For an artist, recognition can be a nurturing balm to the creative spirit.

And especially if you’re up and coming, it becomes positive reinforcement to keep honing talent.

Musician, Jaya Easwar, sought this affirmation and decided to send his work for judging by experts and industry players at international festivals around the world.

His gamble and belief in his work paid off when his composition, “Selvom Vaa” turned out to be a hit in several world festivals.

“As a beginner, I personally believe recognition and awards are more important than Youtube views. To our surprise, Selvom Vaa, a Malaysian made Tamil song, has received three selections and three wins in international festivals,” Jaya tells Eksentrika.

The song, also titled “Let’s Go” has won a silver medal for outstanding achievement in music composition at the Global Music Award and best music video in the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival.

It also has been selected for the Winter Film Awards, New York (WFA) , which previously nominated Malaysian film The Journey  for best original score in 2013

Jaya’s Let’s go is currently in the running for the music video competition.

Jaya prides this as a breakthrough for his Tamil heritage in the growing circuit which supports emerging filmmakers from all genres across countries.

Only a handful of Malaysian products have been selected in WFA over the past decade. We are very proud to have Selvom Vaa as the only selected Malaysian product in the festival this year. It is also the First Ever Tamil product to reach this stage.

The 29-year-old, who has delved in music for the past three years, says the song is about going on a holiday, something which he personally felt he needed after over nine-years slaving away at a corporate job.

I am basically a guy that have been chunking along with the corporate lifestyle for the past nine-years. Never really had the time to go on a holiday.

Never had any sort of communication with the nature which I always wanted to have.

So, I decided to take this as my theme, convert the pain into music and that’s how Selvom Vaa shaped up.

In his previous works, the KL-born composer liked to use universal issues such as war and slavery, as a theme for his soundtracks.

His first song, Unnakagave Vaazhuvean, was a Mother’s Day tribute song.

For Selvom Vaa, he broke from his usual practice and for the first time, adopted something from his own life as inspiration.

I was very clear to compose a song that has to be different than other Malaysian made songs…that would be the only way for me to stamp my existence in the market. 

The winning music video for Selvom Vaa is not yet released, something Jaya plans to do on social media and his website by end of March.

Jaya went to great lengths to ensure quality for Selvom Vaa, working with carnatic and ghazal singers from India; Satyaprakash Dharmar and  Sudharshan Ashok. He also handpicked the music video director, Karthick Kumar  and cinematographer, Arvin Thaaran to bring forth his vision.

Jaya recently returned from Mumbai after recording a song with Indian playback singer and film composer, Vijay Prakash of Jai Ho fame. 

Vijay is lending his voice to Jaya’s song Saatchitaadi.

Now, Jaya is working on a Malay song for a local film set to be produced by MG Creative Media Studios and is getting ready to attend the WFA in February, where he hopes to network with more international artists for future collaborations. 

He is aiming to work in Indian cinema. However, he ultimately dreams of making Malaysian music a well known product in the world market.

You can follow Jaya’s career further on Alchemy Musical Facebook and official website. Are you an upcoming talent with something to share? Drop us an email to [email protected]