“Music is a thing of constant evolution for me,” shared Sean Roldan in an interview with Bandwagon.
Ever since he was six years old, his life has been intertwined with music. Coming from a family of educators and musicians — he’s the son of renowned mridangam player Srimushnam V. Raja Rao and grandson of novelist Sandilyan — Roldan had a rather interesting childhood.
Hailing from Chennai, the capital of the Tamil Nadu state, the composer and musician saw the importance of dabbling in various forms of music. Throughout his journey, Roldan has sung, orchestrated scores, and learnt to play the guitar.
“I think my musical journey is a journey of constant learning and explorations,” he shared.
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Drawing influences from various genres such as blues and jazz, Roldan makes it a point to break down barriers and explore different styles of music.
“I felt that when you are stuck in a style, you are conditioned by only that, and will be biased to that style. So I feel that every time I explore a new style, these biases keep changing for me. So I decided that I should just learn everything and see music as music and nothing else,” he explained.
Best known for his compositions in a string of Tamil films, including Joker (2016), Jai Bhim (2021), and Mehandi Circus (2019), Roldan has proved his talent in the Tamil music industry.
Spotlighting his hit track ‘Kodi Aruvi’, which rounded up over 41 million streams on Spotify, Roldan said: “The song grew to be a big orchestral piece. I was really overwhelmed with the responses I got from the song, and it will forever be a very special song for me.”
With the fusion of soundscapes from a full orchestra, guitars, and flutes in the track, it’s no surprise that the audience fell head over heels for the composition.
However, despite being the brains behind these infectious love ballads, Roldan has faced certain challenges where his songs were created at the cost of being a “forced fit” with the film. But as a veteran in the Kollywood scene, the composer has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Roldan said: “I keep one thing in mind. Whatever styles of music I make, I will make sure that they are from that geography. Sometimes I will do something drastically opposite to create a contrasting [effect].”
With that optimism in tow, Roldan is on his way to creating more scores for upcoming films for the rest of the year.
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With his upcoming performance at Esplanade’s Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts 2023 on 25 November at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Roldan is set to serve his fans a great deal of hits from his repertoire as a singer, composer, and independent musician. Along with Sathyaprakash and Kalyani Nair, Roldan is set to perform notable tracks, including ‘Kalakshetra’ and ‘Mayakura Poo Vaasam’.
Tickets to Sean Roldan Live Featuring Sathyaprakash & Kalyani Nair are now available via Esplanade’s official website from SGD 32.
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