Take A Supersonic Tour Of Pareeland With Suneeta Rao.

From being a singer to performing on stage, from her first music album Suneeta Senorita to her theatrical debut in Evita and the list goes on to many more musical performances for Grease, Bottoms Up and Man of La Mancha.

“I am basically a performer - I think I was born to be on stage. Being a trained classical dancer and singer, and with a passion for acting, I found musical theatre to be the ideal platform for me to hone my skills and reach out to audiences in my early career and then later on after I had had a career as a recording artist as well,” Suneeta explains.

Lyrics of Dekha Dekha and Paree Hoon Main still come to mind though it’s been nearly two decades since they released. The reason for that is the songs have meaning and may have sounded experimental at that time but the music had beats, bells and this beautiful bella – Suneeta. And the beautiful black and white video shot against the backdrop of an Indo-Gothic structure in suburban Mumbai is of “Paree Hoon Main,” considered to be an iconic song till date. Suneeta Rao continues to be the spokesperson of Laadli – a non-government organization that focuses on saving the girl child.

When we got talking about her future work, Suneeta said wants to be the voice for topics related to saving the environment especially climate change. The need of the hour, technically speaking!

Discography

• 1989 - Suneeta Senorita

• 1991 - Dhuan

• 1996 - Talaash

• 2000 - Ab Ke Baras

• Paree and other hits (Compilation)

• Chhoti Chhoti Batein (Single from a Various Artists album: Wajah Muskurane Ki)

• 2008 - Waqt

Photography

Suneeta Rao Archives

Hope you liked the last feature by Interactif in 2018. See you with more artistes in 2019. If you would like to get featured or leave a comment, drop me an email on shveta@interactif.in

Tetseo Sisters Showcasing Folksy Tunes From India’s North East

Storytelling in Li (Folk Song) by a band of four sisters sung in the Chokri dialect passed down from generations of the Chakhesang tribe in Nagaland.

Glimpses of Nagaland can be seen on the stage screen as they perform: Tetseo Sisters take with them still photographs and hand-written letters that bring alive the stories of the ethnic people from their region. They have curated mini exhibits wherever they have performed and are known to alter their live performance as per the audience and the venue. They are on the artist line-up for Nagaland’s popular Hornbill Festival every year. You can listen to them and visit Nagaland and some other jewels of India’s Northeast like Arunachal Pradesh, Shillong, Sikkim, Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram. In the last few years, the North East has become a hub for many music festivals and gigs.

We had asked the Tetseo Sisters about their inspiration, genre, breakthrough moment and recognition. Here’s what they had to say…

Inspiration:

Our parents – and their emphasis on a complete education for each one of us since the time we were all very young – a well-rounded education that imbibes culture, values to make a well-rounded person of each of us, reminders to be a good human being always, to respect others and their space and command the same for ourselves, to never forget where we come from but always striving to be a better version of yourself everyday.

Cultural Roots:

Our parents taught us to know and try to understand our roots and be confident about our identity. We have so much pride in our tribal origins and while the journey to understand our roots is an ongoing process, it is one that we value and love to share. Culture keeps evolving and we feel it is our duty to help preserve the beautiful parts and pass it on.

Genre of Music:

That’s how our love for folk music began and as we learnt more and more about the stories in each song and what they revealed about our people – we grew to love and respect them more and we continue to help create awareness and appreciation for them through what we do – be it music, stories or fashion.

Breakthrough Moment:

It is hard to pinpoint a single moment. We have had many moments that in steps have brought us to where we are today and we still have a long way to go. We haven’t set a place to reach – yet where we are now is not where we want to stay. We haven’t even started in many ways. We want to be a household name even if for a short while and make a positive impact no matter how momentary – for the world to know that such a culture/sound/people exist too and gloriously – to celebrate that.

Recognition:

There have been several instances when we felt really on top of the world – more recently representing Nagaland and India at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2014 with Team Nagaland, reciting the National Anthem at the Pro Kabbadi League Season 1 Game in Kolkata in 2015; Performing our song at the first Nagaland Olympics Opening ceremony in 2017 – and being bestowed the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Music earlier this year (August of 2018). As young girls, we have sung for heads of states, ambassadors, VPs of India, PMs of India and they were proud moments too but to be able to travel abroad and share our music with the people of the world is a different kind of experience and to find that we have fans from random parts of the world – thanks to social media – is the best.

