On a musical high: Shubhangi Joshi

First time in Kochi and Shubhangi Joshi and her squad couldn’t get over the response they received after a performance in the Muse Room on Saturday. With their flight due in just two hours, Shubhangi was still on the high of her performance, which garnered much appreciation from the audience. For those who don’t know Shubhangi, she was a soloist, and her titles doesn’t limit to just a singer. Shubangi is a composer, lyricist and lead guitarist. And not to forget, she is also a poet.

But now she has a band, and the band has Aamir Ismail, the drummer-cum-percussionist, Titus Pinto, the bassist, and Rahul Wadhwani, the keyboard player. The team was formed only early this year. “We had a great experience performing here and the audience was very appreciative,” she says

In 2014, the 25-year-old artiste released her first extended playback Talking Away the Night, with four songs from acoustic, to soft rock and jazz, which got more than 10,000 views on YouTube. Meanwhile, she did a post-graduation in Business Administration and after working in the corporate sector for a few years, she lunged into professional music.

“The journey has been quite rewarding as an original musician. On the other hand, the insecurities that come from becoming a freelance musician, especially on money front, are a toss. I am looking for avenues that give us a stable income scheme, so it is a practical challenge when you have to find audience that will appreciate the music when you are off the commercial stream. But, I feel right about where I am right now,” she says.

Writing poetry is also her passion. She has published her first book To Stir Up an Ornate Nest and has performed her poetry in front of many audiences. “My focus on poetry is about the stuff people do not want to speak out, say social injustices such as female foeticide and honour killing. People have become numb to it, and my focus is to direct their attention towards it,” says Shubhangi. Right after they land back in Mumbai, the Shubhangi Collective will start their groundwork for releasing their first album by the end of this year.