Be it the evergreen Pachai Nirame from Alaipayuthe (2000), Secret of Success from Boys (2003), Kya Karoon from Wake Up Sid! (2009) or even the hit Coke Studio track Madaari (2012) — to pick the best of his works in a career spanning over two decades would be difficult. However, Mumbai-based singer-composer Clinton Cerejo thinks that the world needs a fresh outlook on pop music. And that’s why he decided to come up with his independent band, Shor Police.
“We aim to bring the fun back into the music that gets the audience excited about this genre again,” says Clinton, who has collaborated with Bollywood playback singer Bianca Gomes for this indie electro-pop outfit.“As a songwriter, Bianca has completely different musical influences from mine, which is why it’s great to collaborate with her.
There’s a lot of different stylistic ideas that we can both bring to the table and see what shape or form it takes,” says Clinton, while sharing that the songs they make are a product of their combined influences. “We are also influenced by what’s playing on the radio these days, as we want to have a radio-ready sound that also instantly connects with the YouTube generation,” he added.
Talking about the musical philosophy of this two-piece act, Clinton says he could describe it in one word — simplify. “From a musical standpoint, we want to make our music as accessible as possible while not being driven by any preconceived notions of who we are as artistes, or by our previous work on Coke Studio or in movies,” Clinton shares.
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Shor Police’s debut track, Anjaana, released last Friday across all digital platforms and has been receiving tremendous response. About the track, he says, “Anjaana is a funky track and was composed based on just the bass riff. It has got a lot of energy and we have been receiving fan mails saying that they have found their new workout track.”
As of now, they plan to stick to releasing singles rather than a complete album, as they want each of their songs to get equal attention. “We don’t really start with a typical jam, we just get a fix on what type of song we want to write, or the mood we want it to have, and go through a series of sounds or loops till something sounds interesting enough to build on. It could also be inspired by a musical hook or a lyrical idea,” says Bianca, about their sessions.
The band is set to release a bunch of videos over the next few months. Apart from originals, they will also be coming up with remixes of popular Bollywood as well as international hits. Watch out for a unique rendition of Clinton’s hit song, Endrendrum Punnagai, from Mani Ratnam’s Alaipayuthe.