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Mix of genres

Shenanigans has come up with a Tamil pop album, "She 16"

MAKING A DEBUT At the launch of the album

Landmark at Spencer Plaza got a little more crowded by those who turned out for the launch of "She 16," the debut Tamil pop album by the band Shenanigans, recently. "The crowd was large, more than what we had expected," said Rajesh Selva, a member of the trio that comprises the band, and the one responsible for conceptualising and directing the album. "Since it was a week-end, there was a large floating audience, and we got a lot of support from the college crowd."

The enthusiastic college backing isn't surprising considering that, according to Rajesh, a visual communications post-graduate from Loyola, 90 per cent of those who participated in the making of the album were youngsters who have studied visual communication at various colleges in the city, many of them classmates or friends of the members of the band.

Shenanigans came into existence seven years ago when Rajesh, who plays the keyboard, Naresh J, who plays the drums, and Sathish Ramalingam, who plays the guitar, met in school and decided to form a band. They have composed all the songs that make up this album. In fact, one of the songs, `Piraye' was composed way back in 1999, when the band had just come into being. "But the older version of the song was totally different from what it is now," mused Rajesh. "Over the years, we have improvised on it so much."

Soon on TV

All six songs of the album were played during the launch. "The album is a mixture of genres," commented Rajesh. "We have the folk-inspired `Aalamaram,' a romantic female solo `Thiruda' and even a song about death." The four videos that have been made were also screened, and will be airing on SS Music and Vijay TV soon. The two actors who star in all the videos are friends of the members of the band — Aarthi is a visual communications final year student, and Seena Jay Jay is a senior software consultant. The album was released by Saregama, and recorded at DesignS'elva, a studio and production company founded by Rajesh and Naresh in 2005. Rajesh, Naresh and Sathish are already working on their second album, which they hope to release next year.

The event was attended by several cine personalities and artistes.

DIVYA KUMAR

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