Musical mix and match

British-Indian multi-instrumentalist Shri of ShriLektric, to perform his unique style of music in city.

British resident, Shri from ShriLektric, who’s known to perform five instruments simultaneously, will perform at Bonobo tomorrow. Trained as a tabla player, Shri took up bass after getting influenced by Led Zeppelin. “I love Led Zeppelin. They work and their work have been a huge influence. Same is true for Rush, Nikhil Bannerjee, Ali Akbar Khan, Jethrotull, Weather Report, Bach... etc to name a few,” he says. Shri has also worked with Talvin Singh on a British tour and played bass and flute in Nitin Sawhney’s band.

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This will be Shri’s first solo performance in India. “I have been blessed with a good cross section of people, who find my music interesting. Hope it lives up to the expectations,” he says.

Shri’s music is a blend of Indian styles along with rock, jazz and drum ’n’ bass. “I do not combine music. They are all influences and nuances in my vocabulary, same as my speaking English with an Indian accent. You cannot separate the Indian from the English,” he says about his distinctive style.

In the past, Shri has also worked with Outcaste records, which put the Asian underground music in Britain on the world map. Of lately he has also been experimenting with Bollywood soundtracks. “I loved working on two really cool movies, Barah Aana (2009) and Striker (2010). I enjoyed the experience as the directors were into my music anyway and we shared a great rapport.”
Adding thatis a huge market for Asian music, he also says, “The term ‘Asian Under-ground’ is just a name coined by people who could not think what else to call this music.”