Music from the Hills: The tale of the Worn-Out boot
How travel - and its discomforts - helped me become a better songwriter
- Ady Manral
“In order to find yourself you must lose yourself!”
Now imagine a picture of a worn-out trekking boot along with this quote. In nice bold letters. Kind of like the font from the book ‘INTO THE WILD’. You get the point. With this wallpaper now set in your mind, let me begin this article, which has almost nothing to do with that image or the quote. Or maybe it will by the time we reach the end... There is some truth here, for the old traveller, their experiences, and a life that has taken shape based on these expeditions.
Let me cut the crap. I’m here to tell you what travel means to me, and how it has helped me become a better songwriter.
I have been quite fortunate in terms of exploring and travelling in the last decade of my life. It’s nowhere close to those Instagram influencers who post a new destination on their platforms every single day (personally, I enjoy those posts), but it has definitely been more than what I had experienced before. It would have been even better if it came a bit earlier in my life, but I guess I just had to wait for the opportunities to come for me—or should have worked earlier towards creating them.
One thing I’ve had to learn is to find comfort in being uncomfortable… I will often push yourself into these uncomfortable situations as a musician, too.
I realised that all my travel experiences were shaping me to become a more mature songwriter (I would love to use the word ‘wine’ here, but I don’t think I am there yet). When I say ‘matured’, I mean I will still write about heartaches, love and a bunch of other cheesy stuff, but I am now able to give a bit of a different perspective and depth, lyrically speaking, to the same themes.
Every time I have to travel in and out of Landour, it requires me to a) take a taxi to Dehradun b) take a bus, flight or train from Dehradun c) get to Delhi, if that’s going to be the final destination or d) catch another connecting flight or train to my final destination. And it gets crazier if you plan to the north-east, farther south in India, or abroad. One thing I’ve had to learn is to find comfort in being uncomfortable.
I will often push myself into these uncomfortable situations as a musician too. And sometimes, in these situations, you just need to sit back, relax, and get into your groove. I remember one time when I was stuck at home all day, unable to brave past the harsh monsoon rains in Landour. Just me and my guitar. I was able to use this time, being on ‘house arrest’ to envision, begin, and finish a new song.
This also leads me to my next point which is… (drum roll) patience. Do long layovers ring any bells? How about a delayed train? Traffic jams? Sometimes I wonder how travellers still have hair on their heads (mine have definitively started thinning!). The same type of patience is required in being a songwriter as well, especially when you hit a block. I personally have to keep at it, try again and write more, and eventually I find something interesting.
I can truly give credit to my travels for giving me this patience. Just don’t test my patience with a delayed cup of coffee, though; I can end up turning sort of green and weird.
Okay, I’ll end here. I’m sure you have much better things to do (go ahead and listen to the new Jonas Brothers song, no one will judge you!). But before I end, let me also suggest to you here that I will be following up with a sequel to this article, where I plan to reach out to some of my other traveling friends to find out if they have attained any sort of enlightenment from their adventures. We shall keep that image of the worn-out boot in our heads.
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Ady Manral is a singer-songwriter based in Landour whose debut EP Lean On Love was released globally to critical acclaim in 2018. Ady has performed gigs in India, the UK and USA over the past few years. He was the co-founder and director of Big Gig, a music festival in Landour. He currently works at Woodstock School India. You can follow him on Instagram at @adyindia or Twitter @adymanral