In the future, Tetseo Sisters would like to explore other genres and Naga dialects for their music.

Discography:

2011 – The Debut Album – Li : Chapter One – The Beginning

2015 – Cepho Celho Lizo (Single)

2018 – A Slice of Li (EP) Releasing in November 2018

Awards:

2013 Trail Blazer Award – Nagaland – Native Trax Society of Nagaland

2014 Eastern Panorama Excellence Award in Music in the Northeast of India – Meghalaya

2014 Bacardi NH7 Music Festival MTS Discover Band

2015 Indihut Folk Fusion Act of the Year

2018 M Table Excellence and Contribution to Nagaland Music Award

2018 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Music – Nagaland

Accomplishments:

Mütsevelü Tetseo, Featured Speaker - Tedtalk at TedxIIMRanchi

Azine Tetseo, Runner-up – Miss Nagaland

Kuvelü Tetseo, Blogger and Social Media Influence – Naganess

Alüne Tetseo, Doctor in the Making – Indira Gandhi Government Medical College

Featured – Vogue India

Featured – Dove Real Beauty Campaign

Featured – Mix The City by British Council India

Featured – Lakme Fashion Week

Photography

Tetseo Sisters Archives

Pfuneo Krichena

I would love to hear from you about this feature. Please write to shveta@interactif.in with your comments.

This month we have Devon Harris in the house – known in the music world as Devo Springsteen. I’ve known Devo as the Founder of Adventr, an interactive video creation platform that uses the SaaS model.

The song “If You’re Out There” - that Devo collaborated with John Legend in 2008 – became then President Barack Obama’s campaign theme song. He also helped Kanye West with his production company G.O.O.D. Music, when he first came to New York. At the 48^th Annual Grammy Awards, Devo’s work was nominated in four categories and won three awards:

• Best Album: Late Registration (nominated)

• Best Rap Album: Late Registration (won)

• Best R&B Album: Get Lifted (won)

• Best Rap Song: “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” (won)

This is how Devo or Springsteezy (the name he uses on social media) has earned his repertoire in the music world. From his connections at UPenn to creating songs for famous artists and then investing a start-up with Adventr, Devo has been an innovator in mixing creativity and technology.

I would like to hear your thoughts on our latest feature. You can write to me at shveta@interactif.in

An artist who has been striving to build a community by bridging hemispheres with her music. Manisha has imbibed a sense of community since she first performed at the Cezanne Café and Bakery in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1999. After which, she has given more than 150 performances worldwide.

Much before Facebook happened, I would like to rewind to when you could connect with friends as well as musicians on MySpace. That’s how I connected with Manisha Shahane in 2006, after listening to her track “Shyam Rao-chi mulgee” which means “The Daughter of Shyam Rao.” It reminded me of my roots in Mumbai as I was studying for my Masters in Business in the U.K. at that time. She effortlessly mixes the Marathi language with English lyrics combining Indian traditions with western jazz. South Asian Network has used excerpts of this song in a public service announcement to prevent domestic violence in a Public Service Announcement in 2009. Almost 10 years later in 2016, reconnecting with Manisha as my mentor was an inspiring start to my musical journey. Her voice, her classical and western musical ability along with her songwriting experience has empowered me and many of those who continue to get mentored by Manisha.

Manisha gives the audiences a chance to listen and download her compositions on her website manishamusic.com or you can choose to watch her set on YouTube. While working with various projects, her performance experience has ranges from folk to jazz, Indian to Western Classical, Reggae to Rock to Afro-Cuban-Armenian Salsa. As told by Manisha to Voyage LA, “Think Sade meets Cowboy Junkies with a global twist (from what people tell me).” From starting her journey at Cezanne Café, she has taken her music to several cities in the US and also to India, Israel, and the U.K. Her witty side is evident when she describes her musical style as Bollyfolk Bhajazz! Manisha has performed gigs at established clubs, schools, nursing homes, religious halls, community centres, college campuses and LA’s famous Grammy Museum. One of her most memorable experiences was when she sang at Carnegie Hall as a member of the Grammy-nominated Chorus pro Musica. We would like to describe her as “creating a confluence of cultures through music.”

What did you think of the artiste of the month? Do share your feedback/ comments via email at shveta@interactif.in