CHENNAI: Music has always brought people together and this group of young musicians are no exception. CE caught up with a few vocalists of the group El Fé, who are on a mission to give an desi spin to the African-American gospels
What does El Fé signify? “El Fé is a Spanish word which means ‘faith’. We are a group of 15 vocalists from different walks of life and are brought together by our faith in music. Hence, the name,” says Maria Roe Vincent, director and lead vocalist of the group.
Maria, a graduate of Berklee College of Music, Boston, started El Fé five years ago, experimenting African-American gospels with an Indian twist. A group of like-minded people, mostly through mutual friends, joined her. They reminisced their respective church choir journeys and started performing together. The group now consists of dentists, art students and fashion designers.
“I was a part of a church choir from childhood. So, I found my tribe when a friend got me into El Fé. The group makes us happy and hence, I have never missed a show or a rehearsal,” says Angeline Nisha, a vocalist from the group who is a dental intern at SRM University.
“I am going to continue with this group because there is always more to learn in music, especially when you are with people of different style and taste. Maria does a good job in blending all our voices together and make us one group,” says Sheryl Suraj, another member of the group.
Maria is the only full-time musician in the group. They perform music from all genres and languages, especially English, Hindi and Tamil, and mostly covers. “When we perform a cover, we focus on vocals. We work a lot on harmonies. It is always done differently from the original. But, we keep the background score and instruments simple and commercial,” adds Maria.
El Fé has performed in Chennai, Coimbatore and Panaji. They have also worked with biggies like AR Rahman, Anirudh and Harris Jayaraj. How was it working for them? “They are nice people. All of us got the chance to work with them. They are professionals and they gave us the freedom to be creative as musicians,” she smiles.
El Fé will perform at Phoenix MarketCity on Dec 17 at 7 pm. For details, call 66513007