Introduction
A long delayed feature, we are happy to have SriRam to be a part of this line of featured singers from Smule India community. Sri Ram is a singer of very fine qualities. His ability to change from a low scale to very high without much effort is a very rare quality that we came across while doing this series. His profile is a melting pot of many of his active singing life in Mumbai where he is connected to few of the Smuleans where he finds a great place to collaborate with. He is a very busy dad and does not have a lot of time to spare to be a lot active on Smule. Yet, his profile is distinct with carefully made collabs and we are proud to present him as this week’s featured artist. Here is a short description of his music and interests.
This article is simultaneously published on our new site and please visit the page. https://allmusicconsidered226556912.wordpress.com/2021/02/20/sriram-b/
I am Sriram Balakrishnan, Smule ID @Sri_Ram_08 born to Shanthi Balakrishnan & Balakrishnan Ramamurti in the silk city (Kanchipuram). I was brought up in Bombay (Now Mumbai). My mom was trained in Carnatic singing for almost fifteen years before her marriage, but could not continue it when she moved to Bombay. Her guidance in my early training is instrumental in my musical journey.
Early music life of Sri Ram
Born in a traditional Tamil Brahmin family, I used to listen to a lot of bhajans and stotras every morning and then would listen to my mom sing them while doing her regular household chores. As a kid, I was introduced to music early in my life from my mom. My love for instruments took precedence in that period and not sure why I decided to learn Violin. My brother Shankar Balakrishnan (he is also on Smule his ID is Shankarb82) took Carnatic vocal training. I learnt violin for about four years, whereas my brother completed the nine years of vocal training. Both of us quit music learning when we reached our 10th grade. Another huge effect on my bringing up in our family is religion and beliefs. As Satya Sai devotees, I attended Bal Vikas classes, where I got to learn a lot of Slokas and bhajans and used to paricipated in group singing whenever I attended bhajan sessions.
A tryst of destiny with Vocal singing and Ghazals
The first time I took interest in singing was when we (mom and me) were preparing my brother for a semi classical singing competition. We decided he should sing a ghazal for the competition and that is when we bought our first ghazal cassette. It was Hariji’s ghazal album “Gulfam”. From those days on, I was so attracted towards ghazals that I used to listen to Ghazals a lot. During my teens and early 20’s when kids would listen to Hollywood/ Bollywood songs, I would just engross myself in Ghazals. Loved listening to Ghazals of Hariji, Jagjit Singhji, Ghulam Ali Sahab, Mehndi Hasan etc. I spent a lot of time singing in the Bathroom. One could call me a professional bathroom singer.
Out of India for Studies
Post completing my graduation I went to Australia for higher studies. After finishing studies, I returned to India and started working. For a period of ten years or so there was hardly any new music in my life and was pretty much restricted to songs I had listened to in my earlier days and would sing them during social gatherings if requested.
Introduction to Smule
In Mumbai, I was a member at Dadar Club (Gymkhana) where we have a lot of karaoke and music sessions and I started actively participating in them. During those sessions, I fell in love with the old classics 50s to 70s Bollywood songs and wanted to learn them so that I could sing songs which appealed to the crowd. One of my brother’s friends, another Sriram who himself is a professional flutist, suggested that I must try Smule. Once I started using the app, I just realized the amount of talent on Smule and I just got addicted to Smule. I felt I needed to improve my vocal skills and joined Sagota Music Academy (for Bollywood song singing classes) about a year back. Within a few months, I realized that I needed to do more practices and decided to join Hindustani Classical vocal course with Suresh Wadkar’s Ajivasan Music Academy. My friends and followers on Smule have been very encouraging and supportive and this has really kept me going and now I’m taking every effort to learn more and improve my singing abilities. Smule has brought my ghazal days back and I hope one day soon I will get back to singing ghazals.
Friends on Smule is a world to Sriram– Formation of music group Moksh
I also met some talented singers on Smule who are from Mumbai and we have formed a group called Moksh (it’s more like extended family now) and we have done four shows so far and hoping to do a lot more. The Smule IDs of the members of the group are BalakrishnanB28 (Bala), Paushali (Paushali Sahu),(both are featured artists in this series), JaidevIyer (JD), KavithaJay20 (Kavitha Jayaram), RanjiniSrijesh (Ranjini), Sachhin (Sachin Nadkarni), SarahVineethJohn (Sarah), shankarb82 (My brother Shankar) and Viji_Srikant (Viji).
Before I stop, I would like to thank all my gurus starting with my Mom, Gomathy Mami (Violin teacher), Shagrieka & Sagota Chakrbarty (Teachers from Sagota Music Academy) & Gowri Shankar sir from Ajivasan Music Academy. I would also like to thank my wife Sandhya & son Avyukt for being so supportive and giving me time and space for my singing. My brother has also been very helpful and provides me guidance from time to time.
Favorite list time
Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Hariharan, Jagjit Singh, Suresh Wadkar, Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam, Arijit Singh, KJY & SPB
Female Singers
Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosale, Chitra, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan & Kavitha Krishnamurthy
Music Directors
SD Burman,, RD Burman, Shankar Jaikishan, ARR, Ilayaraja
Songs
Hai Rama
Maula Mere Lele Meri Jaan
Tum jo aaye zindagi mein Baat ban gayi
Naan Paadum Mouna Raagam
Sri Ranga Ranga Nathanin – Mahanadhi
ninnindalE
https://www.smule.com/recording/skcworldwide-ninnindale-hq/2435216981_3710346738?channel=Copy-Link
En Jeevan
Salaam-e-ishq Meri Jaan | Muqadar Ka Sikander
ENDNOTES
When we are reaching the finish line here, Sriram is a talent that went through a journey of self re-discovery that no one have described so far. Once when he found his comfort singing songs with like minded friends his talent blossomed like a wild flower. We saw that talent come out live through the Smule. And that is why we think that Sriram require a place among our noted profiles. Very fitting place for a great singing talent. We wish him all the best in his future and hope this small recognition makes him work harder to become a better singer everyday. All the best SriRam.
