Introduction
This is the third time bringing a singer representing the state of Karnataka on our pages. Last when we visited the state, we bring to you a very strong singer Shruti Krishnamurthy. A state that represent many unique music styles was also a subject of discussion here. Please read two of the previously written features here at the links given.
We are delighted to bring here from Smule a third singer representing the State of Karnataka, Trupti Dalwaipattan to you all guys. Trupti’s selection for a featured artist came as a decision to pick a singer who is a true representation of many singers on Smule who sing for the love of music. These are many such talents on Smule, whose presence makes this platform a pleasure to be in. Trupti had a past where she seriously pursed music and yet decided to keep her music as a hobby for the rest of her life. Smule gave her the perfect platform to display her talents in front of a whole world despite that decision.
Please tell us about yourself?
My name is Trupti Dalwaipattan. A homemaker by choice, I reside in Mumbai, Maharashtra with my husband, a beautiful daughter. I am originally from Karnataka.
Due to my father’s transferable job, the majority of my childhood was spent traveling and changing schools. Though it made it difficult for me to cope up with the changing education systems, it also helped me explore different cultures of our country.
A brief description of your growing up with special reference to your music?
Music, for me, has been a constant partner in my life. No matter where I went, what I studied, or which industry I worked in, music always had a special place in my heart.
My father was the one who introduced me to this world of music when I was just 2 years old. He was an exceptional guitarist. However, he never got a chance to make a career out of it because of his family constraints. And this was the very reason why he always encouraged me and my younger sister to learn music or any other art form we liked and make our own choices in life.
Though we had enough support from our family, we never really found a good tutor to learn music from as we lived in a remote area before moving to Mumbai.
My Father was the biggest source of knowledge as he taught us the various aspects of music. He was the reason why I learned how to understand the feelings and emotions of a song and that made me realize how to do justice to a song.
By the time I decided to move to this new city, I had already chosen a different career for myself which meant that I had to give up on my dream to become a singer. I have no regrets though.
Are you trained in classical music?
As I said earlier, we couldn’t find a good trainer to learn. So even though I did go for a couple of Hindustani classical singing classes, it didn’t really help me grow as a musician.
If so describe all experiences
With limited exposure to high-level training, I have a pale memory of learning sargams and raagas. Anyway, it doesn’t influence my singing now. If given a chance, I would love to get back to my learning phase again.
Describe each stage of childhood, schooling, and college, how music was a part?
The best memories of my childhood are from all the evening jams I used to have with my Father & sister. Also, music always made me stand out in my school and college. I would win most of the singing competitions, be it in the school or inter-school. This made my schoolmates/college mates and teachers remember me for my stage performances more than my academic performance.
I remember this one episode of the principal of my school when I was in grade 2. She herself visited my place to meet my parents only to praise my singing skills and tell them to encourage and support my talent. That day, my parents were the happiest and of course, proud too.
What are your impressions about the Smule experience?
After I started working, life got me busy with a lot of responsibilities. The only time I could sing when I was with my sister and occasionally I would sing for my colleagues at work. And after my marriage, even that stopped.
And a couple of years later, I came across Smule. Singing on Smule soon became my stress buster. It was literally as if I had found long lost happiness. So precious. Then my followers increased, I started getting appreciation for my singing, which boosted my confidence. Smule changed my life for good. I am extremely grateful to the people who decided to create this app.
What do you like about it most and dislike about it if any?
If I have to list down the things that I really like about Smule, I would definitely mention how Smule has brought lost talent and passion into life for not just me but so many people out there. Be it for a homemaker like me or a 9-5 working employee, it is not just a stress buster for them but also a way to spend some “me time” after a long tiring day. It helps us learn so much about music and improve one’s singing abilities.
I really like how Smule keeps updating the app with new features at a regular interval. These features give our songs an enhanced studio recording quality.
