Sharanya
Quirks & Queries:
Srinivas
Hailing from a family that has music
inclination, tell us about your growing
years and how you learnt from your dad
I have always been inclined
towards music from a very
early age and my father sensed
that. He put me on to his aunt
(Padma Narayanan) who is a
music college professor from
Trivandrum and I learnt Carnatic
music from her. She laid the
foundation for it. As I grew older,
I also learnt western music vocals
from Augustine Paul and finished
eighth grades. My dad has been
instrumental in influencing
me, all though in all the years I
grew up, he was really busy with
recordings as it was the peak
of his career. He only used to
advise me every now and then.
What were some important things you learnt
in your earlier days of learning music?
I had always been someone
who took things easy. I never
understood the value of
practice and learning. One
of my biggest learnings has
been to put in a lot of effort to
practice and keep listening to
good music. And to constantly
evolve as an artist and to get
more creative. As I get older,
I feel it is important to always
do your best no matter what.
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Who was your guru and what
were your biggest learnings?
My first guru is Smt Padma
Narayanan who taught me
Carnatic music. She has been
instrumental in instilling the
foundation in me. My skills
were enhanced because she
has constantly pushed me to
explore more, not just with
respect to singing varnams and
krithis correctly, but to aim
for perfection and get into a
creative space. Mr Augustine
Paul was also a very important
person in my journey as he
helped me develop my voice
texture and taught me all the
right techniques while singing.
What’s your most favorite raaga and why?
I have too many! But my all-time
favourites would be Keeravani
and Charukesi. Actually
Kaapi too. I get extremely
emotional listening to them.
Some ragas have the ability to
transcend everything and for
me personally, these ragas do.
How long do you practice for on a regular
day and how do you maintain vocal health?
When I am not traveling, I make
it a point to practice on my mic
every day for two hours. More
than that makes me strain my
voice too much. While traveling
and doing shows, I warm up
using some vocal drills that I
found on YouTube. Maintaining
vocal health is so important,
especially while you’re on the
move. I am not someone who
follows something strictly, but a
day prior to a show or recording, I
make sure I get enough voice rest
and don’t raise my voice too loud.
I always carry a flask with warm
water and honey to make sure the
vocal cords are fully hydrated.
Who are your favorite artists and who
would you like to collaborate with?
I have plenty of them. These days
there are so many phenomenal
artists and it’s too difficult
to pick so I’d be fortunate
to work with anyone of that
calibre. But if I were to pick, I
would love to collaborate with
Harish Sivaramakrishnan
of Agam, and Sid Sriram.
Tell us about your upcoming
collaborations and projects
There are some film songs
in the pipeline, and apart
from that, a couple of other
collaborations with the super
talented Mahesh Raghavan.
Music connoisseurs are aware
of our earlier collaborations
and that has encouraged us to
work more often. Stay tuned!