Chennaiite quits IT job, starts music band

Chennai: City-based violinist, Shravan Sridhar is making waves in the field of music.

His band ‘The NonViolinist Project’ has performed at several colleges and musical fests.

He recently performed at the book launch of ‘Rajinism 2.0’ where he gave a handful of rousing compositions of the superstar’s film music.

Speaking with ‘News Today’, he narrates how he dived into the world of melody and rhythm. “I started playing violin when I was in my third grade. For almost eight years I practised and learned to play the Indian classical music. But I gave it up by the time I was about to finish my school and I started preparing for the college entrance exam,” he says.

He soon joined a college in Hyderabad. Here his love for playing violin came back to him. “I started exploring different genres of music like rock, blues or electronic,” he says, adding: “I listened to a lot of western music too.”

His college organised a cultural festival and he got a chance to perform. He later returned to Chennai and worked for a firm as a Big Data Analyst.

“Once I came back to Chennai, I started exploring the live musical industry,” he says. “For two years, I juggled with my nine to five work and also played music. After that, I reached a point where I had to choose music or my job. That’s when I chose music.”

Shravan plays for bands like ‘Anand Bhaskar Collective’ from Mumbai and ‘Pineapple Express’ from Bangalore.

Shravan narrates how he started his own band – ‘The NonViolinist Project.’

“I was performing at shows in Chennai for almost a year after I quit my job. I got this wonderful opportunity to play at Illayaraja sir’s birthday at the Kamaraj Arangam. I had to perform in front of him. For that I had to bring in my own band and that was the very first performance we did together.”

It was a day Shravan will never forget. He had earlier played with two or three of his bandmates but this event marked the first time the entire band joined hands together to perform.

The NonViolinist Project is about to launch its debut album. “Hopefully it will be ready by the end of this year,” he says.

Shravan reveals that he is influenced by several musicians from various genres. “Karsh Kale’s work has deeply influenced me,” he says.

What pushes Shravan to continue to playing music? “I feel when you love what you do, all the inspiration and motivation will start coming from within,” he smiles.