Shalmali Kholgade: Living the life I grew up loving

Shalmali Kholgade

Shalmali Kholgade had been apprised about the fact that creating a music album, in this day and age, isn't a sound decision. In a world dominated by music streaming apps, albums were only infrequently consumed by listeners, she was told. But Kholgade had grown up modelling her life on the many American musicians that repeatedly form part of this discussion.

"These artistes created their body of work [via] their albums, and it was important for me to experience what happens when I make one. I am old-school; I wanted to live the life that I had grown up admiring. The process of creating an album, and this body of work, was part of that plan. This may not be the best thing to do, but I want to invest time in seeing how this grows," says the Balam pichkari singer, admitting that Bollywood musicians like her cling on to opportunities that give them the freedom to express themselves. "There is a sense of accomplishment."

Collating 12 tracks that she had initially planned to release as one album, Kholgade realised that the pieces, owing to their sonic quality, could seamlessly be segregated into two - now releasing as Side A (on April 22) and Side B, later this year.

"Side A has an easy tempo, and a ballad-like quality associated with it. I have been heavily influenced by artistes like Beyonce and Amy Winehouse. Side B is more rhythmic. While I wouldn't label its tracks as dance numbers, I would say it is influenced by [Spanish singer] Rosalia, and Dua Lipa," says the singer-composer, whose debut single from the album, Here is beautiful, featured Sunidhi Chauhan. She promises more collaborative pieces in the second edition.

Far detached from trinkets like viewership numbers and reach, Kholgade says she is celebrating this album for the experiences she could derive while working on it. "Considering the musician that I gauge myself to be, I must write my own music, and release my own work. I am so in love with the music that I created that [it wouldn't matter] if people trashed the album tomorrow."

The oldest song is a four-year old piece, one that opened a floodgate of emotions when she revisited it for this album. "I knew I was a different person then. I was influenced by different artistes, and that reflected in the song."

This lockdown has been a blessing, enabling me to achieve things I have always wanted to do. We booked a city studio for three days, not knowing what we were going to do then. That was a fascinating experience, because we would simply select a song, and jam together to see what we could create with it."