Bowler,Dancer,Pianist,and now Singer

Sreesanth may need to do some brainstorming regarding his cricket,but his dreams as a musician are on the road to fulfillment.

“I am spiritual,musically inclined,pianist,dancer,poet,tattoo-lover,god-loving,national cricketer and a very proud Indian,” states the 27-year-old in his Twitter profile. “I was always interested in music,but gradually got involved with cricket,which caught my attention as a teenager. I often choreographed dance competitions in school,that allowed me to stay in touch with music.”

S-36 may not be wearing the Woodstock bifocals,“but this is our effort to highlight our kind of music and Sreesanth is definitely the star,” says popular south Indian singer Madhu Balakrishnan,a member of the band,who is also Sreesanth’s brother-in-law.

Performing contemporary Hindi and English numbers,apart from a set of original compositions,the S in the band name stands for Sreesanth and 36 is the number on his jersey,which he considers lucky. Other members of the band are Anup on the piano and synthesiser,Sandeep on lead guitars,Chippu on bass and Arun Roop on drums.

“We are not limiting ourselves and have a lot to experiment with. We keep looking for new techniques to try and incorporate classical music into rock,” says Warrier,who composed music for Jeeto India for the 2007 World Cup and Hello for the 2011 World Cup. “Sree penned the lyrics and he did a good job. Now,he has turned into a singer and a composer and this band was completely his idea,” says Warrier,who also owns the company Music Caffe and is working on the band’s debut album,which is slated to release in a couple of months. Sreesanth adds,“I was always interested in literature and maintained a diary. I think my lyrics-writing skills come from there.”

Sister Viditha Balakrishnan,meanwhile,recalls how little Gopu would hide behind the curtain and listen to her being trained in Carnatic music. “He was always an intent listener and would follow what I was learning,” says Viditha.

Waiting to get back to the cricket pitch in the IPL Season 4,Sreesanth and his band will perform again after the cricketing season is over. “We can’t jam enough because of Sree’s schedules. But we are planning to have a tour of the band soon. We’ll also invite guest musicians for the performance,” says Balakrishnan.