She would pen poetry when she was young and merge it with music to create a soulful tune. Soon, this talented girl from Canada was working with producers to create more music.
Meet Caroline Fernandez, a singer and song writer, who’s been busy making audiences groove by performing with her band River Below Rivers at various hot spots in the city.
“I always listened to music closely and was addicted to lyrics. I started singing when I was eight and playing the guitar at 13. Soon, I combined my minimal knowledge of music with my deeper knowledge of words. That’s how my poetry and music got together,” she says.
When she moved to Dubai in 2011, Caroline got engrossed in her work and music took a backseat. But destiny had other plans as she met a cellist playing soulful music and she ended up collaborating with her and did a few shows across Dubai. “Our ensemble was called The Empire of Miss Understanding. Our music was more of instrumental indie and soul,” she says.
For someone with an international upbringing, the crooner has been hugely influenced by Canadian musicians like Feist, Arcade Fire, Alanis Morrissette and English rock band Florence and the Machine. Interestingly, it was love that made the songstress move to namma ooru a year-and-a-half ago.
“My husband is from Bengaluru and I moved here post my wedding. It was through Gerard Roy and the Jam Hut that I met some awesome musicians in the city and got introduced to the local music scene here,” says Caroline.
Her band RBR is a genre-defying group and comprises five musicians. “I collaborated with Anirudh John and we put together a band by December. We have several originals up our sleeves as well as a few popular covers by the likes of Amy Winehouse and some well-known tracks from the 70s and 80s. We call ourselves a band that plays indie rock but our music has a lot of soul, funk and folk in it too,” she says.
Caroline intends to perform at more venues in India and around the world with her band and also explore the electronic scene here. “I used to work with electronic and trip hop producers previously. I’m working with a few producers now and will hopefully release some music in a couple of months.”
Gifted with a soothing voice, Caroline also wants to create an album of lullabies. “There are a lot of babies around me, so this is something I will surely work on,” she says.
