CHENNAI: This is not Shubhangi Joshi’s first visit to Chennai, yet she can’t stop gushing about the city and its love for music. “One of my most memorable performances was here at the Madras Jazz Music Festival in 2015 with my band – we got a lot of encouragement from the crowd!” smiles the 27-year-old singer-songwriter, who is in Chennai for a performance at Access Music, organized by InKo Centre and Unwind Center. For someone who has dedicated herself to discovering music fulltime, Shubhangi juggled several interests before discovering her true passion.
She also comes from a new line of self-taught, yet successful musicians who’ve been able to strike a balance between their passion and other responsibilities. “My family is very musically inclined though nobody took to music as a profession before me...my foray into music was when I started strumming my elder sister’s guitar when I was 12,” she recalls. Though she did undergo formal training in music, she had to discontinue after a while because her family was constantly shifting. “The singing classes gave me the kick-start I needed; I started experimenting with music since then.”
Shubanghi grew up idolising virtuoso guitarists like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Nick Drake and jazz legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. But it was only after completing MBA and working for a few years that she decided to be a fulltime musician. “My family was very particular that I complete my education, but I always managed to keep music a part of my life — sometimes through bands, sometimes by performing and creating music by myself,” she adds. And as luck would have it, she already began to draw followers in the indie circuit. No mean feat, considering she’s been named by Rolling Stone India as one of the country’s 10 emerging female musicians.
“My first gig was as an opening act for the Bodhisttwa Trio at the Blue Frog, and I still remember being very nervous! I sang a few of my original compositions and a few covers that were really well-received. I even got amazing feedback from the band!” Since then, Shubhangi has gone on to perform at major music festivals like Sliviki World Music Festival (Goa), Orange Festival (Arunachal Pradesh), Youtube Fanfest (Mumbai) and Alt and Pepper Festival (Kochi) with her four-member band, The Shubhangi Joshi Collective. “I feel very strongly about my music; not only do I experiment with different genres but I also try to match music styles with lyrics,” she explains.
Besides launching an album, Talking Away the Night (2014) she is also a published poet, having launched her collection of poems titled ‘To Stir Up an Ornate Nest’. Through her primarily jazz-influenced music, she tries to address a range of issues as well. “I don’t want to restrict myself to a particular genre — my lyrics talk about a range of things; nature, human interaction and even the universe,” she says. Her breezy melodies will soon be back — her band is working on a new album that is set to be recorded in June and expected to be out by the end of the year.
Shubhangi Joshi will perform today at Access Music, InKo Centre premises, 18 Adyar Club Gate Road, from 6 pm onwards. For details call: 24361224