Nesavanan Avadiar (Malaysia) – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

Nesavanan Avadiar (Malaysia) – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: What was the very first reaction to your music, from the first person to ever hear so much as a practice jam or the demo of your first song?

NESA: I did not expect much from the first person to hear it but when he heard it, he did not like it at all, unlike the rest of the others who heard it. They did however say that it is a good song and many would resonate with it, it was just not their cup of tea. Yes, this was from my manager and executive producer.

RRX: Stereotypes are a bitch. I mean, aside from the really bad ones, you have cultural stereotypes about everything, including music.  Would do you think is the stereotype for the music you play, and how far are you away from it?

NESA: Firstly, I am a 3^rd generation Indian in Malaysia. There are a lot of cultural stereotypes that comes along with that, domestically and regionally. So, music made by a guy who’s dark brown, who’s mother tongue is not English and is not from the United Stated, has very little expectations from anyone who’s paying attention. I think the type of music I make has potential to be mainstream or even critically acclaimed but it not given due credit because it’s from a brown guy from a small country but Indians and Malaysians are knows the world over for our achievements globally.

RRX: In the musical world, there are many supporting players. Recording engineers, sound techs, cover art designers. Who are three people that support the craft that you would like to shine a spotlight on?

NESA: I’d like to honor my music producer and master, Boy Radge. He producers, arranges, records, mixes, masters and does a lot more at Abraham Records, also based in Malaysia. Secondly, my manager and executive producer, Bradley Michael Alphones, who’s my pillar of strength. I consult him on almost everything from the song production, music video, marketing, social media and everything else under the sky. The guy has a big heart and even bigger amount of patience. Finally, the filmmaking brothers duo, Anban and Agilan Elankgoven, for they made the music video, concept art, editing and everything that’s art related for my first solo single, BWBY.

RRX: Would you rather have one of your songs blow up and make you a one-hit wonder and household name, or would you rather have all your songs be solidly received, but no chart-climbers? (You have to pick one or the other here.)

NESA: This is a tough one. This is like what the devil would ask if they’re asking to make a deal for my soul. I mean, what good would any song do if they don’t even make it to the charts? But hey, that’s just greed talking. How about I exploit a loophole in the devil’s deal? I’ll take the latter, all song solidly received with billions of streams and dollars piling up. Only then, I’d be okay with it not making the chart.

RRX: Tell me about your most recent song, album, or video (you pick.) Tell me a story about what went into making it. Not a process, but a cool story that took place within the process.

NESA: BWBY is the name of my first solo single. I’ve had the intention to make this song ever since the pandemic hit in 2020 and there were so many racism-fueled incidents in all over the world happening like never before. Having my first daughter born dark brown like me instill a fear in me that she would face the same kind of systemic discrimination that I did growing up. I think that was the reason I made a song to remind people that we are more than our color. It doesn’t matter what you look like, that should not lead you to be stereotyped and discriminated against. This is a reminder to be fearless, to transcend and to remind the naysayers to just put a cork in it.

RRX: With services like Spotify, streaming revenue can be pretty dismal. Without spilling secrets, do you have a promotional mindset or philosophy?

NESA: Like my manager says all the time, “a hit is not made, a hit is always marketed”. I’ve noticed in recent times, music pundits and even legendary artists saying something along these lines, “the mainstream songs of recent times are mediocre at best, but they are hits because of the marketing and the fans herd behavior due to pop culture and social media trends. If you want to hear a hit, listen to the legendary bands of the yesteryears when no social media was present. Those were the real bangers.” To sum it up, in these days of social media driven attention span of a few seconds, spare no expense when it comes to marketing but make sure its something of good quality to market in the first place. You can’t market a product that is not good enough for the consumers.

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