'It's very difficult to find a distributor'

Ruling passion

He is a vocalist and plays more than eight instruments. Adding yet another feather to his cap, he just released his debut album, ‘Love, Life And All That Jazz’. That’s Sriram Ravishankar, a first-year media student of Centre for Management Studies, Jain University.

It was at the age of six that Sriram started taking Carnatic music lessons. Quick to spot the talent, his teacher asked him to get trained further. “My parents being music-lovers enrolled me in classes. My teacher realised that after being taught a few lines of a song, I was capable of figuring out the rest on my own,” he recalls. Today, Sriram, a versatile musician, plays the drums, ‘jambay’, ‘udu’, ‘didgeridoo’, ‘cajun’, ‘melodica’ and the piano among others.

When Sriram was in class eight, he happened to go for a concert by Sivamani, which instantly got him interested in drumming. “I fell in love with the instrument immediately but it was only after class 10 that I could take up classes formally. Meanwhile, I started taking a couple of classes online. At the same time, my parents bought me my first drum-set,” he explains.

Sriram points out that although his parents have supported him through his musical journey, he has ensured that he has funded his instruments and other equipment himself. “I utilise the cash I get as an MC, by performing ad-jingles and song recordings to buy myself whatever I require.” He adds, “Besides the drum-set they bought me as a gift, I’ve got everything else on my own.”

The musician, who plays by the ear, says, “I’ve been heavily influenced by Afro-percussion music.” Being the choir lead in school, performing at events at school and fests were routine. “It was during my high-school years that I experimented with different forms and tried zeroing in on my style. Now, I have come to understand that ethno-percussion is my cup of tea,” he explains.

Sriram, who is thrilled about his debut album, says that it’s like a dream-come-true. Pointing out that his solo track, Paayaliya, is a song which depicts the inner rebellion and restlessness a guy goes through just before confessing his love, Sriram says, “The song is really special to me. The recording of the song took two weeks while putting together the entire album took a couple of months.”

Ask Sriram how it was to work with a Mexican artiste for the album, he explains, “Generally, foreigners associate Indian music with Bollywood. Hopefully, this was an attempt to contribute to the independent scene.” About the album which has been released digitally, Sriram says, “It’s very difficult to find a distributor. I tried asking a couple of friends but I soon realised that a digital release would be better. I want the debut to speak for itself and probably for the next album we might be able to find a distributor.”