Making sense of the chaos

Chennai’s most popular all-girl band has been active since 2011, but 2013 saw them win awards, gigs, collaborations. The spunky Shema Abraham and Shalini Selvarajan of Colour Chaos call their genre ‘Femme Lounge’.

“Our music has really evolved in the last two years; it’s more lyric-based, the musical arrangements are intricate, and we are using more Indian instruments. Collaborations with artists like the amazing Vinaitha, who fuses her aalaaps with our power vocals with harmony, has taken our sound to another level indeed,” says Shema.

“The biggest change is awareness,” says Shalini. “Each show has taught us about our strengths and weaknesses as a band. We still face challenges — personally, it is confidence. Getting on stage and performing in front of an audience still gives me a bit of a lump in my throat!”

Their new-found fame is surprising, but exciting too. “It’s terrific when we are asked to play our originals during concerts, songs like Colours of Chaos or Listen. My song writing is inspired by some of the dark phases in my life; that’s why people can relate to our music,” says Shema.

The band was honoured by the NGO, Woman-spire, for inspiring women. They also founded the ‘Birth Of Mookutthi Records’, a record label that represents women musicians.

But they are happiest about live music becoming more and more a part of Chennai’s music scene nowadays. Shalini says, “Chennai audiences have always been really encouraging, and lately, there are ‘live band nights’ almost everywhere, which is a really good sign for 2014. “Maybe earlier, people turned up out of curiosity to watch two girls perform, but now we are taken seriously as musicians. Even someone like Usha Uthup started her career in pubs and bars, just for the love of music — and that’s exactly how we feel too,” exclaims Shema.

Colour Chaos wants to establish a network of girl musicians across the country to collaborate on different projects under one banner. “In spite of language barriers, we’re sure this will really be fantastic for the independent music scene,” says Shema.