HYDERABAD: It is not often that people are recognised for their ability to be a multi-instrumentalist. But, some like Shrikanth Sriram, have come really long from facing outright criticism to now being a sought-after bassist. With two solo studio albums to his credit, Seven Steps and East Rain, on his own record label Drum The Bass Records, he has also composed the original background score for Bollywood films Striker and Barah Aana. He is currently busy with ShriLektric, a new concept of live performances, which is a blend of acoustic, electric, electronic and computing-based music. “I am enjoying it immensely,” says Shri. Music, in shades and formsBorn and brought up in Mumbai, Shrikanth’s musical journey began, when he started studying Tablas at the age of four and trained in the instrument. “Learning the tabla was a fantastic foundation for approaching music in life, for me,” says Shrikanth. But, it was not long before he was mermerised by bass. “Listening to 'Paranoid' by rock group Black Sabbath, I felt a sudden connection to the bass sound there - and it changed my life forever. From then I started meeting friends who listened to rock at college, which got me into a western music space and bass came into my life,” he shares. Shri moved to London in 1994 and got more closely associated with bass. “Moving to UK exposed me to Drum and Bass, Dubstep.” He collaborated with popular Brit-Asian musicians like Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and DJ Badmarsh to create a global contemporary Asian electronic music, the Asian Underground. “It was a great experience, though for the short while that I did. I learnt a lot, both about what to do and what not to do. My collaboration with Dj Badmarsh has been the longest and the most fruitful one yet.”Drum the bassInspired by Led Zeppelin and German bass icon Eberhard Weber, Shri defines his style of music, as British music with an Indian accent. His fusion of Indian classical music, with rock, jazz and bass is a hit among people. He has also designed his own fretless guitar. “I find the fretless bass way more expressive and also allows me to play an Indian classical style on it. It was a natural process, that led to creating and following my own musical vocabulary.”Shri loves to play fusion with loopers, effects and computers and believes in creating music on stage. He uses a fretless bass guitar, tabla and an Indian flute as his entire musical prowess and his magic lies in blending sounds of traditional instruments with electronic beats.All in the musicShri says being a multi-instrumentalist is as difficult as being a good cook. He adds, “It just takes me time to master various instruments and to express what I need to. Because for me music is life, life is music without making a big deal of it!” Sharing his experience of MTV Deewarists, a music show, he says, “It was absolutely phenomenal. I enjoyed every moment of it and also made some really good friends. It was also fabulous collaborating with Rajasthan Roots and Monica Dogra.” And he also says the independent music scene is still at nascent stage. “It is certainly headed in the right direction. There is some great music coming out fo India and musicians are getting braver and confident about expressing themselves the way they hear it.” And ask him if one can make a living on music, he laughs and replies, “Well, it’s possible. But it is a tricky number and can be a disheartening process. Surely needs time and patience.” Shri has been criticised quite often, for his differential form of music. “I always had and have criticism aimed at me. I never have to get over it. There are two types, constructive and destructive. The former I learn from and the latter I ignore,” he says. Hyderabadi tadkaShriLektric will be performing as part of urbanFolk at the launch of Tease, a lounge bar at Taj Vivanta today. Accompanying him are Indian classical singer Gayatri Iyer Ganjawala, violin artist Finix Ramadas and a 16-year-old beat boxer Raj Verma from Hyderabad to infuse the local flavour. The urbanFolk platform aims at bringing together earthy eclectic folk music and the artistes with the contemporary electronic genre. Explaining his tryst with Hyderabad, he says, “I was there about 20 years ago, when I visited Golconda fort and Salarjung museum. I believe the city has changed immensely.” He then goes on, “My favourite association of Hyderabad, without having visited it recently is the Chettinad food, Thokku and Gongura chutney. I am really looking forward to it, and maybe more associations to come after this trip.”
Comments
0 comment