HYDERABAD: The debut album of singer Shilpa Rao reads ‘Suno’ and from the responses she’s got across her album tours in Mumbai and Pune, music enthusiasts are taking a step beyond just listening to the tracks. “Generally, it’s only a few tracks of an album that people play, but we’re doing the entire set now,” says Shilpa who’s excited about performing them.
Shilpa states that listeners are outgrowing demarcations like ‘film’ and ‘non-film’ music as there’s quite bit of musician-exchange happening on both fronts. “For the better part, both are benefiting from it on an equal measure,” she adds.
In 2015, she recorded a lot of songs and it wasn’t an issue for her to manage time for the album too. “On paper, even though I had limited tracks in the previous year, there were a handful of recordings. Release dates are not under our control. But both the schedules for the recordings and album barely ate into each other,” the ‘Khuda Jaane’ singer clarifies.
She particularly credits her band, with whom she’s been associated for a year, behind producing an effective album. “It’s always about choosing the right team and sustaining that chemistry while recording. Once that’s right, everything falls into place.”
Like most of her musician counterparts, monetising digital music, especially when it’s an album, is a challenge, she accepts. “The Suno album was intended to performed live, so that’s one way maybe,” she hints. The six-track album has Punjabi numbers like ‘Mast Kalandar’, ‘Akhiyan Nu Rehne De’, whose connections are rooted to her childhood. She calls it a tribute to legends like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan .
Is there an extra pressure to promote it well? “I won’t call it pressure. It’s about the collaborations that you have, Suno with Itunes has worked well! The right music label with the reach takes a lot of pressure off you,” she replies.
Shilpa is happy that her regular appearances on television shows that promote independent music, including MTV Coke Studio and Sony Mix, are keeping her connected to public. “It may not be a one-to-one connect that we get at concerts. Yet, it connects with the peoplefairly well,” she agrees.
Any particular musician who she looks upto for their body of work beyond films? “I think Sukhwinder Singh is the best thing that has happened to Indian music,” she answers, without even a blink.
