Simran Chaudhary Interview
Question 1
I would like to know that you have been trained in classical music, which is pretty rare in today’s
pop space. So are you the first one in your family? And how did this journey start for you?
Answer
I have been fortunate enough to have been trained properly in Hindustani classical music. Rest
everybody in the family, they’ve been music lovers, always. But nobody could really make it to a
proper professional music training.
I was just a kid, like, two and a half, three years old when I used to hum whatever would play on
TV or on the radio and my parents were alert enough to understand that their child’s singing
really well and she’s able to copy whatever she’s hearing on the radio. Which means that she
has a knack for it or she has the ear for it. That is when my father took me to Guruji, who then
started training me, properly and professionally.
Question 2
Since this is more of South Asian heritage, I would like you to talk about more of your
influences. Any particular gharana that impacted you or musicians which inspired you to start
this journey?
Answer
The kind of Hindustani classical training that I had. It was, through, Patiala gharana, but, I’ve
had multiple influences, like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sahab, I was born listening to him, and even
Ghulam Ali Sahab, my parents used to play a lot of cassettes back then. I have one clear
memory, of me waking up around 6 a.m. in the morning and waking up to Nusrat Sahab’s
Kalam being played in the house, and my father used to play it at max volume, like he wouldn’t
care if we were sleeping. He would just play it for his own pleasure. And there used to be
Ghulam Ali sahab’s ghazals being played in the house, Jagjit Singh’s ghazals played. A lot of
folk music. Sometimes my father would just randomly, put on some Sufi cassette and we would
hear Baba Bulleh Shah jee’s kalam. Therefore this has been a very regular thing in my
household ever since I was born.
Question 3
All the inspirations you’ve talked about are either a Qawwal or a Ghazal singer. So how did you
come about mixing the traditional music with the pop culture, which you’ve also done in your
recent song as well?
Answer
This is how I always see my music, an absolute representation of who I am as a person. I’m
very well connected to my roots and to folk music, classical, sufi music, they are literally a part
of my blood now. However I like to stay updated. I have fresh tastes. And I think that has played
to my advantage, allowing me to bring the best of both worlds for me, together.
Question 4
Your latest track evokes a personal, powerful inner conflict. Does this reflect upon personal
struggle from your life?
Answer
Not really, we have seen things happening around us, hence I feel these are marks of the
society that we’ve all witnessed. For that matter, “Saiyyan Na Mane” specifically, like from where
I came from and from where the the song originated, my Hindustani classical training, a lot of
my Bandish, a lot of, the Thumris that we used to sing, they had that bridge bhasha, had the
Awadhi Bhash as their primary language of communication through the bandish. So I think
that’s where “Saiyyan Na Mane” came from. It wasn’t like an intentional move, but it just
happened to be in that language.
Question 5
South Asian music, as you talked about Nusrat Sahab, Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali, even folk
musicians from the South Asian space, are primarily written and taught through a male lens.
How do you feel about that? And do you plan on reinterpreting or reclaiming these narratives
from a more feminine perspective?
Answer
When you go into Sufi poetry, be it Baba Bulleh Shah Jee, be it Sultan Ba-Hoo Jee, be it Baba
Fareed Jee, like all these prominent, Sufi poets actually referred to their soul as a female. Heer,
for example, has two aspects to it. Heer has a romantic side but there’s also another aspect to
it, which is very spiritual, but in both the aspects, the reference to self has been a very feminine
reference because of the soul connection. And when a soul is talking to the Almighty, the soul is
always referred to, Rou Rani or Heer, for that matter.
And then the supreme God like, Allah or Yaar, the multiple names that the Sufi poets have given
to them, they’ve also called him Ranjha, like the love of the soul. Right? So it’s not like the
female aspect hasn’t been spoken about, but I feel there have been very few female artists who
have spoken of their own perspectives, and very few people have been able to accept and be
okay with a female talking about her own perspective.
Now, that’s a conditioning of the society that needs time, that needs consistency, that needs
effort. I very much identify that as something that we have that we have grown up with. I
wouldn’t even call it a flaw because, you know, had it been a flaw, there would have been a
negative side to it. If it can be worked on, it’s not really a flaw. It’s just an evolution that society
needs to go through. And I very much aim to bring that change, kind of make people see what
female perspectives have to say.
Question 6
I love how you explained Heer, Is she your favorite folk personality? Or do you like the stories of
someone like Sassi Punno or Laila Majnu?
Answer
My phone cover says Heer in Punjab, and I have a tattoo, which says Ranjha. So yes, rightly
pointed at. One story and one connection that is very close to my heart is Heer and Ranjha
because it’s a story that is beyond physical love and romantic love. It is a spiritual story of two
people in love with each other.
I think I’d like to point out here that whatever folk story you talk about, it’s always the female
whose name is in front. It’s always Laila Majnu, Heer Ranjha etc etc and I love that about our
folk stories.
Question 7
Every timewe’ve seen a Western audience been exposed to classical music. They’ve been in
awe of it but you don’t see that part of their mainstream music. Why do you think that is?
Answer
Number one, classical music is very detailed. A usual classical act would be anywhere from a
duration of 15 minutes upto two hours. To have that sort of patience. It needs, you know, as we
say, “Ek bohat manja hua kaan chahye usko sunne ke liye” So even if you ask me, can I listen
to classical music for six hours in a day? No, I can’t do that because it needs a lot of patience.
But at the same time, I feel, with this kind of evolution, that classical music is also seen, when
you see Bandish Bandits. It’s amazing how they brought classical music to the world, and they
kind of got everybody hooked on it. You look at Kaushiki Jee, she is a global name right now, so
it’s not like people haven’t been able to have a taste of classical music. It’s just the presentation
that matters. Even in Bollywood, Rangi Sari came up. That it is a traditional Thumri that I used
to sing back when my Guruji used to train me. Now with the whole tweak in the presentation of
the Thumri, I think it’s doing wonders and that’s exactly what I also tried doing with Saiyyan Na
Mane. There’s a lot of classical elements to the song that are fused, with something that is more
palatable to the audience. I think making it very much consumable.
Question 8
What’s next for you? And do we expect you to experiment more with classical music and bring it
to its mainstream outlets?
Answer
I’ve never been very intentional towards classical music because it comes very naturally to me.,
with all the training that I’ve had, it’s impossible for me to detach myself from it. The projects that
are coming up, there’s a lot of experimentation. There’s a lot of diversification of genres that I’ve
done, within the language itself. I am somebody who represents Punjabi language and Punjabi
roots and culture but purposely there’s a lot of fusion of genres that I’ve done. I’m going to come
up with my EP in another 2 or 3 weeks, and that’s going to be a beautiful thread of emotions
which people will witness and hopefully get fond of. I hope it reaches the right places, it reaches
the right audience. I’m not purposely, limiting myself into any particular genre.
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