Shilpa Natarajan is an independent acoustic singer-songwriter and a playback singer and was a music presenter on Chennai Live 104.8FM, based in Chennai, India. In 2015 she performed with the Beef Sappad Trio.[1] She is an ATCL diploma graduate in Western Classical Music (Performance).

Shilpa Natarajan
Natarajan in 2014
Natarajan in 2014
Background information
Born (1987-07-31) July 31, 1987 (age 36)
OriginChennai, Tamil Nadu, India
GenresIndie pop, alternative, indie folk, experimental, parody
Occupation(s)Singer-Songwriter
Years active2011-present
Websitewww.shilpanatarajan.com

Early life and education edit

As a child Natarajan attended school in Muscat.[2] She later moved with her family to Chennai, where she attended Vidya Mandir in the neighbourhood of Mylapore and joined the school's Carnatic orchestra.[3] Natarajan had grounding in classical Carnatic music for close to two decades. Her first Guru was her mother Maheshwari Natarajan, followed by Vijayalakshmi Subramanian and Shuba Ganesan. She currently learns from Smt. Champa Kumar. Natarajan is also a student of Western classical music.

Career edit

Natarajan used to work with a Corporate Group based in Chennai and worked on her music during the weekends.

Her first entry into the Tamil music industry was in 2008 when she participated on a contest TV Show, Airtel Super Singer- Season 1. While she did not make it to the finals, she was invited to be a guest performer along with a lot of others from the show.

Natarajan then sang a song for a Tamil television serial- 'Puriyadha Pudhir', on Raj TV.

She entered the Tamil playback industry in 2012 with a song for a feature film titled 'Marina'. The song which she was a part of, 'Vanakkam Chennai', has received more than 2 million hits[where?] and Shilpa was invited to sing the song on Star Vijay's Super Singer.[4]

She has sung for Disney Tamil and Nickelodeon and her voice can be heard as a singer, on both 'Nala' from Lion King and Ariel from 'Little Mermaid' (in Tamil).

She has collaborated with Vandana Srinivasan, a playback singer in Chennai and Prithvi Chandrasekar of Krimson blend on a cover of Amit Trivedi's 'Pareshaan' from Ishaqzaade.

Shilpa collaborates with Chennai's theatre company StrayFactory Entd. and has been a part of The Metroplus Theatre Festival and the Short + Sweet Festivals with Ganga at Rishikesh and Maya From Madurai.

Shilpa has been a part of Girishh Gopalakrishnan's Vidiyum Munn by singing, along with Susheela Raman and Ramshanker S., the song, 'Penne'.

She has also sung the title track, "Hi",[5] for Vishal Chandrasekhar's 'Hi da' which is yet to release.[6][7]

Natarajan began to write songs in 2011 and released her Tamil single, "Yenakku Nee Sondhama" which was produced by G.D. Prasad. Subsequently, she released an English single "Shadow On your Wall".[8] In 2011, Shilpa collaborated with G.D. Prasad, on a bi-lingual song - "String of Shining Pearls"

In 2013, Natarajan worked with several independent musicians in Chennai and was a part of a Tamil single "Thedal", composed by Ramshanker S. That year she took part in The Hindu's Metroplus Theatre festival and 'The Fete De La Musique'.

Natarajan's next single "Dirty Little Secret", was premiered at The Metroplus Theatre Festival in August 2013, and at about that time she was featured on Zee Thamizh 's 'Isai Unplugged' show, along with a few other independent musicians, as part of a band called 'Untitled'.

