Global artist by choice, but Indian at heart

Malavika’s roots originally stem from Kerala, but she is very much a Chennai ponnu at heart. Having spent a considerable time in namma ooru, she then moved to Dubai, where she was given the opportunity to nurture her musical talents.

“At the age of four, I had a profound love for music and garnered the confidence to explore performing arts, even though I didn’t hail from a musical family. My parents enrolled me in Carnatic classical, but I felt it was too technical. I kept saying that I want to sing film songs. Back then, my parents used to play songs of Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and AR Rahman as well. So, my heart naturally leaned towards western music,” begins the singer.

In Dubai, she gained exposure by performing for Bill Clinton, Sheikh Mohammed (the ruler of Dubai), Princess Haya of Jordan, at award functions, charity events, and various other events. She adds, “Music started as a hobby and my relatives kept saying that I am extremely good at it. I thought I’ll apply at the world’s best college to know if I have more talent than what my family thinks. I, eventually, received a scholarship to realise my dream at the Berklee College of Music.”
Like most of the singers, Malavika loves AR Rahman’s body of work. “When I was studying at Berklee, my college mates loved his music even though they did not understand the language. When ARR came to the university, I really wanted to perform in front of him. And it was a dream come true moment for me when I sang in front of him!” she quips. At Berklee, she was mentored by Larry Watson and Kudisan Kai. While she was in Boston, she had the opportunity to perform with Ray Greene (lead vocalist of the iconic funk group, Tower of Power), Rita Moreno and the legends of R&B, The Isley Brothers.

She has also hosted artistes like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran and countless other musical inspirations that has made her the artiste that she is today. Recently, her song Jackpot was released to positive responses. “It has funk, R&B and harmonies. I feel that a lot of the songs today are electronic, so this number is a tribute of sorts to Michael Jackson,” she says, adding, “My next single Voodoo is up for release. It is a slightly romantic track and fresh.”

The 24-year-old singer eventually wants to venture into films. “Firstly, I want to establish myself in the West and do actual music. My goal is to represent India in the West. I want to make a name for myself and slowly introduce our Indian music to them. If I give them immediately, it would be a culture shock. As humans, we all go through same emotions and I feel there is a similarity in Indian and Western music in terms of rhythm as well. I want my songs to be comforting, which you can listen to when you are home after a tiring day. Also, I want my compositions to be peppy enough to make people groove for it,” she
concludes.