Lend them your ears...

Amarjot Kaur

The firebrand ‘rocker chicks’ of Chandigarh made their way to the city’s underground, independent music scene back in 2004 when YouTube and social media wasn’t a big thing and music aficionados were still hooked to rock n’ roll. Sashaying around the stage, bass-guitarist Isha Sharma of Wasted Soul and vocalist Neha Behl and bass-guitarist Namrata Sobti of De Innovatives could put some of the best head-bangers to shame. The new crop of women in the music scene might not be as fiery and flamboyant performers as these rocker girls, but when it comes to talent, they can bring the house down and how! Meet Komal Bhatia, Mitika Kanwar, Ipshita Bali and Jasleen Aulakh. 

The classical diva 

Mitika Kanwar, 28, is trained in Indian classical music by her father. She is an assistant professor of psychology at GCG-11. “I am from Indore Gharana,” she says. Having won the award for the best vocalist in semi-classical and Indian classical music, consecutively for three years since 2009, at youth festivals, Mitika has also participated in the TV show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in 2008. “I sang a song called Habibi in the movie Aazaan and did playback singing as an opera singer in Hawaizaada,” she says.  She often collaborates and lends her vocals to EDM producers based in Portugal, Argentina and USA. 

All that jazz

For 20-year-old Komal Bhatia, who is presently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration at University of Fraser Valley’s offshore campus in Chandigarh’s SD College, jazz and blues are a perfect choice. “I was five when I started singing. My parents took me to Gandharv Mahavidhalya, where I learnt Indian classical music for seven years. Besides I can play keyboard, tabla, harmonium, piano, and drums and guitar too,” she says. 

While sharing that her peer group, and most urban educated youngsters, choose to listen to western music over Punjabi songs, Komal says, “I have been performing in Chandigarh for two years now, but I don’t go to places where I would be asked to sing Punjabi songs. I perform jazz recitals at I Don’t Know, Hedgehog Cafe, Whistling Duck, and Veranda,” she signs off. 

That Sufi girl

Jasleen Aulakh is a full-time musician who belted out an album in 2013 and has released over three singles since then. Jasleen too roots for social media. “I have tried to make it into the Punjabi music industry, but it refuses to take women seriously. I remember being called to meetings where rich landlords and businessmen call shots on which songs they’d like to mount on their labels. With social media, I get calls from Copenhagen and even Pakistan,” she says.

Pop and rock

Ipshita Bali has performed for over nine years now, starting from Rio to Peddlers. In Mumbai now, she’s writing her own album called Ippi’s EP.  “I think Chandigarh needs to grow. Everywhere, people are singing cover songs and I guess the music scene there has reached a stagnation point,” she says. 

Chandigarh celebrates

• The Fête de la Musique, also known as Music Day, is around here and like every year, Alliance Francaise de Chandigarh is going to celebrate this spirited day with a programme called Fête de la Musique. The show will witness the French translations of classic Hindi poems. As per the custom, the citizens get to play music. 
• Social- a co-working space within the ambience of a café-cum-bar is keeping up with the trend. This cafe is presenting a special set showcasing the evolution of pop music over the years by extremely seasoned musicians. Crooner’s Collective is a Delhi-based band, whose music would deport you back in time to the good old days of crooning. —Ridhi Mittal