In 2015, she was performing with a group called "The Beef Sapad Trio".[9][10] In 2016 the group performed at a Beatles Tribute concert in Chennai.[11]

In 2016 Natarajan performed with the Madras Musical Association choir.[12] In 2017 she released her debut EP, Bubblewrap in two languages.[13] The EP included 5 tracks in English and 2 in Tamil, and was produced by Naveen Samson Benjamin. Bubblewrap features musicians including Joslin Julius, Hariprasad, Vijay B., Shravan Sridhar, Biggu Chandilya, Adithi Deborah and Varun Ram Iyer. The EP is a mix of Indie pop, world, Indie-folk and other genres with tinges of other genres like alternative, carnatic and swing mixed with the music. 'Yenakku Nee Sondhama' was featured on BBC Asian Radio Network on Ashanti Omkar's on 19 March 2017. "Bubblewrap", the title track of the EP was featured on BBC Asian Radio Network on Ashanti Omkar's on 26 March 2017.

Beef Sappad Trio edit

Beef Sappad Trio is a parody act[14] from the city of Chennai. The act comprises Dr. Yohan Chacko (Veal Smith), Sandeep John (TenderLoins of Punjab aka TLPJ) and Shilpa Natarajan (BarbieQ). The act write parody songs based on current affairs and are strictly humorous.

While they have written and performed many songs, some of their YouTube-released tracks are NRI song,[15] The Biryani song, Monsoon Christmas (a song based on the Chennai floods of 2015) and most recently The Endodontist song.

Discography edit

Song Year Album Composer Producer Language Credited as Comments
Puriyadha Pudhir 2008 Puriyadha Pudhir (TV) Unknown Tamil Raj TV Productions
Down the hill 2010 Varun Ravindran English single
Ullathin Varthaigal (Aktaa Moner Kothaa) 2012 Oviyam Vijayanarain Rangarajan Bengali Short film
String of shining pearls 2012 GD Prasad GD Prasad English Single
Vanakkam Vaazhavaikkum Chennai 2012 Marina Girishh Gopalakrishnan Tamil
Hi (Theme song) 2013 Hi da Vishal Chandrasekhar Tamil
Penne 2013 Vidiyum Munn Girishh Gopalakrishnan Tamil Backing vocals
Thedal 2014 Ramshanker Sathyanarayanan Tamil Single
Dehamannu 2014 oka rathrilo iddaru ammayilu Girishh Gopalakrishnan Telugu
Vidaraani mounam 2014 oka rathrilo iddaru ammayilu Girishh Gopalakrishnan Telugu
Fly by 2016 Aagam Vishal Chandrasekhar Tamil
Shoot the kuruvi 2016 Jil Jung juk Vishal Chandrasekhar Tamil Backing vocals
2016 Theri GV Prakash Background Vocals Re recording
2016 Enakku Innooru Peru Irukku GV Prakash Background Vocals Re recording
2016 Pencil GV Prakash Background Vocals Re recording
Don't give up 2016 Avaladhigaram Ramshanker Sathyanarayanan Tamil Singer, Lyricist short film
Vizhi moodinen 2016 Jerard Felix Tamil single
Balle Vellaiya Theva 2017 Balle Vellaiya theva Darbuka Siva Tamil
Vandhene 2017 Simba Vishal Chandrasekhar English, Tamil
2017 Mupparimanam GV Prakash Background Vocals Re recording
Feathersword 2017 Bubblewrap Shilpa Natarajan Naveen Samson Benjamin English Singer, songwriter EP
Lean on me 2017 Bubblewrap Shilpa Natarajan Naveen Samson Benjamin English Singer, songwriter EP
Release me 2017 Bubblewrap Shilpa Natarajan Naveen Samson Benjamin English singer, songwriter EP
Shadow on your wall 2017 Bubblewrap GD Prasad Naveen Samson Benjamin English Singer, Lyricist EP
Bubblewrap 2017 Bubblewrap Shilpa Natarajan Naveen Samson Benjamin English Singer, songwriter EP
Kadhal Kondene 2017 Bubblewrap Naveen Samson Benjamin, Shilpa Natarajan Naveen Samson Benjamin Tamil Singer, songwriter EP
Yenakku Nee Sondhama 2017 Bubblewrap Shilpa Natarajan Naveen Samson Benjamin Tamil Singer, songwriter EP
Yevadura 2017 Gruham Girishh G Telugu
Yeh Waqt Maut Ka Hai 2017 The House Next Door Girishh G Hindi
Penne 2018 Coolie English, Tamil Singer Single
Sirukki 2018 Nicky M Tamil Vocal Arranger, Backing Vocals Single
Yaaro Nee 2019 Shilpa Natarajan Mervin Thomas Tamil Singer, Composer, Vocal Arranger Single
2019 Asuran G V Prakash Tamil Background vocals Re Recording
Hangover Peg 2019 Madhuram Wines Jay Krish Telugu Singer
Lockdown 2020 Shilpa Natarajan Naveen Samson Benjamin English Singer, Songwriter Single
Oshi 2020 Shilpa Natarajan GD Prasad English Singer, Songwriter Single
Oshi 2020 Shilpa Natarajan GD Prasad Tamil Singer, Songwriter Single
Haunted 2020 Shilpa Natarajan Anjana Rajagopalan English Singer, Songwriter Single
2020 Soorarai Pottru G V Prakash Tamil Background Vocals Re Recording
Mer Song 2020 Shilpa Natarajan Alok Merwin English Singer, Songwriter Single
Day and Night 2020 Basho English Singer Single
Untethered 2021 Basho Sanskrit Singer, Vocal Arranger Single
Boat Song 2021 Shilpa Natarajan Alok Merwin English Singer, Songwriter Single
Jigum - Wa 2023 The Village Girishh Gopalakrishnan English- Korean Singer, Lyricist