Now, regarding one thing that I dislike is more about some users on Smule who think that using the Musicvideo feature is not a good practice. People making use of this feature are judged and considered as not being a good singer. I would like to send a message to everybody that it is perfectly normal for even professional singers in the industry to record their vocals first and then act in the video. One should make the best use of all the features of Smule.
Do you think lyrics are important? Yes or no why?
Definitely! Yes, lyrics are extremely important in every song. Lyrics become a part of a song right from the conception of it. The feel of the song has to go with the lyrics. One cannot sing “Munni badnam” in a “Abhi mujhme kahin” tune.
Lyrics writers bring out feelings into words which is not an easy task. Therefore I think it needs to be respected and valued.
Your take on Bollywood music?
Unlike other countries around the globe, where singles are given as much importance as to any other movie songs, Indian music is mostly ruled by Bollywood. The popularity and reach of the songs depend on the starcast of the movie oftentimes. This sometimes helps a mediocre song become a hit and some good music fails to even reach the audience.
What is your take on India’s pop music? And new trends?
There’s an era for every kind of music and there are always going to be some people who enjoy and some who do not. If something is popular and the audience is liking it, I don’t think I should spread any negativity about it. If I don’t like a song, I skip it and move on. At the end of the day, it all depends on the choices we make. Personally, I do not like or enjoy this trend. Maybe because I feel that there is not a lot of efforts put in creating these melodies. When art becomes commercial, it loses its value.
What is music to you?
Music for me is more like a religion. It is that part of my body and soul that can never be amputated even if I try to.
So do your religious thoughts inspire your music in any way?
Honestly, I am not a religious person at all. Unlike some other musicians whose music is inclined towards God or spiritual beliefs, I have a different approach towards my music.
I implement my father’s teachings in my songs till date.
Then Trupti beautifully sang a few lines in the interview of the song “Gali me aaj chand nikla” and explained how her father taught her the art of understanding the feel and the modulations that makes a song sound more beautiful.She told how each and every word may be sung differently so the emotion it conveys to the listener can have a tremendous impact. That moment in her interview defined many things about what we also noticed while listening to Trupti’s collabs. First is that she is very careful in the execution of her songs. Secondly, she takes every song no matter how simple it looks with too small details of it, joining her invites will be a pleasure and listening to her channel makes it worth our time.
Comment about the importance of classical music in this era.
For me, classical music is the base of any genre. It helps you understand the roots of music. I always wished that I could gain the knowledge of classical music. Hopefully, someday I will.
To answer your question, I think classical music will be constant in every era. The trends will come and go but the importance of classical music will never fade away. Because this genre will always have a dedicated audience regardless of the new trends.
Are you a socially responsible artist? If so why? If not why?
In my opinion, being socially responsible should not be a choice. It should be a way of life. Because regardless of which industry one belongs to, the content and the message we convey, influence the audience in some or the other way. It becomes even more important for artists to make the right choices in creating their content because there are more people following and getting inspired by us. I do not sing any songs that normalize unethical or degrading (especially for women) acts in any way.
Depending on which part of India you are from how local language music and other culture influence your music
Honestly, my roots have not influenced my choice of music in any way. As a kid, I didn’t enjoy listening to Carnatic music or singing Kannada songs. This changed soon after I joined Smule. Now I sing Kannada and Marathi songs as well and I enjoy that to the core.
Where do you want to go from here in five years?
When I imagine my life 5 years from now, surprisingly, music will still be a hobby. I like to be associated with it that way. Though I wouldn’t stop singing ever, I do not see myself as a professional singer any time soon. I would like to pursue further education in philosophy which I had to discontinue due to some personal constraints and become a professor to pursue my passion for teaching.
What made you decide not to pursue music as a profession?
Music is a gift that many of us are blessed with. However, to make it a profession or a full time career takes a lot more than just having a good voice. Though as a kid I did dream about becoming a professional singer one day, it changed later in my life. I’ve seen how people practice and learn day and night, spend their whole life improving their talent. For a person like me who has so many other priorities and responsibilities, it was a difficult decision to make at that point. More than half of the musicians in our country have given up on their dreams and settled for a 9 to 5 job just because of this one reason and I am one of them.
