Electric Raga

Experimentation has long been the lifeblood of Shrikanth Sriram’s music. Initially trained as a tabla player,the musician soon switched to playing bass,influenced by the music of artistes like Led Zeppelin and Eberhard Weber. Now,however,Shri,as he is popularly known,says that he’s past the experimentation phase. “Now,I’m just trying to find new ways of expressing myself,” he says,as he prepares to unveil his new project — ShriLektric,a one-man act—at Bonobo in Mumbai.

The multi-instrumentalist — he also plays the flute,cello and the sarangi — says that ShriLektric is going to be markedly different from his previous projects. “I’m trying to create a whole new avatar of myself. I’ve been working on the concept for over a year,” he says,“I don’t want the music to sound like electronica or acoustic. I’m attempting to do is to use the electronica to produce the acoustic in a new way.” Until now,Shri has mostly been performing what can be called ‘jazz-fusion’,which combines jazz improvisations with Indian ragas.

He has also been a key member of the Asian Underground scene in London since it first became a notable musical movement in the UK. He has played with such well-known musicians as Talvin Singh,Nitin Sawhney and DJ Badmarsh.

pooja pillai