Shibani Kashyap Discusses Unique Customizations and Curations of Her Act for Every Event

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Entertainment | October 16, 2017 | Promo Feature

Shibani Kashyap

In an exclusive interview with EVENTFAQS Media, Shibani Kashyap discusses her act, how it can be precisely curated to suit every event type and also how she ensures her music remains relevant and innovative. Excerpts below:

What according to you sets you apart as a LIVE performer?

I’m not just a singer, I’m a composer and also play an instrument: The Guitar... 

So I can do unplugged gigs with just me and the guitar, when an event demands a tighter set-up. Even when I perform with my band, I play my Guitar, the Yamaha silent guitar series which is ideal for a stage performance. I sometimes team up with 2 female violinists on stage and that combined with my guitar sounds very unique!! 
Moreover, my performance repertoire has a lot of variety: I perform Sufi, Jazz, English classic, Bollywood, EDM, Punjabi Folk and even Bengali. 

I like to innovate with different genres, for instance I have created a new property: Bolly Jazz, which is a mash up of old Bollywood songs with jazz classics.

How is your act customizable to different formats of an event (e.g. Large concert, Intimate Evening, High-Profile Event)?

For a large concert I use a six piece band, along with two chorus singers and eight dancers, and we add in special props, so it not only sounds powerful but also visually looks very attractive. 

For smaller concerts, we can downsize it to just me with a six or a five piece band, or if only on minus one then, me with six dancers also makes for a great visual and aural set.

If its a very intimate setting, then I use a very organic unplugged sound: Three musicians in addition to myself on the guitar and vocals. The musicians would be one cajon player, a saxophone player and one bass guitarist. This sounds soulful! 

If its a very small stage then its just me and my guitar, unplugged, real and very interactive!! 

My Recent Jazz Band Set Up:

I am very delighted that I have recently started a Jazz Band and had the opportunity to launch as the headline performer at the WOW AWARDS WOW ASIA 2017 held in New Delhi recently.

Jazz is my favorite form of music and i’m happiest singing this genre. A saxophone player, a keyboard player, a bass guitarist and a drummer and I, comprise the band. Apart from singing old and new jazz classics, I also blend old Hindi film songs to add a sense of nostalgia along with an English jazz song. It’s unbelievable how beautifully and naturally they blend. I have been getting an amazing response for this act. This act is ideal for award shows, corporate launches, pre-wedding functions and auditorium concerts.

What is your take on collaborations with other artists? Do you have 1-2 examples of how you've been part of some collaborations in the past?

I love collaborations it brings the fan-base of two different artists together to increase each of their fan-base. I have collaborated with Mika Singh in a song called Soneya where I sang Punjabi for the first time, and the song brought be a lot of popularity. I recently collaborated with an L.A.-based reggae band, called Big Mountain for the song 24 Hours Irresponsible. The music of this song is reggae and the song came out in the Indi Reggae space, this way the popularity of Big Mountain increased here in India and in the same way, I believe my popularity has increased in America as I have been getting lots of offers and enquiries from that sector. These are 2 very successful collaboration and I plan to do more.

Aside from these, I have also teamed up with Sufi artist like Mame Khan, Swaroop Khan and the Nizami Brothers to bring a folk fusion in my act.

Are there any innovative acts you are planning for the future, that could be well integrated into LIVE events? 

Yes, I am planning very innovating and interesting act in New Delhi, which I will perform on November 11, 2017. I will be teaming up with the famous qawaals: The Niazi Nizami Brothers, and will be performing a Jazz Qawaali session, to promote and globalize Qawaali and Sufi music! As Jazz is like a dialogue and Qawaali is also like a dialogue, its an expression of the thought that both the forms of music are somewhere related to each other.