Which 26-year-old doesn’t want to be rubbing shoulders with Tove Lo, Seal, Stevie Wonder, Steve Angello or Sonu Nigam and be seated next to Skrillex, Zedd, Lalah Hathway and Snarky Puppy at the Grammy’s? Bengaluru boy Shreyas Srinivas has been serendipitous enough to strike that note, but he modestly tells us it took him a lot to get there. The music producer and programmer who goes by the name SNSara has his own little “Dexter’s lab”, a studio in the heart of West Hollywood, California and is now set to release some brand new tracks.
Having trained formally in Western classical and rock guitar for many years, even playing with several bands and musicians, Shreyas has had formal training. “I moved to Hollywood at the heart of Los Angeles to study audio engineering at the Musicians Institute. And then New York for a master’s in music technology at NYU,” he tells us. He even grew up with his mother’s old tapes of Mozart, Michael Jackson and some Chinese folk, if you will. Music, then, has always been a part of his life. “What really inspires me is that music gives you the power to be a creator and to make something so beautiful and tangible. I had the privilege of being in the company of the world famous producer and my idol, Quincy Jones, the man who produced Michael Jackson’s Thriller several times and he once told me, ‘If there is ever a limit in music, then you have to fix it in your self. It is your own limits that reflect on your work…Observe the children and learn from them,” he says, cherishing it.
He later worked at the legendary Clive Davis’ Studios in Manhattan as an audio engineer, “Quickly realising that this side of the business is restricted to a very niche audience and not the financially struggling indie artistes,” he adds, putting his heart, soul (and a lot of money) to open up a space, sometimes even compromising on his accommodation to buy the best music gear that there is.
Although, according to him, he owes it to word of mouth, his work record is pretty neat – a compilation project called Rhythm Village for Sammy Chand (a pioneer of the South Asian hip hop movement), producing music for tabla player Aditya Kalyanpur (the kid in the tea ad with Zakir Hussain), rapper Houdini and Ozomatli to name a few.
“I recently collaborated with my old friend Krsna Solo on Tanu Weds Manu Returns, which turned out to be a big blockbuster movie. We have now come together to work on several new singles for his new label. We have so far finished four songs, the trailer to which is out on May 24. The songs are very melodic pop with a touch of R&B,” he reveals, simultaneously working with artistes across Canada, Australia, UK and Mumbai.
The National Public School, Indiranagar alumnus finds time to rest his ears too. Hiking, reveling in LA’s food and nightlife and steering clear of the million TV shows, all take up his free time. “I LOVE going to concerts and there’s always something that’s happening where I live. You get to meet great people and make new friends all the time,” he says, hoping to jet back to Bengaluru soon and work with homegrown artistes who he believes are doing phenomenal work. For him, it’s all about tapping the potential he sees.
