Sutasi Finalists – Interview 3 – Siddarth Coutto

Jalebee Cartel, Indigo Children and Sidd Coutto-We talk to some of the India finalists for Sutasi.

Sutasi is a concept that has now been developed into a reality T.V show with bands from all over Asia competing and collaborating in order to promote their music, and even Asian music otherwise, at an international level. The winners of this competition win a record deal (amongst many other things such as global marketing programmes to promote their music) and a chance to work with the finest and most experienced from the music fraternity. We spoke to some of the finalists representing India while they were in Singapore, shooting the first half of the show. Have a look.

Siddharth Coutto (song-writer):

From drumming with Zero to fronting Helga’s …why the transition. What made you a song-writer?

I started writing songs when I was in school. It was simply a form of expression. I wrote stories and poetry as well. But my focus switched to music about 13 years ago. Since then I have always said I am a songwriter first. Everything else has just followed from there.

I drummed in Zero only because we couldn’t find a good drummer when we started off. I always wanted to be a front man and go crazy on stage. When I got the chance with Helga’s, I dropped my sticks and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. I hate that as a drummer you can’t dance around on stage.

Do you think Indian songwriters can write to cater to an International audience? Have they got the finesse required?

Music is subjective. Everybody likes different things. We’re lucky that as Indians, a lot of us have grown up speaking English and thinking in English. So yes, we can cater to International audiences. And from what I’ve seen over the past few days, we have the finesse to match upto anyone anywhere … we just need better technical knowledge, which is not really the song-writer’s job anyway.