Walking down the narrow steps of his residence at Appu Street, Mylapore, Sid Sriram is humming an intricate tune. He throws in a bit of gamakas and sangathis. Carnatic music, you would think.
In the seconds that follow, he shifts musical focus. He’s singing a few notes that ascend and as quickly descend. R&B, it sounds like.
At 26, Sid Sriram is a vocal acrobat who can present a Carnatic kutcheri at Kapaleeshwarar Temple with as much ease as he can sing the Blues at a studio. This astonishing musical duality is perhaps why he’s one of the most popular singers in Tamil cinema currently, with hits like the recent ‘Thalli Pogathey’, ‘Ennodu Nee Irundhaal’ and ‘Adiye’ to his credit.
Eclectic influences
“Being an Indian in the US and growing up in the suburbs were the two things that really shaped my outlook,” says the singer, whose childhood was spent in Fremont, California. “When you live in a suburb, you see the same things on a daily basis and it can be kinda boring….” And that’s when music came to his rescue. His mother, Latha Sriram, was a Carnatic music teacher and Sid (then Siddharth) picked up tunes at an early age. Back then, music was his escape from boredom. “I started singing when I was three — my mother would teach me some versions of Thirupugazh. And I loved being on stage.”
At the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, which was to become a big Carnatic festival in the years to follow, Sid Sriram bagged the first place in consecutive years. “A fifth-grader takes music — or anything else — only so seriously… but when I won, it was validation for what I did. From that point, I think I delved further into music. Practising became less of a chore. I slowly started realising that Carnatic music was a creative endeavour, much more than just singing notes and sangathis.”
It was around the same time that his parents bought him an FM set, “primarily to keep me quiet since I spoke way too much.”
That evening, sitting in his backyard and fiddling around with his brand new radio set, he chanced upon a jazz station. “It was 91.1 FM, I remember, and I was hypnotised by the music. I didn’t understand any of it, but I knew there was something there that had really taken a hold of me.”
He then started listening to more of that station and discovered musicians like Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross. “That was me finding my own music…. music that wasn’t passed on to me by my parents.” Sid would go on to listen, and sing, many other genres, all of which helped him develop his all-round musical abilities.
While his mother drove him around for classes and shopping, they’d listen to A.R. Rahman’s songs in the car, which was something that captivated him, and would, in the future, lead to a superhit association.
A level playing field
During his course at the Berklee College of Music, which he completed in 2012, Sid continued to embrace his musical duality. “I didn’t try to isolate one from the other… I found a way to have a controlled mix of both Indian classical music and contemporary Western forms.”
The Internet helped him gain traction. “About a decade ago, it would have been impossible for an Indian to try breaking into the US music market. It was run by record labels and the chances of them taking a risk on an unknown commodity were slim. But I had the Internet.”
He kept recording covers and original music, and by the summer of 2011, Sid had a good fan base globally. “One of my videos clocked a million views; I realised that it is a level playing field. Also, I don’t think anyone else tried doing R&B numbers with Carnatic riffs in between. Things like that opened up the world for me.”
The big break
The Internet also got Sid the rare opportunity to collaborate with A.R. Rahman, his music idol. “The first time I met him, he asked me to sing a Carnatic song (‘Mokshamu Galadha’ in Sarumathi) and one of my original R&B-style tracks. Perhaps what struck him was that I could do both and maintain both identities.”
With ‘Adiye’, his debut track in Mani Ratnam’s Kadal , Rahman opened the doors of film music for him. “I got lucky that someone like him had this vision and pushed me to deliver the kind of vocals that I did. That song really set the foundation for my career in this city.”
Sid has gone on to sing just a few tracks: other than Rahman, he has worked with Anirudh in the ‘Yennai Maatrum Kadhale’ song, but he has stood out for his style of rendition. Does he fear being approached only for such special, offbeat numbers and not for the simple, routine ones? “You know, I don’t think that’s a bad problem to have,” he says, matter-of-factly. Being associated with songs that push boundaries is amazing. If the rest of my career consists of a majority of songs that are experimental, I’ll be a happy man.”
What’s next
Sid Sriram is excited about his upcoming album InsomniacSeason, which is about the different thoughts that come to mind during a sleepless night. “There are ten songs — some upbeat and some introspective ones — and I’ve worked closely with DJ Khalil on this album that will release later this year or early next year. The numbers are mostly in English and a couple of songs have a bit of Tamil,” he says.
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“I want to do film songs that have a Carnatic flavour. I want to do one kuthu song at least… with my voice tone, I think it will be cool. One of my dreams is to work with Ilaiyaraaja sir and do more with Anirudh and Santhosh Narayanan.”
