Back in 2012, when Ekk Deewana Tha (the Hindi version of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa/Ye Maaya Chesave) was made, the songs in the film came under a lot of attention, especially because the music director AR Rahman chose to replace many voices in the Hindi remakes of the already hit songs. The super popular Hosanna that featured Vijay Prakash, Suzanne and rapper Blaaze in the Tamil version was rerecorded with Maria Roe Vincent, Suzanne D’Mello and a brand new and fresh voice, Leon D’Souza. Leon’s voice became an instant hit with fans of the Hindi version while many of the fans of the Tamil/Telugu version were left wondering why such a fresh, young and different voice was chosen.
Fast forward to mid-September when Instagram ID @music_beat75 posted a live performance of Leon performing the same song as a reel at an event, and the internet went crazy! In less than 24 hours the reel garnered over 28 million views (and counting) and most people reposted the reel, tagging Leon and thanking him for the song — exclaiming, almost always, that they didn’t know he was the voice behind the song. We caught up with Leon to find out more about this revival of sorts, his past and to also discover what he’s been upto all this while…
How did you feel about being suddenly drawn back into the limelight with the reel?
Hosanna has been very special for me. It picked me up as a regular singer who sang in the choir at church to being a name that people would know, more or less. Over the past 10 years, I saw the song receiving plenty of airplay during Valentine’s Day and that’s the time I saw my Facebook and YouTube pages receiving wonderful messages from folks who liked the song and my voice. When this Instagram reel got viral, I was happy of course, people knew the name of the singer behind Hosanna. I believe people liked the voice but didn’t know who sang it. Many confuse my voice with other Bollywood singers. So, I’m really happy it went viral!
How did that original recording happen?
In February 2011, I got a call from a friend — Suzanne D’Mello, who is also a well-known name in the music industry, who said that ARR is looking for voices who majorly sang English songs. I recorded with ARR a few days later and he called me multiple times after that to dub several projects. In September 2011, I got a call from ARRs team and they wanted me to fly down to Chennai to dub something. I didn’t know what the song was till I got the Tamil version of the song which was sung by Vijay Prakash and the rap portion by Blaaze. I started dubbing literally not expecting where the song would go. I remember ARRs advice to me. He said that Usher, the R&B artist has two sides to his voice; one is a softer side and the other a bolder side using plenty of chest voice tones. He asked me to create something like that with my voice. The original rap part was not supposed to be sung by me, but he asked me to sing it and I did. When he heard the whole take, he liked what he heard and decided to retain it. The rest was history. I recorded the song through the night. I had to be as perfect as I could with timing as I was told that the video recording already happened and that I should deliver every phrase, harmony and vocal inflection with the precision it required. The next morning when I entered the studio room to hear the track, the engineer was playing it with the music video featuring Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at, and almost teared up! I have been grateful to ARR and life, ever since.
How did you get into music?
My church choir at Gloria Church, Byculla, Mumbai; was where all the training happened. I was surrounded by such beautiful voices and the fact that I was singing for Jesus Christ made the whole experience very spiritual for me. We were taught to give music our very all and to be true to every phrase in it. My choir conductor always told us that singing is equivalent to praying twice. So, that thought always stayed with me.
How would you define your sound?
My music is heavily inspired by gospel music. But you could say that my sound is very contemporary. Anyone who has heard me sing knows that I love embellishing my vocal lines with as many notes as possible.
Where are you originally from?
I was born into a Goan family. My mother’s family comes from a village called Taleigao, a few kilometers away from Panjim and my dad is from the sleepy village of Candolim.
Where are you now and what do you do professionally?
I have been in the communications field for many years. In 2016, I started a communication company called Storytellers101 in collaboration with my business partner Rashmi. Life is busy managing and helping brands grow. This is another side that I love.
What can we expect next from you? Who do you see yourself collaborating with in the future?
I would love to collaborate with ARR again in future, if a suitable project arises. I am also speaking with a bunch of very talented young producers from India to release a bunch of independent songs. I toured with Arijit Singh through 2016 and 17. I love the man and his voice. Would be great to see our voices in a single song together, someday!
romal@newindianexpress.com
@elromal