Finding A Voice in Music

Aditya N. struggles to speak sometimes. But he's found a voice in song.

Transcript

00:00Whoever stammers can sing, even if they don't have a tune to sing to, if you keep a beat

00:24and you talk, you're absolutely fine.

00:26Your inner pattern, a pattern which, if broken in conversation, because right now I know

00:34when that beat is and I'll say it next, I can stop, I can move ahead, but I will not

00:40stammer now.

00:41By virtue of how conversations work, you cannot constantly keep a beat and talk.

00:48It's there, it's a very visible thing and I need to be open to speaking about it and

00:59being asked questions about it.

01:02The world is going to question that and at times question my credibility as a vocalist

01:13as well.

01:15At first it used to hurt a lot.

01:27When I was in the eighth grade, I went to audition as a guitarist for this huge group

01:34called Artists Unlimited.

01:37You could audition if you want, wah, wah, I did a sing as part of the choir.

01:42So I went in and I sang a Metallica song and I thought I've aced this.

02:01I'd make these phone calls and I'd start to stammer and people would think that the network

02:11is bad or I'm breaking up and I was, but not because of the network, for sure.

02:28I had some great musicians in front of me who waited for me when I spoke and they didn't

02:36stop the take or retake, they just kept it like this.

02:39I really felt free.

02:41I felt free of the burdens I'd put on myself in a way.

02:48Of course, being told consistently at school, at home, in places to fix myself, but I didn't

02:58need to fix myself at all.

03:03There are times when people just assume that they're doing me a favour by finishing my

03:15sentence for me and I make it worse then because they'll finish that word, it's done, but I'll

03:22still go on and on and on until I'm done with that word, just to tell them that it's not

03:27right and it's like, how would you lie, just cut you again and again while you spoke.

03:58I just saw an empty coach and I climbed on, the train was full and I thought, I've aced

04:05it, I've found the best seat on the train and I went inside, so this guy comes up and

04:13he says, so sir, do you have any injuries?

04:18I said, why, what happened?

04:21He said, sir, this is a coach from Vaiklang, so I just said, I'll get it fixed.

04:31He said, that's the one time I used it in the most obscene possible way.

04:51Nobody loves a chicken.