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'Holy Rain' for all seasons of life BY MELVYN MISQUITA
“It’s an album that has an international reach, as the 10 fully ‘unplugged accoustic’ songs contain some message for everybody. My material is not religious, it simply speaks of something so much bigger and better for all of us,” explains Neville, a Goan by origin, who was born in Africa, before shifting along with his family to the USA. The seeds of his spiritual journey were sown in the early 1990’s, when Neville quit his job as an engineer at General Motors and switched to counselling and psychology. “I felt I was more suited to working with people instead of machines,” justifies Neville. His passion for music, as Neville puts it, “has been an ongoing avocation for about 25 years. The performance and sharing part of it has been more the last 20 years, more or less. For me, it’s more about sharing than performing.” About five years ago, Neville says he felt God calling him to use music as a vehicle to reach to people for the sake of healing and restoration. But instead of the conventional audience, Neville chose to strike a chord with a different set of listeners. Prisoners. “I took to the prison ministry as prisoners are those forgotten souls that society seems to turn a deaf ear to. Since they are well versed in the con game, you have to be legitimate and devoted in your mission,” says Neville. “I realised that the church was not reaching out to everybody and that, people were expected to reach out to the church. But our mission calls us to reach out to the people,” he adds. Burning with this zeal, Neville began to work with teenagers and men serving prison sentences in Michigan-USA thrice a week, with specially composed music tailored for those in prison. “There’s clear evidence to suggest that I have been successful in reaching my ‘captive audience’,” says Neville. “The prisoners have been very receptive to my music, as it has helped lift their spirits and find their way to god. I like to keep it as participative as I can, especially when I’m working in the prison environment. Many of them have very low self-esteem and are simply astonished that someone would do a thing like this for them,” explains Neville. Around this time, Neville felt it was time to release his first official album, though he has been recording and playing music for many years, by himself and working with others. “I was being told over and over again that I was doing the masses a disservice not putting this music out into the airwaves,” Neville said. “There’s a need for spiritual awakening all over the planet. We seem to have lost our priorities, given the number of broken marriages and families in society. I wanted my album to address these problems, by emphasising that when things don’t work horizontally, we need to go ‘vertical’ by establishing a connection with the one above,” he adds. And so was born Neville’s album ‘Holy Rain’, his collection of 10 songs recorded at Blackie’s (USA), mastered by CAKO (Panjim) and marketed by ‘His Media’ (Panjim). “The stuff I am not into is the headbanger stuff that is really loud and hurtful to ones ears. Also, I am not into rap music much, specially because of the profanity and degrading lyrics, though I do appreciate the need for that type of musical expression, minus the profanity of course,” says Neville. Did he take a long time to complete his album? Explains Neville: “In one way, I could say it took a lifetime since we are the sum of all our experiences and the songs are very much a part of that. In another way, the songs came very quickly because I believe they were given by someone much higher than myself and I was simply a conduit to receive these beautiful things in my life.” “The official recording time did not take long at all since I have been doing music a long time and I know what I want when I go into the studio,” explains Neville. When asked to justify his decision to release his maiden album in Goa, Neville said: “It’s about coming ‘full circle’. Though I have never lived here or been raised here, I have always visited and kept my ties to the land of my forefathers. It’s a tie that I can not and would not want to sever.” Asked to comment on the music and musicians in Goa, Nevilla said: “The musicians have a lot of talent that can be tapped, for everyone’s benefit and to bring about change and healing in Goa and elsewhere in India.” “But in doing cover songs, they lack direction, purpose and clear definition as to what they were given the gift for and how they should use it to fulfill the ‘divine purpose’ that they were created for. Until that happens, life will be quite unfulfilling and with very short term gratification at best. They shouldn’t sell out for a few rupees but rather, truly seek out the one that gave them the talent in the first place.” Through his ‘Holy Rain’ -- available at St Paul’s (Rua de Ourem, Panjim), Anna’s Book Ministry (behind civil court, Margao), New Life Books (near Kerkar hospital, Aquem-Margao), Jesus Encounter (behind Kesarval Motel) and Jivit Books (Patto Plaza, Panjim) -- Neville hopes to use the money, generated from the sale of the album, for charitable purposes such as orphanages in India. “There is a love out there that is beyond one’s imagination and dreams. Just diligently seek it out and go vertical, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain,” sums up Neville. [Comments on this article] To comment on this report, please Click Here to contact Melvyn Misquita. |
