While the rest of the world hops on the bandwagon of autotuned and electronically-modified music material, 20-year-old Hanan Shaah (@Hananshaah) refuses to budge. Raw vocals are his USP. The music artist who had 4,000 followers before the lockdown, shot to 75,000 followers on Instagram in a matter of months. Hanan believes that the endless hours of practice elevated and sharpened his voice range, which in turn gave him recognition.
The Nilambur native was fortunate enough to collaborate with Ehsaan Noorani of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, while Ehsaan accompanied Hanan’s vocals with a guitar. “I was recommended to him by actress Apoorva Bose. The experience was rather unbelievable. I’d also practised long and hard to get the high pitch of ‘Mitwa’ right, which I sang during the IG live,” says Hanan. The 20-year-old also collaborated with Apoorva and lyricist and actor Shabareesh Varma.
Like his parents and grandparents, Hanan initially decided to become a teacher. “It was like an unsaid pact. However, my parents have always been supportive. They enrolled me in music classes when I was young. But I took a five-year break from music and focused on my academics. I resumed singing on stage during programmes at my college, while simultaneously releasing song covers on Instagram,” says Hanan who recently completed his graduation in elementary education.
A self-proclaimed devotee of musician A R Rahman, Hanan’s joy knew no bounds when one of his covers was noticed by A R Ameen, the musician’s son. “Since I’ve realised that music plays a massive role in my life, I’ve planned to join KM College of Music and Technology by the A R Rahman Foundation and learn Hindustani music. As teaching puts a high strain on voice, it is likely to affect my vocals, especially since I’m firmly against autotuning my voice. Hence, I’ve decided to solely focus on music now and maybe resume teaching after a few years,” he adds.Would he try his luck in music reality shows? “That is a path often taken. I’d like to stay clear of it,” he smiles.