16th Anniversary Special: Chennai keeps the beat! We round up Chennai's rising musical stars for an extensive chat

The cultural ground that is Chennai, has bred some fantastic musical talents. Many of them have evolved gaining national and international recognition for their tunes. For the younger audience in the city, many names have become quite prevalent from the indie scene alongside the lines of popular composers like AR Rahman and Anirudh Ravichander. Having started in the city, these musicians have adhered to truly exploring the opportunities available in the city, whilst finding their place in the broader scene outside as well. Indulge brings together such young rising stars and some who have stuck around to know about the city’s musical landscape in detail. While we learn all the things that have contributed to the rise of these artistes, we also learn of what could be done better to encourage more talent.

The F16s
This list truly would be incomplete without the stars of the indie scene. Anyone starting to explore tracks in the realm of independent music will quite instantaneously stumble upon The F16s. With hits like Moon Child, WKND FRNDS, Sucks to Be Human, and more, The F16s have already made a mark not only in Chennai’s music scene but also on the larger, more national and international front. Their efforts to create platforms for fellow indie artistes cannot go unnoticed. Having been associated with organising initiatives like the Circle of Love Festival, they have enabled immense opportunities for many independent artistes across the country. The band’s guitarist, Abhinav Krishnaswamy, shares his insights with us. “Chennai has always had a good track record of interesting bands and music. It, however, does fall back in terms of venues. But it is steadily improving,” he remarks. Abhinav also shares with us a trend that he has noticed among the sea of music spread across Chennai. “Tamil hip-hop has seen an explosion similar to the desi hip-hop wave taking shape across the country.” Further, he also expresses how vital the language factor would be in order to reach out to the Chennai audience. “Performing/recording in Tamil will definitely increase reach,” he notes. However, he observes, “That being said, there’s always the threat of the music suffering. There are plenty of great Tamil indie artistes, but an average/mediocre-sounding Tamil song will always get more traction than a well-written, well-produced song in English. Those are facts, plain and simple.” To understand what would really work towards the upliftment of the city’s music landscape, Abhinav also presents his visions, “Regular gigs for artistes of all kinds, affordable for audiences of all kinds — basically places outside of bars whose patrons generally treat the music as an afterthought.” The musician informs us that the band is currently working on their new album and that we can expect the same to be released next year.

Favourite artistes from the city: Paal Dabba, Gooth, Sunflower Tape Machine, Siennor, MS Krsna

 

Amrit Kishan
This techno-music professional has garnered immense musical experience working across various genres. His collaborations with various artistes like Pradeep Kumar and Bharat Sankar in the movies Kuthiraivaal and Maaveeran respectively, have also catapulted him into recognition among the city’s audiences. Another notable contribution by Amrit recently was the background score for the hit Netflix docu-series The Hunt For Veerappan. Our conversation with him reveals much about the city’s indie music scene. “Every city boasts its own pockets of passionate musicians dedicated to preserving the musical culture, and Chennai continues to be among the most closely-knit indie communities I have had the privilege to be a part of,” observes Amrit. The artiste, who started his musical journey as early as 2003, tells us he was “captivated by beatboxing” creating a “whirlwind of creative ideas” within him. Considering his performances at the Surf Fest and the 9th edition of Go: Madras Electronic Music Festival as the most memorable moments, he also highlights some of the issues he faced during his journey. “Such experiences also included payment delays, bargaining, last-minute cancellations, and arbitrary slot changes,” he explains. But Amrit remains to have a positive approach as he notes, “I viewed these challenges not as demotivating factors but as obstacles to surmount in the path I had chosen.” Having already released two EPs and seven to eight singles and remixes, Amrit highlights his visions for the city’s musical community. “I want my city to unite through music at the end of the day!” he exclaims.

Favourite artistes from the city: Skrat, Ofro and techno musicians Uddhav, Basslinengineer, and Subrro

 

EL FÉ
EL FÉ’s sustained efforts to continuously deliver their tunes have made their way to the scouting ears of composer Anirudh Ravichander. The composer roped the choir in for the backing vocals of his hit song Badass from the recently released Thalapathy Vijay–starrer Leo. So, it is natural that we rope in director Roe Vincent to contribute to this discussion about Chennai’s musical landscape. Roe observes, “Over the recent few years, Chennai has, in fact, exploded with the live music scene and independent artistes have popped up all around the city.” She expresses that for the choir members, the most memorable moments are amassed from Christmas season “when the whole group gets together and participates in all rehearsals, to perform at different churches around the city”. She notes that the city’s soundscape has also evolved over the years, making it “more receptive to newer sounds and different formats of live events”. She opines, “Social media and recent trends have helped the regional audience connect with our music more enthusiastically than they had a decade ago.” As we learn more about the choir, we also try to understand their vision for Chennai indie music. “I strongly believe that there’s a place at the table for all of us as this is not a zero-sum game,” Roe expresses. EL FÉ is all set to light up the stage with their upcoming performance The Movement next!

