Healed and humming again

remo fernandes is back with his new album, india beyond. this release has healed him completely of the hurt and trauma of having lost the members of his band in an accident after a concert in 2000. he has dedicated a fishbowl called and the empty stage to his brothers-in-music, as he fondly addresses his band members. the musician was in the city recently for a private show and spoke about playback singing, music and his new album: "this music is for relaxation, to unwind. light a few candles and listen to it. you can call it a spiritual or a romantic experience." india beyond is a blend of different sounds, it has indian classical vocals by padmaja phenani, but mostly it is remo and his sounds. "this album is very remo. the only difference is, it is that side of me which was not well known till now," says the singer. he adds that all his albums right from oh meri munni has always had at least one bit of this kind of music. since then he was keen to do a whole album. "then, i said ten years later, now that ten year thing has happened." the singer went off music for nearly six months after the tragedy. "strumming the guitar used to cause me pain. i wasn''t aware if i was dead or alive. i was in india for more than a month after the accident and then took off to europe. the same music which caused me pain healed me," says the singer. he adds, "i went to the studios and started making music with tears streaming down my cheeks. the result is this album. actually it acted as a therapy." besides his albums, all the playback numbers -- be it the title number pyar to hona hi tha, or the humma humma from bombay -- he has sung have beenhits. remo says he sings film numbers as and when he gets offers and "i do it because it is music and it has given me money and fame to some extent." but he adds that it has not given him the musical and artistic satisfaction which he gets from his albums. could it be the fact that he is a composer himself and it comes in the way while working with other composers? "most of the time i am given the liberty to improvise. and when someone is rigid i put my foot down," says remo. that could also be one of the reasons why he sings just one or two numbers a year. naturally, this style of working isn''t conducive to winning many awards. "the greatest award is the appreciation from people which you cannot buy," says remo with a bright smile.