List all your achievements
As I mentioned before, I have been singing since I was a kid. So the majority of my achievements in music have been from my school and college days.
I have won most of the inter/intra school and intercollege singing competitions.
I was one of the top 171 contestants (theatre round) in the ‘Indian Idol 2’ singing reality show when I was 17 years old.
After a long break, I won the Sonar Tori Collab of the month (June), in Smule.
Your favorite singers
Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle are like a musical institute for the musicians of our generation. From the current scene, Alka Yagnik,Shreya Ghoshal,, Arijit Singh, KK are my favorites.
So do you think that the industry is in the right direction?
Nowadays I’ve been hearing this a lot that old is gold and musicians of our generation are not making good music. I would say I don’t completely agree with it. Firstly, there are some really amazing musicians such as A R Rahman, Salim-Sulaiman, Vishal-Shekhar, Ajay-Atul who have created magic with their music. These are the people who keep our industry on the right track. Secondly, we cannot expect the newcomers to be as great as RD Burman, Kishore Kumar or any other legends of the yesteryear. Every single musician is born with his/her own level of talent and that should not be compared.
The above question is asked not to degrade the capability of current musicians, but as a country with such great traditions, our youngsters and Bollywood industry should not forget our roots and go behind the path where they forget that our classic music is at par with any other style of music and one should be proud of it.
What is your thinking about all this?
I would start with saying that deciding on what to listen to is a matter of choice and it changes from person to person. No youngster can be forced to listen to or appreciate any specific genre. There has always been and will always be a set of people who like listening to such music and some of them who don’t. And if we want to do something to retain our culture and traditional music for generations, maybe we should create more such music and increase its reach.
‘Take a chance on me’ –
This song takes me back to my childhood when my sister and I used to sing it together with my dad on the guitars. I wanted to cover this song since I joined Smule and I could do it finally
‘Mera kuch samaan’ – I don’t think anybody in this world can be even close to how beautifully Asha ji has sung it. I still decided to give it a go and cover it on Smule.
‘Meine socha na tha’ – Romance, melody and beauty.. not just this song but the whole album of Yes Boss was a treat for us. They don’t make such music no more
‘Aur kya’ -One of my all time favourite songs.It’s always a treat to listen to the mellifluous voice of Abhijeet Bhattacharya and ever beautiful Alka Yagnik.
‘Dil jaane jigar tujhpe’ -I want to mention how amazing it is to know a singer like Vimal. He is not only a great singer but also one of the most genuine and down-to-earth persons I’ve met here in Smule. He listens to each and every join, responds to every single comment and most importantly, motivates and encourages all the fellow singers in Smule.
Kannada song- ‘Anisuthide yaako indu’ -It was a pleasure singing this song with Pradeep Soman sir. He sang it so beautifully that nobody could say that he isn’t a native Kannada speaker.
Marathi song- ‘Rupert Walut’This is one of my favorite Marathi songs. I heard this song for the first time in my college days and fell in love with it in that very moment. The composition is beautiful
END NOTES
It is a great feel to see a talented singer Trupti, despite a busy family life find Smule to express her singing to all of us. It is a beautiful feeling to have known such a strong personality and know her thoughts on music. Hope some of the thoughts presented here reflect many of the singers who sing on the Smule app. Trupti is the right representation of a whole lot of singers on Smule with a great talent in singing, yet decided to take a different path in career. Life is full of unexpected happenings; yet love and passion for music is something that don’t go away, no matter how much they deviate from that inner call. Please visit her profile on Smule today and follow her and encourage.
Legal Note in compliance to publish this interview:
The above write up except the questions, Introduction and End Notes are written by the singer herself and appear with no change as the singer wanted. This statement is an acknowledgement and agreement of the concerned that any statements made is his/her own views and is responsible for this.