Favourite artistes from the city: Anirudh, Ofro, Leon, Vivek and Mervin, and Asal

 

Maalavika Manoj aka Mali
Singer-songwriter and composer Mali elevates this list of musicians from Chennai. Although based out of Mumbai presently, she fondly recollects her experiences in the city and its contributions to her musical journey. She strongly opines, “There’s never been a dearth of talent from Chennai. The city is recognised all over the world for having produced some technically and artistically sound artistes.” Among many others voicing a similar opinion, Mali points out that the city, though, is in need of better venues. “I really wish there were better venues and a bigger culture of people going out to watch gigs. This too is changing for the better,” she highlights. The artiste recollects her memories of starting out on the journey. “The first big thing I did was to participate in the Chennai Live Band Hunt with my first band, Bass-in Bridge, back in 2010 with the likes of Leon James, Sajith Satya and a few other boys our age,” she reminisces. Pointing out one of her most memorable moments, she talks about the first time she walked onto a stage to perform with the band. “I’ll never forget performing at the Museum Theatre, a place where I’d first stepped on stage when I was just a little girl, then a teenager and then performed there as an adult many years later. It really felt like a full circle,” she says, adding, “It would be a dream to do a full-fledged gig of my own there one day.” The immensely talented musician, who has just released a track called Semi Automatic Butane, expresses her vision for the city’s musical landscape. She mentions, “Chennai has a certain quality and mood which should be retained without recycling old tropes.”

Favourite artistes from the city: The F16s, Skrat, Sunflower Tape Machine, Jatayu and Oorka

 

Rini
Chennai ponnu Harini Srinivasa Raghavan aka Rini has surpassed the musical as well as geographical boundaries of the country, establishing herself in New York. With humble beginnings in the city, Rini talks to us about her early observations and experience in the city and the evolution of its musical landscape. - “Chennai has come a long way in the last 10 years in recognising and providing platforms for indie musicians to showcase their music,” she believes. The musician’s early days explored her gaining experience in Carnatic and some indie-pop. Her memorable moments in the city include playing gigs at Unwind Center in Adyar, wedding gigs and others with her musician friends Prashanth Techno, and Harish as a part of a band called Bread Butter Jam. “I was part of a reality show Hariyudan Naan on Jaya TV that sort of helped me understand myself and my music goals of being more than a singer and a desire to learn music composition and production,” reveals Rini. Being associated with over a dozen - achievements and projects, Rini’s experience amassed from her time in Chennai helped her explore more avenues and platforms. In addition to hoping for better venues in the city, Rini’s vision for the city also involved making indie musicians in the city more aware of the multiple streams of revenue available to them beyond just licensing their music for film or TV. “With many shows on OTT, there are more opportunities for artistes who are looking to license their music and earn well,” Rini explains. As for her upcoming projects, Rini has a couple of them up her sleeves. “I am releasing new music soon and I am also in talks for composing for an indie movie (not Tamil),” she highlights. The musician is all set to tour with the band American Patchwork Quartet across cities in the southern US that she has never been to before. This tour would involve her reimagining many American folk songs with a Carnatic spin to them.

Favourite artistes from the city: Arivu, Shakthisree Gopala, Kalyani Nair, Pradeep Kumar, Prashanth Techno

 

Gooth
Known for his unique and edgy music with a great focus on the visual aspects of his music videos, Chennai boy Gooth, of Her Song fame, believes that the city has a great potential to make way for a greater expression of indie artistes. “I think Chennai is known to house people who are accepting of cultures and people from all over the world, so when independent music is put in front of them, the immediate reaction is never to repel it. What Chennai lacks is venues to house these acts and better finance them. If that changes, I think Chennai will be a hub for independent music,” shares Gooth. The artiste blends multiple genres including hiphop and electronic music in his projects and is all set to release a track he had composed during Amplify, an artiste development programme in Goa. Recollecting a memorable moment of starting out creating and performing in the city, Gooth highlights, “There was a competition called the OnePlus Red Cable Tour in which a fellow independent artiste, M S Krsna and I performed at. Winning this competition gave us a chance to play in front of a larger Chennai audience; this would be my first ‘big’ stage.” The artiste further believes that “encouraging more acts from Tamil Nadu on a global scale in terms of playlisting is very crucial”. As we ask the rising star what his vision for Chennai’s musical landscape would be, he replies, “Being in the southern region, we owe it to ourselves to promote this music we have, regardless of genre or language, only looking at the mere talent, individual talent because anyone can be anyone in our generation.”

Favourite artistes from the city: Mangas and the Mango Men, Sunflowertapemachine, M S Krsna and The F16s

 

Ramkumar Kanakarajan
Drummer Ramkumar Kanakarajan’s versatility is no secret in the musical landscape of Chennai. Having played with bands, SNAX, Grey Shack, IndoSoul and musician Sid Sriram, Ramkumar has observed the city’s landscape from up close and afar. The master of drums, who is also an alumnus of the Jus Drums School of Percussion, has been playing the instrument for the past 20 years. In a chat with us, he sheds some light on the musical landscape and offers advice to the newcomers and the rising artistes in the city. “School and college cultural shows are the roots to networking with musicians from your generation and the best platform to show them your music too,” he explains, highlighting that most of the musicians that he works with were people he met during his days in academic institutions. “It makes me happy to see how many people took music seriously and made a career out of it,” Ramkumar expresses. Echoing words by other artistes on this list, Ramkumar also highlights the requirement for more venues for artistes to perform in. “The city has so many artistes that we need more performing venues. The venues are mostly clubs/pubs. This narrows down the audience to the 21+ age group. The real audiences are the teens. They could be the next rockstars. And they need to be able to watch bands perform live,” he explains. The drummer has multiple projects in the pipeline including the album Inn Gloom with Grey Shack, another album called Equilibrium with IndoSoul; a debut single and EP release with SNAX .

Favourite artistes from the city: Junkyard Groove, Franks Got the Funk, Skrat, Sean Roldan and Friends, Oorka, Jhanu and The Mangas