'Music is an addiction for me', Jayashree Singh
Introduction: Skinny Alley has contributed extensively to the Indian English Rock. Puja Goyal caught up with, the lead singer of the band, Jayashree Singh.
Source: Vijay Times, LIFE- Pg 3.
Copyright © 2006 Puja Goyal.
THE STORY of Skinny Alley goes back a long time when music was played purely for passion. Skinny Alley consists of Jayashree Singh (lead singer), and Gyan Singh (bass guitarist) who met in 1977, Amit Datta (songwriter and guitarist) who joined them in 1982, and Jeffrey Menezes (keyboards and vocalist). One of Kolkata's premier rock bands, Skinny Alley performed recently in Bangalore on December 31 at KGA and January 2 at Landmark (Forum). Their concerts ranged from covers like, Maroon 5, Bozscaggs, Neneh Cherry,Yousson Ní DourÖ to originals like, Fences, How it is and Clumsy from the bands first album Escape The Roar.
What is the reason for the conception behind the name?
Skinny Alley, Actually there are no philosophical connotations to naming our band ëSkinny Alleyí. Back then, the whole idea about an Indian sounding name for a band was "IN" so someone remarked, "You guys should have an Indian name or you wonít sell!" the funny thing was that our music is not Indian at all because we have pure rock influences. Someone else then said, "Why don't you call yourself Patli Gali?" And that kind of translated into Skinny Alley we liked the sound of it and decided to hang onto it.
According to you how has music changed over the years?
The influence of the ë60s and ë70s are engraved in contemporary rock music so it hasn't changed much! the essence will always remain the same. The most important thing in defining your style of music is to be true to yourself; because if you start catering to the fad, sooner or later you are going to loose out. You should make music to suit your own genre instead of writing for a particular trend. If I attempt a Linkin Park type of song, then I won't fit inÖ its not my style, I will make a mess of it!!
Negotiating between singing for yourself, and singing for the audience
For a performance-oriented show, we do not let our personal interests come in the way and play what the audience wants to listen to; on the other hand, a gig like this at Landmark (Forum), will have us perform only what will give us personal satisfaction.
Finding your voice
The more unique your voice is, the more unidentifiable you get because when the audience comes to listen to you, they want to relate with the voiceÖ like when I sang covers of Alanis Morissette, people said, "Oh! She sounds so much like her!" But over the years the more Jayashree I am beginning to sound, the more satisfying it is getting for me. This makes it harder for me to connect to the audience; even then, I am aware that unless I connect with myself, Iím going to lose myself, and my voice.
How do you perceive the changes in the Indian Rock scene?
There is no industry for Rock Music in India. Rock musicians are small in number out here and they hardly earn anything... they were poor initially and will continue to be poor 20 years later! Playing music in India is not about stylish cars, big houses, money, lifestyles, etc; it's all about satisfaction. For musicians like us, making music is like an addictionÖ ìWe know its tough but nothing stops us.
Skinny Alley, was formed with a two fold objective - first, to write and perform original music, and, second, to recreate well-known and not-so-well known tunes ranging from pop and rock of the ë60s, down to mainstream modern and alternative rock.
Source: Vijay Times, LIFE- Pg 3.
Copyright © 2006 Puja Goyal.
THE STORY of Skinny Alley goes back a long time when music was played purely for passion. Skinny Alley consists of Jayashree Singh (lead singer), and Gyan Singh (bass guitarist) who met in 1977, Amit Datta (songwriter and guitarist) who joined them in 1982, and Jeffrey Menezes (keyboards and vocalist). One of Kolkata's premier rock bands, Skinny Alley performed recently in Bangalore on December 31 at KGA and January 2 at Landmark (Forum). Their concerts ranged from covers like, Maroon 5, Bozscaggs, Neneh Cherry,Yousson Ní DourÖ to originals like, Fences, How it is and Clumsy from the bands first album Escape The Roar.
What is the reason for the conception behind the name?
Skinny Alley, Actually there are no philosophical connotations to naming our band ëSkinny Alleyí. Back then, the whole idea about an Indian sounding name for a band was "IN" so someone remarked, "You guys should have an Indian name or you wonít sell!" the funny thing was that our music is not Indian at all because we have pure rock influences. Someone else then said, "Why don't you call yourself Patli Gali?" And that kind of translated into Skinny Alley we liked the sound of it and decided to hang onto it.
According to you how has music changed over the years?
The influence of the ë60s and ë70s are engraved in contemporary rock music so it hasn't changed much! the essence will always remain the same. The most important thing in defining your style of music is to be true to yourself; because if you start catering to the fad, sooner or later you are going to loose out. You should make music to suit your own genre instead of writing for a particular trend. If I attempt a Linkin Park type of song, then I won't fit inÖ its not my style, I will make a mess of it!!
Negotiating between singing for yourself, and singing for the audience
For a performance-oriented show, we do not let our personal interests come in the way and play what the audience wants to listen to; on the other hand, a gig like this at Landmark (Forum), will have us perform only what will give us personal satisfaction.
Finding your voice
The more unique your voice is, the more unidentifiable you get because when the audience comes to listen to you, they want to relate with the voiceÖ like when I sang covers of Alanis Morissette, people said, "Oh! She sounds so much like her!" But over the years the more Jayashree I am beginning to sound, the more satisfying it is getting for me. This makes it harder for me to connect to the audience; even then, I am aware that unless I connect with myself, Iím going to lose myself, and my voice.
How do you perceive the changes in the Indian Rock scene?
There is no industry for Rock Music in India. Rock musicians are small in number out here and they hardly earn anything... they were poor initially and will continue to be poor 20 years later! Playing music in India is not about stylish cars, big houses, money, lifestyles, etc; it's all about satisfaction. For musicians like us, making music is like an addictionÖ ìWe know its tough but nothing stops us.
Skinny Alley, was formed with a two fold objective - first, to write and perform original music, and, second, to recreate well-known and not-so-well known tunes ranging from pop and rock of the ë60s, down to mainstream modern and alternative rock.
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