SHRI
February 13th, 2006 by rui
Linda Spence catches up with Shri at The Big Chill festival 2006…
Shri’s set was awesome and the crowd agreed. He’s an arranger/musician whose range and eclecticism is hard to beat. His tabla-playing moves from Indian classics to drum and bass whilst his guitaring rivals Squarepusher in places. I caught him backstage to find out more about this musical talent.
That was almost perfection, the musicianship was awesome.
Well you know, we did have our technical faults today.
You seemed to ride it well I certainly didn’t notice!
Well that’s the least I can have.
How was it for you though?
It was good, I enjoyed it. A bit rushed though, we had an hour where normally we just have half an hour or forty-five minutes turn over, but for some reason it was just a bit rushed today I think. I didn’t sleep too well last night in the tent. Yeah, I camped you know and stayed up until 3.30 am and then woke at 8 with the heat and the light, so not enough sleep really. But it was enjoyable, what a great audience.
They were certainly appreciating you and having a lot of fun, me included.
Absolutely and that’s what I like – an audience that listens and has fun but really takes in the music. Even yesterday when I came here for another band, the crowd were into it – that’s nice.
Your sound is very diverse in its range, what are your influences?
Yeah it is. I don’t like formats and I don’t like a certain single way of playing. It keeps changing from album to album and tune to tune. I don’t like only funk tunes for the whole evening or only drum and bass.
Yeah I can see that. I had a bit of a Squarepusher moment out there. My friends and I exchanged glances and said “Squarepusher”
Ha ha ha ha -oh with the percussion?
No the car-crash funky slap guitar madness!
Oh with the guitar – ha ha. That’s my rock past and also great influences like Primus and you know, all those amazing bands with great bass players. I pick up a lot from various places and then make it my own and do something completely different with it – with my own influence.
Its not your first big chill though-I’ve seen you at BC before.
That’s what I thought but can’t remember being here before!
It was with Badmarsh
But at Eastnor?
No at Lulworth
Yes, that’s what I asked someone – is it always in the same place and they said yes.
No it’s been her the last four years and before was at Lamar Tree Gardens and Lulworth.
Ah that’s right of course, that was another stomping gig actually. The sound has slightly changed though its not all about dance dance dance now. I mean there are so many dances aren’t there. There are physical dances, mental dances and there’s the inner dance and the outer dance and I like exploring both sides really.
So you have to help people to be open to receiving that?
Yes well first I have to be open and then be really honest in what I say and only then will people get it.
So what’s next for you? Are you sticking around for the weekend?
Yeah absolutely. I might even go back on Monday – hardcore you know.
Anything specific you want to watch?
Bugz in the Attic, EST – I love EST. Generally its going to be walking round. I’ll open the programme now I know my gig is done, see what’s there to check out.
What’s next work wise?
Jazz Café again. Fourth time this year and then there’s a bit of free time, well not free time, time kept aside to write the next album which is again very different from this one, possibly then doing a bit of France. We have a massive following there as people really seem to know who I am. It’s a bit like England- they either love you and engage with doing or not – it’s take it or leave it.
I like you’re attitude there, thank you very much for talking to me.
You know it was my pleasure.
Shri Biography
Bombay bred Shri (Shrikanth Sriram), of Badmarsh and Shri fame, has been a main light in the UK Asian Music Scene since it first came to prominence in the early 1990’s.
Shri trained as a classical tabla player, from a very early age. He turned tradition on its head by adapting his innovative feel for percussion to other instruments notably his self-made fretless bass and the Indian bamboo flute. Using his Tabla techniques he quickly developed a totally unique style of slapping and coercing the most haunting and funky sounds from a bass that combined the visual gravitas of a sitar with the reverberant voice of the bowed Indian Sarangi, establishing a reputation as a unique multi-instrumentalist and performer.
His curiosity and constant search for something new and interesting has led his career and experiences to be extremely diverse. These are absorbed in his compositions, rolling drum and bass, sublime filmic trances and funky grooves, which travel the length and breadth of deepest India to deepest South London. Truly new music.
Shri’s UK career started as bass player and accompanist to contemporaries like Talvin Singh and Nitin Sawhney. This led to him signing to Outcaste Records, and released his first solo album-Drum The Bass in 1996 produced by Nitin Sawhney.
Shabs of Outcaste records teamed him up with Labyrinth original Dj Badmarsh that led to the creation of Badmarsh and Shri. This collaboration produced two ground-breaking albums Dancing Drums (1998) and Signs (2001) both of which received rave reviews from magazines like Rolling Stone, Time magazine, India Today, Ministry amongst many others around the world.
A number of tracks from the album Signs were used on various global advertising campaigns like Pantene ProV and BP Ultimate in 2004 and on numerous TV shows including CSI and Eastenders.
The Badmarsh & Shri band toured the world from as far as New York to Singapore and played concerts ranging from Glastonbury to Womad, London Jazz festival at the Royal Festival Hall to Later with Jools Holland.
Shri’s unique sound spans across everything from his own albums and concerts to collaborations with other musicians, Contemporary Dance, Theatre, Remixes, various Radio and TV commissions.
The more prominent of these are: The Art of Fugue with Britten Sinfonia, classical pianist Joanna MacGregor and saxophonist Andy Sheppard performing everything from Bach to Moondog. Ragatroniks a band and album project with Norwegians – keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft and Dj/programmer Per Martinsen. Strictly Dandia, composed for the play by Tamasha Theatre Company, which was presented at the Edinburgh festival and ran at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. Composed for Alladeen the play by The Builders Association and Moti-Roti, which is touring the world throughout 2004 and 2005. Writing some of the key program idents for the BBC Asian network. Wrote the theme tune for the new daily radio soap Silver Streets. Planned and composed for Akdemi’s dance extravaganza Coming of Age performed at the Southbank Centre, London and has also remixed many tracks ranging from Dela Soul to Andrew Lloyd Webber to Trilok Gurtu.
