why do i like this?
But don’t go away yet. In all fairness, listen to this. She can make beautiful sounds! her voice is an instrument, isn’t it?
Listened to her on NPR years ago. I was amazed at the sounds she could make! A comment under one of her speaking in tongues videos: she must have been a drum in a past life!
Born in South London to a South Indian immigrant family, Sheila Chandra discovered her voice at the age of twelve and whilst at Theatre Arts school. From this moment her chosen path was to be a singer. Lacking any real contacts or access to the music business, she nevertheless honed her vocal skills as a labour of love, spending up to two hours a night throwing her voice into the tall, draughty and uncarpeted stairwell of the family home: “I didn’t know how to manufacture an opportunity, but I was determined that when a chance came my way I would be ready.”
THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES ARE TRUE
the eighties:
* In 1981 Sheila Chandra met Steve Coe in London and became the lead singer of his Asian fusion band Monsoon which then signed to Polygram.
* Monsoon had a UK Top Ten hit with their first single “Ever So Lonely” when Sheila was 16.
* After Monsoon disbanded, Sheila signed Steve Coe’s Indipop label in 1984 and went on to make her first four solo albums in two years.
* Sheila retired when she was 20 to take a sabbatical that lasted 4 years and re-emerged with her fifth solo album on Indipop.
the nineties:
* In 1991 Sheila decided to give concerts for the first time and developed her distinctive voice and drone approach — drawing on vocal cultures from around the world — so that she could perform alone on stage.
* Sheila formed her own music production company and went on to write a trilogy of albums in this style, each of which she licensed to Real World as one-offs, in order to retain creative control.
* In 1999, to mark the 10th anniversary, Real World put out “Moonsung” — a retrospective collection drawn from the trilogy.
the noughties:
* Sheila signs to Indipop for a one-off album “This Sentence is True” (The previous sentence is false) which is released April 2001 by Indipop/Shakti (Narada).
* Jakatta, fresh from their success with ‘American Dream’ use Sheila’s 1982 ‘Ever So Lonely’ vocals and completely * In 2007 Sheila returns to live performances after a gap of 14 years.
* In 2009 Sheila signs her first book to Vermilion Books (Random House) entitled ‘Banish Clutter Forever – How the toothbrush principle will change your life’ Publication date 4th March 2010. Ffi go to http://www.thetoothbrushprinciple.com
I can’t wait to find out more about her banish clutter book. The way she organizes her music is so interesting, I am looking forward to seeing how she organizes her life!
Bitch Rag 