Filter Coffee, Curd Rice & Carnatic Music : The 3 quintessential mantras in the daily life of a TamBrahm. The day begins with a filter coffee, ends with curd rice and lot of Carnatic music in the midst of it.

“Join music classes” – this is the standard one liner advice you would have got to hear as a TamBrahm kid growing up in the 90s & even applicable to the kids who have just started going to school.

Shravan Sridhar, yet another Chennai born TamBrahm kid, got his first experience of music at the age of 8. He started learning Carnatic music. It was not long that the transition phase hit him. Courtesy the nature’s play on the voice cord that made him feel manly, he sensed that Singing was not his cup of tea filter coffee.

By then Music had hit a chord with him & he was in search for other conduits to get connected with his first love. This pursuit of music was contented when he got to lay his hands on ‘Violin’ – his second love.

When you fall in Love for the Second time , you Embrace it . It is an icing on the cake if you are able to hold on to your first Love as well.

The value of loved ones are realised only when you lose them. Shravan had to take a break from his experiences with Violin. This time it was the 10th exams which came as the road block. He shifted his focus to academics , successfully cleared the entrance exam & joined engineering college but all at the expense of 3 years of estranged relationship with his best companion.

Engineering College + Hostel Life = One of the best possible places to unearth your talents & realise your potentials. Also the perfect setting to get romantic with your Love.

Shravan got the time & freedom to unite with his Love – Violin. It was a pleasant shock for him when he realised that there was a whole lot of ‘other’ type of music in this world in addition to Carnatic music. His engineering friends introduced him to a new universe. He got to listen and enjoy the different genres of music : Blues, Rock, EDM, Metal, and all of those music which got played in the hostel rooms & corridors. The hostel room was his first experimental studio & the 3 musketeers : Laptop, Violin & Shravan played around with all types of music. He is big fan of football as well.

The Engineering degree earned him the most sought after job, the one of a Big Data Analyst with a renowned corporate in Chennai. It was a home coming for Shravan. It also made him realise that he was not in touch with the ‘music scene’ happening in Chennai. It took him a while to put together the music he had experimented during his college days & the good old Carnatic music. He joined hands with musicians, especially Naveen Samson (an awesome guitarist) who played other instruments and got his show reel ready. His part time affection to music was not getting the required attention. After spending almost 18 months working as a Big Data Analyst, he decided to bid good bye to the corporate world.

No one in his family had ever taken an unconventional career path. So this was an experiment which was new for him as well as his family. The Music Expedition’s of Shravan Sridhar did not get going for the first 6 months. He managed to get few small events during that period.

The real break happened when he got a call from the office of Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. It was an opportunity to perform in front of a massive audience and that too in the presence of one of the best musicians our era has seen. He made the best use of it and from there on it has been a musical extravaganza for him.

Music helped him connect with like minded people and music bands. He has played for bands in Bengaluru, Chennai & Mumbai.  “The guy with the green violin” has been the discussion point among the audience after many such shows.

It is a dream for any musician to have an own band. The quest to start a music band gave birth to ‘The Non Violinist Project’ in early 2017. An instrumental band which has matured in the last two years. Music has its own language and it connects with everyone. They play a mix of genres and would like to be seen as a Neo-Indian-Classical-Fusion band. It takes lot of passion and dedication from each band member to get the things together, brain storm, try new ideas and finally put up the show which will take the audience to a mesmerizing world. The NVP is slowly and steadily gaining momentum.The beauty of Music is that its addictive and contagious. For a Musician it is an obsession which makes him learn, unlearn and experiment. It gives various opportunities to tie up with fellow music aficionados.

‘Within4Walls‘ with Marshall Robinson (specialist in fingering the keyboard 🙂 )  is all about giving a fresh twist to music and sharing it with the his followers.

The most discussed music story in the last 3-4 years in South India, and spreading fast to other regions, is “Carnatic 2.0“. The unique and effortless mixture of music by Mahesh Raghavan (another music genius of this generation) & Shravan Sridhar. Carnatic music played with help of electronics. They give a whole new look and feel to songs. Their shows are always sold out & a stress buster for audience. He has done other projects also with Mahesh like the once trending Mylapore Rap. A project featuring the young generation of music & dance magicians , whose names are synonymous to the entertainment industry – Sharanya, Akshay, Kavya G, Deepa, Sudhan, Balakrishnan, Irfan. 

Along side performing across India and international tours, Shravan along with his talented band The Non Violinist Project have been busy with a new idea named “Forte”. Forte is a combination of the NVP band along with singers to bring a refreshed mashup versions of songs. They pick two songs at a time and put together an amazing compilation. It looks like this will be their forte :).

With the minimal interaction that I had with Shravan, I realised that he is very persuasive in making things happen. A great trait for people treading the unconventional career path.

Shravan Sridhar is now one of the leading violinist in South India. His style of music has garnered a great following for him across social media platforms & gained media coverage. The way in which he is creating magical music using just 4 strings of the violin and a bow is indeed inspirational.

Hope this “Non Violince” with 4 Strings gets national and international accolades. Take a Bow for all the great music you are creating and influencing. Keep fascinating people around you with the lovely Musical work.

Thank you Anand Bhaskar Collective , the close interactions with Shravan was courtesy ABC concert.