Introduction
This week is a celebration of Smule and its success in establishing a stronghold among India’s musical enthusiasts. Majority of our regular emails that come in are, singer suggestions from the community and critiques on the methods of selection of singers. Many from India community have expressed their anguish that the blog site is biased in selection on singers with heavy Carnatic or Hindustani training and singers with natural talent is eliminated.
Few things, the heavy emphasis on India’s culture and traditions have a great value. If we don’t stand, who else would? Apart from that as the mission statement “good singing’ is also a matter of concern when a singer suggested for consideration as a featured artist. The next is the readiness of the singer and the interest of him/her as an upcoming amateur singer using the app to develop their singing practice etc., all these matters. A serious self assessment is another criteria. If all these fall into place, we never fail to take a lot of selfless effort to bring their music here. So folks, we heard well and clear your responses about selecting singers of caliber and we all are on the same page.
It is a pleasure to present here a beautiful singer like Nisari to all of India audience, from an intensely competed selection process. What made Nisari’s selection from many candidates is the readiness we talked about in the above section. Nisari is a very focused singer who sings locally in shows and very recently with her own efforts found an opportunity to sing in an album song. More than all that she told us a compelling story of a young girl growing up in places where even hearing to music was a luxury and yet her innate talent was something kept her pursue music despite all the odds in life. A great inspirational story of Nisari to you all. A big thanks to Nisari, whose enthusiasm and amazing personality that we witnessed during the whole time
Tell us about yourself
“Nisari Sibi (Solomon) is my name. I grew up and studied in a small town called Panthalam, in Kerala. After my marriage (to Sibi), I currently live in great district of ‘Kasaragod‘, a small hamlet called Kanjagad.” Nisari has two kids and is a busy mom now. Here are some links to her social media and her latest Album song released for the Onam 2020.
Facebook link here
https://www.facebook.com/nisari.nisari.73
Insta link here
https://www.instagram.com/nisarisibi/?hl=en
Story of a Girl who stayed still, when a good music is played
Tell us about your early music and how you found out you are a singer
For me, music is like my breath. Even in my toughest days, the energy I get when I sing a song is tremendous. I guess it was my friends at school that found the musician in me, when we spent time singing after classes. It was such a revelation to me that I myself discovered that there is an artist inside me. It was one of my teachers who used to give me audio tapes of music and that is how I used to listen and learn music. Many of my friends also have a big role in encouraging me to sing more. The end of school life unfortunately cut off my singing. It took a long number of years that I started singing again; in fact it was after I started my married lifeand settled i went back to regular singing. It all started after joining Smule.
Music is everything now. Each song has a memory associated with it. I can’t express it here in words, but it is a great feeling to associate every song I sing to certain memories. How many times I repeatedly sang some songs, it feels like singing it all over again.
Please talk us through your training in music?
No training at all. I never had an opportunity to learn either classical or light music. I am a self-trained, self-taught singer. I listen to a lot of songs and my learning is mostly by listening carefully. I wish I could learn Classical music. I sing without knowing the technicalities of a song. I want to remind everyone here that if someone did not get trained, still there is always that critical factor in making him/her a good singer and that is natural talent. Learning can be done at any stage. Some are blessed by the natural talent to sing. I would totally agree that learning classical music will be a great asset for any singer. But there are many I know, who never learned Classical music still can sing a song with all its nuances. I must say here this talk doesn’t mean I am a perfect singer, I know my limitations and I am constantly trying to improve my singing every day.
Do you like Lyrics? What are your thoughts on the importance of lyrics?
I totally love songs with good lyrics. The role of lyrics in music is very vital. An analogy may be how the organs and its function in our bodies are vital. For a song, lyric is like its breath and life. Without good lyrics, a song is almost like a dead body. I take the lyrics in a song really seriously. In a Malayalam song, there is a line like this “ Thaalavrindam veeshi nilpoo ponmayooram” which describes lyrically “The beauty of a Peacock dancing” each word in that line bring to one’s imagination the magnanimity of the brid’s unique dance. I sang once this line wrong and a close friend on Smule pointed it to me and ever since I realized how important it is to pay attention to every small thing. I said this just to say as a singer everyone must pay attention to the lyrics, no argument there.
What influenced your singing the most while growing up?
