National award winning singer Shashaa Tirupati, who has made audiences groove to her hit numbers like ‘Singa Penney’ in Bigil and Humma Humma for AR Rahman, is all set to collaborate with Chinmayi Sripada for a Tamil single, which will also be rendered in Hindi.
“I was exposed to a lot of rich music while I was growing up in Canada. My parents had impeccable taste in music and I heard the stunning compositions from the ‘30s, the ‘40s, and the ‘50s; it gave me a lot of interest in music. I started learning from old songs and after coming to India I further developed my sense of music”, says Shashaa about her drive for passion in music.
Very few artistes get a chance to be recognised and mentored by the Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman and Shashaa Tirupati is one of the lucky ones. “Working with Rahman sir is a new and fresh experience every time. There is a lot to take away on a spiritual level in terms of growth as a musician and life lessons.”
Shashaa says she always had a love and fascination for languages. She has sung in 12 languages and feels Malayalam is difficult but the melody is equally beautiful.
Thoughts on independent music
“I love independent music. I think if the film industry starts supporting independent music it will help the artiste who is either purely independent or who is in both. There are so many independent artistes who are not getting coverage like in the film industry.”
Shashaa has kept her independent music also in the limelight, her previously released original singles were ‘Oceans Rained’ (English) and ‘String of Air’ (English) and the inspiration for that she says has always been her experiences. “Most of the music, melodies that I write have something or the other of what I'm going through or what I have been through”, she says.
Collaboration with Chinmayi Sripada
“She sings like a dream and she is also my favourite singer. Chinmayi has been my biggest influence when it comes to female singers in the film industry. I was badly fangirling while recording with her. I also thought I'm going to faint two or three times. I adore her for the person she is; there is so much to learn from her”, relishes Shaasha
Family Support
“I’m blessed that my parents took up the responsibility of bringing me to India at a young age to have me train in the basics of Hindustani classical music.”
Shaasha feels that social media is a great platform for emerging artistes who do not have direct access or contacts in the industry and that to get recognised, artistes have to do things differently.
