Varijashree Venugopal celebrates 25 years since her public debut ahead of her performance next week in the city

You will rarely come across someone who was known to have the rare ability of identifying almost 50 ragas at the tender age of one-and-a-half years and about 200 by the age of four. Well, that is the talent singer and flautist Varijashree Venugopal developed from her early years. She was born to musician parents HS Venugopal and TV Rama and her initial training in music came from her father. Varijashree’s carnatic vocal debut took place when she was seven at the Bangalore Gayana Samaj.

Now, 25 years later, she returns to the exact same venue where it all began for her. The Bengaluru-based artiste also recently collaborated with American composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Michael League for her upcoming album. “This album is my first original composition apart from the earlier releases from my childhood, which were from my carnatic repertoire. Michael and I met in New York about seven years ago and I have been a huge fan of his works. We spoke about music and decided to work together. It almost took us five years to complete the project because we were working from different countries,” Varijashree begins.

Following the pandemic, the production of the album picked up speed. Michael flew down to India and they had an Indian recording session for about 10 days. They recorded all Indian instruments for the album including folk instruments. Following this, Varijashree went to Spain, where Michael lives and has his studio. She finished recording her vocals there. Notably, the album has almost 40 artistes and Varijashree has written the lyrics for some of the songs too.

Talking about the experience of working with League on this project, the singer says, “It was enlightening. Every moment was like a eureka moment because Michael and I come from totally different backgrounds. I come from a very traditional carnatic background, while Michael comes from a western music background. But what was common between us was the curiosity to know more about other music cultures.”

Varijashree performs in the city on May 17, which also marks 25 years since her first public performance. Talking about the day she took to the stage, the singer says, “Well, I was very little. It was an age when you don’t know the feeling of performing or delivering an art-form in a particular way. So, I was in my own world but surely my parents were terrified because it was a full house. All the major artistes were there. The venue was so packed that they had to put televisions outside. Today, when I think about it, I will definitely feel terrified. At that time, I was too young to understand the seriousness of this. It’s been a long journey since then. It was my father who nudged me to this particular event. He said it should be a thanksgiving evening. We are inviting some of the people who attended the event 25 years ago.”

One of the founding members of the quartet called Chakrafonics, Varijashree says, “Chakrafonics is a four-member band which includes Pramath Kiran, Praveen D Rao and Ajay Warriar. The four of us have known each other for many years. Individually we have been part of many projects. It’s been almost 10 years since Chakrafonics came into existence. So, it’s like a platform where all of us explore music. There are no boundaries. That excitement to work on new music was something that brought us all together.” Apart from being a singer, composer and a songwriter, Varijashree also plays the flute. “The journey with the flute has an interesting story behind it. I used to constantly watch my father play and teach the flute. Without him knowing, I kind of learned the flute. One day I told him that I will show him one particular kriti he plays and I was 11 at that time. It turned out that I played it just like he did,” she signs off.

Entry free. May 17. At Bangalore Gayana Samaja, Basavanagudi.

Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @al_ben_so