Chin Injeti processes grief and embraces the healing power of song in his new single Falling — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
“Falling was a cathartic experience for me,” the Grammy and Juno-winning musical polymath says. “It was my way of dealing with my father’s passing, and is a bird’s-eye view of the whole experience — both good and bad.”
And right in line with Injeti’s inimitably successful path. Music has always been something of a balm for the recently Vancouver-based artist; born in Hyderabad, India and having to survive polio from birth, music therapy treatments helped facilitate his motor skills, ultimately changing his life.
“My father was a classical vocalist who ensured the family was always surrounded by music,” he shares. “It ranged from classical to folk, ragas to Stevie Wonder, to my parents’ favourite, ABBA. At every turn there was a rhythm or melody that would draw me in — footsteps down the hall, heart monitors, the sound of passing cars … It was everywhere. Then, it was more than just something I heard day to day; it became a healing force that started to transform my body and help it realize its full capacity. With this embodied renewal came a clarity of purpose.”
That purpose became crystal clear when Injeti teamed up with DJ Khalil to create award-winning music with and for Dr. Dre, Eminem, Drake, Pink, Aloe Blacc, The Clipse, Lecrae, K’Naan and more. From an in-home studio built by his father and brother, he moved on to front the the award-winning band Bass is Base, won SOCAN’s Songwriter of the Year Award, and enjoyed years of creating, touring and performing with the likes of The Fugees, The Roots, Jamiroquoi, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and others. Injeti has created and taught curriculum for Vancouver’s NIMBUS, been a featured speaker at TEDx discussing the healing properties of music, and has been recognized for his life’s work as a singer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, teacher and mentor with a star on Vancouver’s Walk of Fame.
With the onset of COVID-19, he found himself self-isolating in Toronto with his mother for three months. Falling appeared during this period, with Injeti bringing in singer Esthero on vocals and Delhi 2 Dublin’s Tarun Nayer on tabla. “Tarun was on Gambier Island in British Columbia, and Esthero was in Los Angeles,” he explains. “This version of the song was such a pleasure and honour to record. To have my friend Tarun bless the track with his tabla, and my favourite singer ever, Esthero, sing on it. For me, she brought it to a new place.”
Check out the acoustic and original versions of Falling above, hear more from Chin Injeti below, and follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
