The veteran jazz singer Radha Thomas released an astonishing 52 videos in 52 weeks. She tells us what it takes to do that in a pandemic year
Radha Thomas
Was there a point in the lockdown when you felt, ‘All right, I want to keep making music regardless of the situation, and do everything I can to ensure that’?
This is a hard thing to explain. It’s like the lockdown suddenly opened my eyes to the control I had over my music, my performing, the musicians I wanted to play with and so much more. Bangalore was in lockdown, but the world was not. That’s thanks to the Internet. I think online collaborations are here to stay. I recorded my first video in the beginning of last June and by September, I realised I could actually do 52 videos if I got organised. And so I did. It was such an exciting and fun project, my marathon of one participant. I felt total sadness when I posted my 52nd video. It was like I’d lost my best friend.
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Thomas’s home-recording studio
What challenges did you face while preparing your home to facilitate videos with people from across the globe?
Honestly, DIY is my middle name. So, securing my crutches to selfie sticks, using old saree borders donated by Bagya, my housekeeper, was thrilling. I wanted to do this homemade-recording studio thing with materials lying around the house. Remember that when the lockdown began, Amazon was only delivering essentials. So, it was a minor victory each time we made something work, like getting the shadows to disappear on the walls or the camera height exactly right. After a few videos, the method was established. That’s when I decided to move around the house and change locations so that it wouldn’t be boring. Today, I can set up and take down in an hour.
What did you enjoy the most about the entire process?
From the time I began my singing career, I’ve stayed clear of the technology part. It’s always frightened me. I’ve been forced to learn how to record on my computer and this, too, has been totally liberating. I’ve learned so many tricks that I now feel like a pro. I never thought it was possible. This is from someone who didn’t know how to plug her mic into the amp after singing for some 40 years.
Log on to: @radhathomas on Instagram
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