Most people would remember Vasudha Sharma as the girl from Aasma, the pop band that surfaced when reality music hunts were still a new concept. But then one find day, each member thought of going their own way and so did Vasudha. She made her way through the already cluttered road to success with new entrants coming in everyday. Verus Ferreira caught up with the young singer when she performed at the Sulafest in Nashik early this year.

Excerpts from the conversation:

VF: Tell us what has been your experience like at Sulafest?

VS: This is my first time at Sula and I played with the full band so it was extremely exciting, you get a high with a band. It was a little early, about 3.30 pm – 4pm, but people turned up. It was a lovely, supportive crowd, very happy people. They came to have a good time. They were very open to different styles of music. I played Indian fusion.

VF: What is your music like?

VS: I play Indian fusion music. I released an album called “Attuned Spirits” independently last October. Its digitally released through OK Listen who distributes music for independent musicians. I was doing a lot of gigs all over India, at Hard Rock Café and Blue Frog. As and when I do gigs, I give away CD’s. At festivals like Sula, I have my CD’s in the merchandise section. People who are looking especially for your music will find it anywhere rather than looking for it at Planet M’s. On television, MTV has come out with (Pepsi) MTV Indies, so its great for independent musicians. And also there are so many new things coming up, so many festivals, like Sulafest, where its away from Mumbai and people come here and have a great time

VF: So far, you have released just one album fusion album, called Attuned Spirits?

VS: That’s my solo album

VF: So you were with Aasma sometime back?

VS: That’s right

VS: So let’s go back to how it all began for you in Aasma.

VS: I was pretty young when Aasma happened. I was 18 when Aasma happened, and since then I have changed as a person, as am sure all of us do. We had a great time then and even now, we're all in touch.

VF: I had interviewed you guys years ago, and so tell us how the road has been for you as a solo artist now as against being part of the band then?

VS: As a band we still do gigs, when we get enquiries for private shows, corporate gigs. The band is very much together in that sense. When four of us are there we go as Aasma. Individually Neeti Mohan has gone into playback singing and done work with A R Rahman. She always wanted to be a playback singer. Everyone is following their individual dreams as Aasma has actually given us that platform to explore more opportunities. Sangeet (Haldipur) is into music direction, he is composing music with his brother Jimmy (Felix) who is a rock star and who is performing all over the country. Everybody is doing their own thing. I love creating my own music and playing at festivals. If we get a gig for Aasma, we always do it.

VF: So does Aasma have bookings lined up for the full year, since we have not heard about the band publicly in the recent past?

VS: We do mostly private shows. We have not done anything public as we are together only at some intervals. We have also not created any new material, new music together as Aasma. We have been too caught up in our individual paths, individual passions. But maybe this year we will come up with a song together.

VF: So what does the future hold for you? Any plans to take up playback singing, venture into Bollywood?

VS: I am not concentrating in that direction. I prefer having my own independent music out there as much as I can. After studying at Berklee (College of Music), I was exposed to such different kinds of music……… (Pauses) world music, completely different sounds which was not there in Aasma. You push your boundaries and you see so many opportunities available out there. So I thought, let me just create my own music, interpret and present myself to people. I’m not really sure about playback right now. I know Vishal Dadlani and Shankar Mahadevan appreciate my work, but I’ve never really approached any one as a playback singer. I’m happy doing what I’m doing, creating my own music. I did compose for a movie in 2010 called ‘Shah Rukh bola khubsurat hai tu’. It did not do commercially well, but I did get an opportunity to compose for a Bollywood movie. Mr Govind Nihalani is working on an animation movie. I will be composing the music for it.

VF: You mentioned studying for a year at the Berklee college of Music and being exposed to different kinds of music. What can you tell us more about that?

VS: I was offered a scholarship by Berklee College of Music in Boston. I was earning a lot of money through gigs but my growth was stagnant. So I decided to leave the country for a year, and go meet new people from all over the world. This college gets students from the Middle East, Spanish musicians, and people from everywhere. It was an explosion in my mind, this exposure to world music and western music theory and jazz which helps me create my music now. I have Indian classical roots which I had been taught from childhood and I love western music. I love listening to Alanis Morissette. I am very passionate about her music. Out there, this was a side of music that I had never explored.

VF: So has it influenced your music to a large extent?

VS: Definitely. The album actually features musicians from eleven different countries when I recorded it there. The compositions are entirely mine. The arrangements are mine. We would have a saxophone in a raag based composition, played with drums rather than an Indian instrument. In my kind of fusion, I don’t have a sitar playing or Indian compositions, but the arrangement is very western. Like a jazz or a blues sound.

VF: Do you travel with the same band for gigs?

VS: This is my regular band I had formed the band when I released my album. The album features thirty musicians, some from Berklee, Dhruv Ghanekar and others from here. I worked with a lot of people, because I wanted different musicians. I asked a lot of musicians to play on the album and they were very happy to come in on the project. I wanted different elements like a violin, mandolin, Arabic percussion, and a cello player from Palestine and they were happy to play my compositions. I got what I wanted. You should really listen to the album to get a feel of my album.

Interviewed and Photos by Verus Ferreira