- Shaun Perera on his newest single 37
The pandemic has been a strange time in so many ways. With it now in full force for the last 18 months, almost everyone has now celebrated a lockdown birthday or something very close to it. Singer and songwriter Shaun Perera (best known as the lead vocalist for the band Magic Box Mixup), found a unique way to mark his own lockdown birthday – the release of a new solo single, 37, featuring Omeshka Diaz.
Shaun, who turned 37 on 2 September, composed 37 with Omeshka as something of an ode to the lessons he has learned on his journey through life. “I’m not really sure why the number 37 was so important,” Shaun said, speaking to Brunch about this newest single, “It was probably because it was my age and I wanted to do something based on that. In life, I’ve come on a journey and learnt certain things. 37 talks about what I think I’ve learned, and what I’ve perceived life as.”
In creating 37, Shaun collaborated with producer and musician Omeshka Diaz. Though released in lockdown, its creation actually took place in that Twilight Zone between the confusing travel restrictions we experienced after Avurudu and the lockdown that was imposed in August. “Omeshka came over to do a song and chill out. I told him that, so far, I’ve done all my songs in the chord G Major, and I really wanted to do one in the chord A major, and I knew I wanted the number 37 to be in the chorus. We started writing as soon as we sat down. The process took a few turns (as it always does), and we came up with certain chord progressions and worked on the melody.”
It was not a matter of sitting and churning out the song in one go though, Shaun shared, explaining that they actually lost it for a while, but Omeshka recorded everything they were doing on his computer and they then came back to it the next day, playing with the kind of elements they wanted to add in and so on.
“We wanted to add certain elements like live music and stuff into the song and then release it on 2 September (my 37th birthday), but then the lockdown happened,” Shaun shared, noting that while they weren’t able to do what they initially intended with 37 as they decided to release a “lockdown version” and then re-release 37 in all its originally intended glory once the lockdown ends.
The first release of 37 took place on YouTube on 5 September, and on 10 September on Instagram and will be available on Spotify and Apple Music from 22 September.
From a technical perspective, Shaun explained that as his first own composition in A Major (all his other compositions to date have been in G Major), 37 has a different feel to him, and sounds just a bit more emotional than the other music he has written by himself. Stressing that he had only learned to properly play the guitar during the first lockdown, and was by no means an expert, Shaun also shared that he found himself singing a little higher than he normally would in 37.
For Shaun, a highlight for 37 was collaborating with Omeshka, with Shaun sharing that the process was very smooth. “Omeshka is an incredibly talented keyboardist and musician and an open-minded human being,” Shaun said, “He has his quirks like we all do, but we had an amazing understanding which worked out a lot in our favour. 37 has been just been a great journey. I’d also like to give a shout out to my band boys, Magic Box Mixup. I always have their support in whatever I do, and I love them.”
The next step for 37 now, will be its re-release post-lockdown, Shaun said, with the proper studio version of 37 being made available with an accompanying music video.
To listen to 37 by Shaun Perera feat. Omeshka Diaz, visit Shaun’s YouTube channel Shaun Perera.
