Tanvi Shah’s office is vibrant and bursting with quirky design ideas. A water feature bubbles by the side, a table mounted on an old cycle brims with art material and the walls are alive with pictures of Tanvi and the awards she’s received. At her desk, the singer-cum-designer is working on promoting her new singles, which released recently — ‘Llamalo Amor’ (Call it love) and ‘Meant To Be’.
“I recorded both songs in collaboration with Jeremy Hawkins (aka JHawk), a music producer in the U.S. We decided to do the Spanish ‘Llamalo Amor’,” says Tanvi. “The other song, ‘Meant To Be’, was written and composed by me.” A third track, ‘Turbulence’ will be released later this month and will be part of Claude Challe and Jean-Marc Challe’s Select Six album.
The duo had previously collaborated for ‘Zindagi’, a song that made it to Rotary International’s ‘End Polio Now’ album. “At the end of the day as long as people can connect to the emotion, it’s great,” she says. JHawk, in an email interview, adds, “I first met Tanvi in LA in 2011 and I remember thinking, ‘What in the world are we going to create?’ We got in the studio and worked really well together. Tanvi is an amazing musician and artist. It was an honour producing her work, the first song we did (‘Zindagi’) got picked up by Rotary International within months.”
‘Llamalo Amor’ has got her many listeners in Latin American countries too. “The song has had hits from Argentina, Venezuela and other places. It’s a nice feeling because you are touching people with your music. I intend on doing the English version of ‘Llamalo Amor’ very soon because I want to see if it makes a difference when people understand the lyrics of the song,” says the singer. “It’s been such an experience, working with JHawk because he’s grown up with pop, dubstep, hip hop and other genres but is open to trying something different. Our music doesn’t fit into a particular genre and can be called world music.”
What kind of feedback have the tracks got? “I recently received a mail from a fan that ‘Llamalo Amor’ had helped him overcome depression. What could be a bigger compliment than this?” she asks. “My journey in music so far has had its ups and downs but I’m happy that whatever I’m doing is spreading good. It has given me a sense of satisfaction.”
Tanvi is now in a happy place, working on her design brand and music. “I’m at a point where I’m getting to collaborate with such international artists and taking Indian music to them. Our music has gone to another level and is creating waves because people see how powerful it is,” she says and JHawk agrees. “Indian music and culture is definitely playing a role in the music scene here. I’m always hearing a producer sample an Indian melody or instrument. I like experimenting with instruments like the sitar, shehnai or tabla for percussion because you get unique sounds. I’m humbled to have had the opportunity to expand into other genres, its taken me to a whole new level of creativity.”
Tanvi is also busy working on her brand, Tansha and is involved in a couple of interior design projects as well. “I’m also working on some corporate logos and hope to do more jewellery designs soon,” she signs off.
‘Llamalo Amor’ and ‘Meant To Be’ are available on iTunes.
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Tanvi’s super hits
Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire)
Jillunu Oru Kadhal (Sillunu Oru Kadhal)
Hawaa Hawaa (Rockstar)
Kedakkari (Raavanan)
Boom Boom Roboda (Enthiran)
