Shri (musician)

Last updated

Shri Sriram
Shri.jpg
Shri performing in 2015
Background information
Birth nameShrikanth Sriram
Born Bangalore, India
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • producer
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • bass
  • flute
Years active1990–present
Labels
  • Drum the Bass
  • Outcaste
  • Tommy Boy
  • PIAS
  • Sony
Member of Badmarsh & Shri
Website shri.co.uk

Shri (born Shrikanth Sriram) is an Indian-born British composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. Shri specializes in acoustic, electric, and electronic-based live performances and incorporates traditional Indian instruments into his music. [1]

Contents

Biography

Shri grew up in Mumbai, India in a musically inclined family. His father plays the sitar, and his mother and sister play the Carnatic violin. He trained as a classical tabla player for about fourteen years at Pandit Nikhil Ghosh's school in Mumbai. Tired of the rigidity of classical music, Shri went on to teach himself bass, guitar, and flute. [1] His trademark instrument is one he handcrafted and designed himself—a fretless bass guitar suited towards his unique approach of playing bass with a bow.[ citation needed ]

Career

Having previously played percussion with the Indian rock band Indus Creed and bass in the jazz outfit Azure Hades (with whom he recorded an album),[ citation needed ] he moved to London in the 1990s and collaborated as a bass player with musicians such as Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney, and DJ Badmarsh, with whom he recorded under the name Badmarsh & Shri.

Shri toured for five years with Sawhney, which led in 1997 to Shri's first solo album, Drum the Bass, produced by Sawhney and released by London-based label Outcaste Records. Later, Badmarsh & Shri produced two albums for Outcaste Records as a duo, Dancing Drums in 1998 and Signs in 2001. Shri released his second solo album, East Rain , in 2005. [2]

Shri has also collaborated musically on theatrical productions—composing for Akademi's 2001 Coming of Age dance project at London's South Bank, the Builder's Association/Motiroti co-production Alladeen in 2003, and Tamasha Theatre Company's Strictly Dandia in 2005.[ citation needed ]

In 2007, he released the album Seven Steps, which featured the single "Just for a Minute". [3]

In 2011, he produced and performed bass and bowed bass on the track "Quest", with Viveick Rajagopalan on the mridangam and kanjira, and Embar Kannan on violin and vocals. "Quest" was released by Folktronic. He also launched a new collaborative project, titled ShriLektric. [4] [5] The same year, the musician was featured in season 1, episode 5 of The Dewarists . [6] [7]

In 2015, Shri published the album Just a Vibration, a collaboration with Hammonds Saltaire Brass Band. [8]

Discography

YearAlbumMain ArtistRecord Label
1997Drum the BassShriOutcaste Records
1998Dancing DrumsBadmarsh and ShriOutcaste Records
2001 Signs Badmarsh and ShriOutcaste Records
2001Swarm (12" Vinyl)Badmarsh and ShriOutcaste Records
2001CSI (soundtrack)Badmarsh and ShriHip-O Records
2005 East Rain ShriMSI Records
2007Seven StepsShriDrum the Bass Records
2008Heavy World (EP)ShriDrum the Bass Records
2008Just for a Minute (EP)ShriDrum the Bass Records
2009Barah Aana (soundtrack)ShriShringar Films Pvt. Ltd.
2010Striker (soundtrack)Shri T-Series
2011QuestShri feat. Vivek RajagopalanFolktronic
2011Google Chrome "Tanjore" (soundtrack)ShriFolktronic
2016Just a VibrationShri feat. Hammonds Saltaire BandDrum the Bass Records
2017Bank Chor (soundtrack)ShriYRF films
2020The LetterShri Jazzland Recordings

References

  1. 1 2 "ShriLektric set to rock Delhi". Deccanherald.com. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  2. "Shri: East Rain". Ethnotechno.com. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  3. [ dead link ]
  4. "ShriLektric Returns to India". Rollingstoneindia.com. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  5. [ dead link ]
  6. Yasin, Fozia (8 November 2011). "'There's no need to ape the West'". Asian Age. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  7. Kulkarni, Reshma (4 December 2011). "A long and winding road-Shrikanth Sriram interview". The Hindu . Visakhapatnam. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  8. "Shri Sriram: Just a Vibration Review – Indian Classical Meets Big-band Brass". Theguardian.com. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2022.