Took me 4 years to say his last name right. One of my favorite things is introducing great people to each other. Suren is an old friend from Guitar Center and Melinda Rice is an incredible violinist I know from church. Today I'm watching them work together and I'm just sitting here in amazement as they bring to life this song about a bright boy whose name means "bringer of light."
Ever since I've known Suren we've been working on recording music. Back then we had little equipment and less experience.
I lost track of him for a few years while I was out of town. I really had a great time in the country. Met some excellent people there, too. That's a different story.
When I got back from Oregon, I learned that he'd been producing and engineering with some of the best in the business. The kind of names separated from a grammy by only a single comma. He's learned the craft and the business of the music industry, and yet managed to retain the integrity his soul-patch indicates.
As I watch him and Melinda creating the backdrop for Luca's song, I'm enjoying the sight of Suren dialing the top-of-the-line equipment we used to dream about back in the day. Now he's the music supervisor for an animated series in production. Ten years, still going, still building, still making it happen. Much respect to my indomitable friend.
One phrase to describe my friend Suren Wijeyaratne:
Soulful Tenacious Producer Craftsman
