'Independent music has disappeared'

Having sung with several of the Hindi film industry’s best music directors, this singer and music composer has also lent her voice for a Kannada song. Speaking to Metrolife, she talks about her passion for music, the City and her future plans.

Where did she get her musical inspiration from? “I was always inclined towards singing. My parents understood that and encouraged me to go for lessons as a kid. In school, I used to be part of the school choir. My mother used to teach me Indian classical music too. Later, I started training in Western classical music,” she says.

But Western classical has always had a major influence on her. So she uses it to the best in most of her music. She agrees, “I consider myself proficient in Western classical vocals. But along with this, I try to blend folk influences too.”

 She was recently in the City for a fashion event. Ask her about her personal style statement and she says, “I wear a wide range of clothes. I wear anything from dresses to shorts and jeans to long-flowing gowns. But basically, I like to dress myself up in anything feminine. I’m mostly not dressed in casuals.”

About Bangalore, she gushes, “I love the City. The people here are very fashion-conscious and I got to meet so many people and learn something from them. There are a lot of talented homegrown designers too. But I feel Bangalore needs more known designers at the national level. On the whole, it was a really nice experience to meet so many talented people.”

The most memorable part about this trip for Shibani was that she completed recording for a Kannada song Garam Masala for the Aditya and Radhika starrer Tippu. Talking about her experience, she says, “This is my first ever Kannada song. So I was really excited. I do not know the language. But I learnt the sounds and the lyrics by writing them in English and Hindi. So it was easy to grasp them. It was a good learning experience to work with music director Guru Kiran too, who is brilliant.”

Does she mind singing more Kannada songs in future? “Definitely. Given a chance, I would love to come back to the City and sing in many more Kannada films. It was a very nice experience.”

This apart, she plans to work on a new album. She says, “I just started working on it. The album will mostly be a single. I believe in the concept of singles because working on a whole album is very rare these days especially when independent music has actually disappeared from the scene. So right now, I am focusing on that.”

But her interest doesn’t stop at music. Given a chance and a good script, she is game for acting in movies as well. She says, “I had a few script reading sessions with directors. So far, nothing has interested me. But if a good project comes along, I will not let go of the opportunity.”