I call myself an accidental singer: Madan Gowri

Digital content creator and YouTuber Madan Gowri has also been dabbling as a musician. Madan, who already has a couple of songs to his credit, including his collaboration with Arivu called Monkeys With 5G, has now released a new song — Neo Ravanan. He has collaborated with Anthakudi Ilayaraja for the song that has already crossed over 10 million views.
Madan says that singing happened quite accidentally.“Business magnate Elon Musk had responded to one of my posts and it became quite a big deal back then. A few days later, my friends and I were at a hotel, and we wanted to do something about it. That’s how Bathroom Song happened. It took us just 24 hours to create this song, which garnered over 67 lakhs views. I know how much effort people put in to do these songs. So, I was surprised that my song had gotten so many views. I wanted to work on more interesting numbers and that’s how this journey started,” he says.
Neo Ravanan, the singer says, is symbolic of a modern-day Ravanan, and features various anecdotes from Indian mythology. “This is the first time I am getting into mainstream album and production. This song is about the oppressed. What if Ravanan was there now? It would have been so different now, right? The song explores all these,” he states.
The response, he says, was “crazy”. “I honestly did not expect this for a political song. The numbers, the comments, and the streams are crazy,” he says, adding, “Till now, I’ve been doing fun songs. With this one, it was different in terms of singing, too. It is a lot more complicated and I thank my team of musicians, who are constantly pushing boundaries with every number.”
Ask Madan if he learnt music, given that he has been singing quite a lot, and he says, “Not at all. I realised I can sing only when I started jamming during the composition of Bathroom Song. I am a bathroom singer (laughs). I didn’t come up with a plan to become a singer/musician. It happened organically. I want to do more fun songs and only take up serious numbers once in a while to satisfy the creator in me. I call myself an accidental singer. I feel people are able to relate to my songs and voice. I read somewhere about how We Will Rock You was born — it was just a bunch of friends coming together, singing the song while just tapping their feet and hands. I am probably one of them.”
Meanwhile, he has also started a music studio, through which he wants to build a platform for new creators. “I collaborated with Arivu before Enjoy Enjaami released. Ilayaraja, too, is now getting into commercial music. I want to work with new and upcoming talents. If the song requires my voice, I will sing. Otherwise, the creator can take control. Even with Monkeys With 5G, my part was more dialogue-oriented, while Arivu did all the singing. So, I am open to anything,” says Madan.
Next in the pipeline is the Madurai Song. “Anirudh did a song for Chennai —Namma Chennai Chance-ey Illa. Hiphop Tamizha did Kovai Gethu Anthem (both were done for The Times Of India). Now, I want to do it for my city, Madurai. I want to give back to my city and want the song to be celebrated. The CG work is going on and it will be released soon,” he signs off.