Sheila Chandra - From Top of the Pops to WOMAD

East Indian singer Sheila Chandra was a pop phenomenon before the term "world music" as even invented.

At 16, as a member of the group Monsoon, the English-born performer had a Top 10 hit with "Ever So Lonely," a clever synthesis of Indian melody over a Western dance beat.

And in 1982, when she sang the song on Britain's Top of the Pops TV show, Chandra wore a sari, the traditional dress of Indian women.

Today, although she's only 26, Chandra finds herself the veteran in a growing field of Asian artists--one whose influence is increasingly being felt in the mainstream.

In fact, East Indian culture is a cornerstone of this year's WOMAD festival at Toronto's Harbourfront. And Chandra's two solo concerts on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. are the jewels in the crown.

This year's WOMAD audiences can also delve into classical South Indian music at a Sunday concert by mandolin virtuoso U. Srinivas, take in a free Sunday performance of classical Indian dance by Lata Pada and watch free film documentaries about sitar master Ravi Shankar and Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (a previous favourite at WOMAN) on Saturday.

Right now, Asian music is hot. One sign of the trend is that ex-Talking Head David Byrne, who already has dabbled in African, Brazilian and Cuban sounds, has just released a compilation of Indian film music called Dance Raja Dance.

One the local scene, CKLN Radio has just added a new program, Masala Mixx, that features music from the whole South Asian diaspora--especially bhangra.

For Chandra, the prospect of having second-generation Asian pop stars like Alaap, Heera and bhangra hip-hop sensation Apache Indian to keep her company comes as a relief.

"Having a hit song and appearing on Top of the Pops was nice--real fairytale time," she recalls. "But I also felt incredibly lonely. I was the only Indian singer in the mainstream and felt I had to represent the whole Asian community."

She was also stung by criticism from some media that she used her Asian culture as an exotic means of getting attention.

But Chandra, whose music is wildly experimental, has always kept her critics guessing.

Her latest album, Weaving My Ancestors' Voices (Real World), is sure to confound some with its blend of traditional and contemporary styles.

One track, "Speaking in Tongues," finds Chandra using her voice to duplicate the complicated rhythms of the mrdingam and tabla drums. Another, "Dhyana and Donalogue," mixes an ancient Irish ballad with a Muslim vocal technique.

It's an enchanting record full of songs that Chandra says she intends to sing this weekend. 

"I've not done much performing in my career, so I wrote this album specifically for that purpose--it's about as free as I can be."

Using an extraordinary range of vocal improvisations, Chandra will perform the material solo, backed by minimal tape tracks.

"In South India," she says, "the voice is the ultimate instrument. All of the techniques I use are those I've picked up myself--no one's taught them to me."

The striking singer, who has acted in several BBC-TV shows, is amused to find her image being used on WOMAD promotional material (part of her face appears on this year's official WOMAD t-shirt).

"WOMAD and I have been around for about the same time," she says. "We sort of compliment one another."

Meanwhile, Chandra rejects criticism that world music is simply music for disaffected pop listeners who sample exotic sounds like tourists looking for an exciting new vacation spot.

"Sure, you can get very cultural supermarket about it, and pick things off the shelf," says Chandra, with a note of irritation. "But if the music does something for your everyday emotions, then it works."

"Anyone who thinks world music is exotic should get real. This is our world."

Orginally published in the Toronto Star 6 August 1992