I am not very sure, still I will try to answer this. I used to sing in church choirs and I think that had a big effect on my singing. Also, I am an ardent listener of film music. I remember listening to any music was my happiest pass time ever since I can remember. If I hear a piece of good music on my way home I used to stop right and there and listen to the whole song before I moved on. A good song, good lyrics, a good tune all get me like nothing else can in my consciousness. When I learn a good song and perform well I feel really excited.
What is your career ambition? Where do you want to be in five years’ time?
I am a very ordinary person with an even more ordinary lifestyle. Yet, I also have a dream and that is to become a playback singer. Want to be known as a singer where many people know me through my music. I am not sure how my career ambitions can be hampered due to my lack of training in music. There is a lot of competition in this field. Even if I get an opportunity to sing a single song in a movie, it doesn’t make me famous either. I am very much standing on realities. Still, I have a dream and my partner is very supportive in me pursuing a singing career. I am satisfied with the little opportunities I got so far to showcase my talent. In this mix, if I can get a break in a big way I would be happy.
Do you want to talk about your Smule experiences?
Smule is an excellent platform for singers like me. After a long break from singing, if Smule did not come into my life, I would not have started singing again. With a lot of blessings of friends here, I could sing a lot of good songs, made lots of good friends and more than anything in the next five years if I keep practicing I am sure my singing will be so much better. From the time I began singing on Smule to the present, how much I myself improved in my singing is a self assessment made easy on Smule. No matter what is in store of my future, my music is my music and I will be satisfied as I am now. I believe in god and leave it to him to take where he wants me to be. Smule and its enormous reach across the world is a very significant episode of my life. It gave me an opportunity to sing new songs and as a singer for me learning a new song is the most enjoyable thing in the whole process of making an invite or joining somebody. I must say, I learned techniques of breathing while singing a lot after joining on Smule.
What genre of songs do you like the most?
I like mostly melodies. My favorite singers are SPB sir, Female singers- Sujatha Mohan, and K.S. Chitra
Music directors – Illayaraja Sir and Vidyasagar sir
I like almost every type of song, but I mostly listen to melodies if you ask for preference.
What are your thoughts about the Playback music and quality of songs made in India’s music?
It is a truth we have to accept, that India’s music industry has changed big time over the past decade or so. There are no good songs made like the old days. A singer who really likes to sing always looks for good songs to choose, and unfortunately, we have very few such class songs made now. There were some made for bad movies, the movies are forgotten yet those songs remained in the hearts of singers, right? The present-day songs life is very short-lived, the most a new song keeps in the trending lists is for just two weeks the most. I don’t know if this is because we have no good talented lyricists or good singers? I am very hopeful that we will get back to the old glorious days of India’s music very soon.
What are your thoughts on gender discrimination in music industry? As a female singer, did you ever feel discriminated against?
For me, it was after my marriage that I got the best encouragement. I am very lucky that way I guess. Women have a huge responsibility to play as a wife, mother, and take care of a family. In order to keep a singing career along with family responsibilities, one has to have a lot of support from the family. I wish and pray that all women artists get such support from their families. Not only this is true in the case of a music career, but the problems faced by modern women can also be solved only if the society as such have to change its stance on women’s issues. If such reforms can be brought to our society, it will sure be reflected at all levels of women life.
What do you think about music competitions? Will you participate in reality shows?
A competition for selecting a good singer, in my opinion, is a good thing. It helps bring out a hidden talent etc. The most important part of a competition is sportsmanship. The winners and singers who did not win must see the failure as just a part of having someone to be chosen as a winner. Competitions has to be healthy and I myself is not a fan of joining competitions. I am too old for such things. I have my own path and will be happy this way.
Let us hear few samples of the great singing that we witnessed on Nisari’s Smule profile. All are encouraged to visit Nisari’s Smule profile here and follow her and encourage.
End Notes
It is a proud moment to stay today with hand in hand with a number of musicians we represented and many more to come in this whole year. Possibly the series of Smule featured artists will cap at about two hundred this year and will be the end of the series of features written here. Can not forget the enormous support from an entire nation in this effort. Specially our friends work behind here on these efforts, supported unconditionally and made this process a pleasurable experience for everyone.
A big thanks to Nisari to be truly honest and fearless about her music and share her thoughts here. At the end of the day this feature is all about Nisari and her music. What we heard and presented here is a strong singing by a self trained musician. We wish her all the best in her music career. Please visit her at her Smule profile.