Animated series edit

  • Biriken (Title Track)
  • Sally Bollywood (Title Track)- Discovery Tamil
  • Lion King 3- Disney Tamil
  • Peter Pan- Disney Tamil
  • Concho Bay (Animated Series) – Tamil
  • Mickey & Donald have a laugh- Telugu

Associated acts edit

  • Strayfactory- Short & Sweet Festival- 'Maya from Madurai', directed by Pooja Balu, written by Naren Weiss, starring Venkatesh Harinathan, Ajay Ayyappan and Shilpa Natarajan
  • Fete De La Musique 2013- With Krimson Blend @ Goethe Institut, Chennai
  • StrayFactory (Experimental Theatre at Jaaga, Bangalore)
  • StrayFactory (Ganga @ Rishikesh, Madras Meals- The Great Indian Blogologues)
  • Banaras Shop Quartet (Ganga @ Rishikesh, The Hindu Metroplus Theatre Festival- 2012)
  • Vandanam ( Pareshaan –A cover )

References edit

  1. ^ "Chennais Beef Sapad Trio on bans and music". Raveena Joseph. Chennai, March 3, 2016
  2. ^ " A tune of one's own". The Hindu, May 27, 2016, Priyadarshini Paitandy
  3. ^ "Meet Chennai's independent women musicians". The Hindu, May 27, 2016. Priyadarshini Paitandy.
  4. ^ "Charting their own course". The Hindu. June 14, 2013.
  5. ^ "Audio Beat: Carnatic, jazz, rock and more". The Hindu. Jan 26, 2013
  6. ^ "Hai da Music Review Hai da, Uday, Bhavana". behindwoods.com.
  7. ^ "Two Guys, A Girl and an Acoustic Gig". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  8. ^ "A musical start". The Hindu. August 9, 2013.
  9. ^ "For the love of biryani". The Hindu. Susanna Myrtle Lazarus
  10. ^ "Trio's Monsoon Parody of Carol Goes Viral". New Indian Express, By Sonali Shenoy 07th January 2016
  11. ^ "The Abbey Road journal". The Hindu, August 8, 2016. Deepa Alexander
  12. ^ "The Sound of Music". The Asian Age, SRAVIA SIVARAM, Jul 3, 2016
  13. ^ " Wrap it up". The Hindu, March 14, 2017. LAVANYA NARAYANAN
  14. ^ "Battle of the bands". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  15. ^ Rascalas (2015-04-13), Rascalas - The NRI Song [A Cappella], retrieved 2017-03-27

External links edit