Among the Christian Music Directors in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu Fr. Dennis Vaiz has created a niche for himself. He has given several hits like “Deva Prasannam” and “Magibanai Thedi” among more than 150 music albums.
My parents’ encouragement is the only reason that I got interested in music. I started learning keyboard when I was in 6th std. I got to know about music ministry when I was doing my theology. And I have finished my fourth grade in western music and also have a bit of knowledge in carnatic music.
Music that unites… People often ask me on how I got the idea to remake the songs of the past without destroying the basic feel of the song. Although I belonged to a catholic family I got to listen to CSI songs in my Uncle’s house when I was very young.
And I didn’t know how to make the difference between CSI songs and RC songs at that age. My parents never allowed us to listen to film songs. As I used to continuously listen only to the age old songs, they just stuck to my heart. You can say that I know the oldest CSI songs that not even a CSI believer would know.
Later when I was studying Theology I had a division of study called ECUMENISM in which we were taught the theological philosophy that states that the Lord is the same and the only one for all, no matter what denomination of church you may belong (ECUMENISM means Unity). I would never encourage the idea of proclaiming division through songs. 10 or 15 years back if you sing a CSI song in a Catholic church there would be a great hue and cry. But things are different today. Today People don’t ask “why was it sung?” instead the question is “why can’t?” The main reason to remake the old songs is due to a concern that they don’t get lost in our memory.
Christian & secular songs… Recently I met a film Music Director and when we were discussing about composing he gave me the information that really surprised me. Most of the music directors are in such a state that they buy 4 or 5 foreign albums, keep the composition as it is and just change the tune of the songs to create their own music album. But Christian music is not like that. As far as I am concerned I start praying a few days before I start composing and keep on listening to the songs for at least a week. I check myself whether I am worth to compose music for these songs. God’s presence is very much important for a Christian composition. No matter who make the composition for a secular song and no matter how popular he is, the songs in the secular field just get lost in the memory as time passes. It has a very short span of life. But Christian songs last even after 100 years. These are the differences between Christian songs and secular songs.
My way of composing… Most Music Directors just try to create music in such a way that would express what they know and what they are good at. But there is no big deal in revealing our talents instead I like to create music according to the thought waves of the people.
If you ask me the state of Christian music today then I would say that it’s been commercialized totally. Everyone wants to follow only a particular evangelist or a particular Music Director.
Future of Christian Music… As far as India is concerned though the technology has improved our economy is still lagging behind. So I think the recording techniques being used today will be followed even in the future for music composition and music recordings.
Lack of interest in carnatic Music… Christians are not much interested in carnatic music. First, the complexity of carnatic music is one reason. Secondly, our Christian songs and our church service methods are strongly based on western influence. So we don’t have much leaning towards carnatic music.
Problems in Remake… I faced a few problems while remaking the old songs. According to Indian penal code 1957 section 52 (1) J, anybody can remake a song that is more than 30 years old. But there have been instances when some who had the copyright for a particular song raised their objection and also had personal arguments with me. And on other occasions problems even went before court for judgment. But we did manage to convince them by making them understand. The thing is, most of my albums are not commercialized. And the money incurred apart from the cost of production is being distributed among the Trusts that are run on a genuine basis. I like to work only with such producers and do music for them.
Young talents… God has given great talents to the young Music Directors today we see. So let us forsake the habit of composing music with the help of keeping a particular song as reference and let the world listen to the song that comes from within you.
