration is at a high inplaces like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and other cities where there’s good musicbeing made. The internet can not only teach you but also be used as a platformto gain exposure,” says Clinton.
Clinton’s exposure came the hard way. He started off workingwith some of the best minds in the jingle industry. There were times when hewould watch 4-5 ad films a day and create 15-20 second tunes for each by theend of it. It was in a studio composing ad jingles where his life changed. Aman recording next door walked in because he liked what he heard. That man, wasAR Rahman.
Today, Clinton Cerejo is moving up the ranks of Bollywoodcomposers. His work with Coke Studio has drawn acclaim from all quarters and helooks to fusion as a great platform to showcase local sounds in a market thatconstantly wants to ape the West. “Fusion has never been presented to thepeople this way before. Today, people are getting to know the fundamentals offusion and things are progressing.”
At the end of the day, when it’s time to start afresh, orclear his mind, Clinton goes back to the music that he started with “ gospel.And he finds the switch from gospel to Bollywood and back quite effortless, andhe says with a smile, “It’s my gift to God, for the gifts he gave me.”
