Varijashree Venugopal talks about her upcoming ‘Vari Album Tour’ performance in Chennai and the journey of the album’s making

Having worked on the album, Vari, for seven years, musician Varijashree Venugopal, released the same earlier this year. Now, this album is set to take a new shape, reminiscent to a property of water, a notion that runs as a central theme of the album. Varijashree is bringing music from the album live to the audiences in a show curated by Quriosity in Chennai.

During our chat with the Carnatic artiste, ahead of the show, we learned much about how the album came to be, Varijashree’s musical journey, her experiences collaborating with Grammy Award-winner Michael League as producer, and how well the songs are translating into live performance.

Varijashree first tells us about the album and the core concept it explores. “The album name, Vari, is a Sanskrit word. It means water. And water is pretty much the heart and soul of the entire identity of this album, both musically and conceptually. Because water’s greatest nature is its capacity to flow, it is this that has inspired me personally and the entire music of this album to have a creative and unbridled flow of ideas, music, and genre crossings,” she shares.

She tells how the origin of this album is intertwined with her own. “My origin as a musician is from Carnatic music, which I have been training in with the support of my parents, H S Venugopal and T V Rama. My father is a flautist and my mother sings and they are my initial gurus,” she mentions. Her origins of learning Carnatic music in Karnataka and the eventual development of her knowledge and skills in this field made this album a special project for Varijashree. She also highlights, “Why the album is named Vari is because, luckily and incidentally, it is part of my name and it indicates one of the beginnings of my musical journey as a songwriter and composer.”

The artiste also tells us that sonically, there is a vast range of sounds that the audiences will experience with this album. She highlights that with the music-producing expertise of Michael League, the album mixes Carnatic, Hindustani and Western classical influences. “There are a lot of minds from different trainings and disciplines coming together in this album,” she says, adding, “As part of this production, we have featured around 40 musicians from India and abroad.” Varijashree elucidates that it is this feature of crossing genres that was enjoyed by her and the other talents associated with this album.

Varijashree, who is also fluent with the flute, shares her excitement for presenting this album live to the Chennai audience. She tells us, “Chennai is one of the most prominent music capitals in the world. It is a rich ground that has promoted and helped classical music specifically in its growth. The city is one of my favourite musical hubs and to present this music here is very exciting for all of us.”

Varijashree also tells us how this album will be presented to the audience in Chennai. “This particular album has translated beautifully well into a six-piece band for our live performances and all of us enjoy playing this music live. It carries a completely different kind of energy as compared to the record,” she adds.