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Thanks to All India Radio and her mom & dad's ultimate record collection, Shalini Ramachandran was surrounded by a wide variety of musical influences: western classical, Carnatic, pop , Hindustani, jazz and, of course Hindi film music. She says she sings all the time - in the shower, car, at gatherings and wherever she cannot be arrested for it ! She is intensely motivated and driven to perform. She occasionally plays the keyboard and hand percussion instruments. Loving wife, doting mother, persistent music-addict, and a wannabe millionaire, Shalini thanks her wonderful husband, her family and friends who have always encouraged her in all her endeavors; no matter how silly they get.
The immutable Shirish Karnik
says that he loves music and wanted to be a singer. In his words 'People liked my
voice so much that nobody stayed back to listen. Having been encouraged, I decided
that I should be heard so I picked up an instrument which does not have a MUTE button
to it. So now here I am with my drums and congas.' Needless to say, EasternWinds signed him up in a jiffy. Shirish works in Oakland and lives in the East Bay.
Well-liked and easygoing Siva Sreeraman
is the founder of EasternWinds. A versatile performer, an enthusiastic motivator and a strong leader, his dedication, encouragement and support to EasternWinds are of enormous contribution to the band. Siva is from Bombay, has a BE in Computer Science from the University of Pune, and a MS from Carnegie Mellon University. In his professional life, Siva is a Manager at IBM. He is involved with several Bay Area organizations, which encourage and showcase talent and support community causes. Siva also sings with Thillana, a Bay Area based Tamil Music band.
Tamal Dey
plays the lead/rhythm guitars for the band. He spent his childhood days at Guwahati, Assam. He studied for his
BE at Regional Engineering College (REC) Silchar, Assam. He works for SeaGate as an Application Engineer.
Tamal performs with other musical groups on occasion.
Trit Garg
is a sophomore at the Archbishop Mitty High School.
He has been learning classical piano for 3 years and jazz piano for 1
year, which has made him the lead keyboardist of EasternWinds. Aside from his
passion for music, he also enjoys playing tennis and trying to be a gangsta. He
thinks he owes it all to his parents for pushing him into music, but he really
owes to his brother for motivating and inspiring him.
U.V. Ravindra, aka UVR, vocalist, has made an occasional foray into EasternWinds'
percussion and keyboard departments as well. He has a background in Indian Classical
Music and is a huge fan of 1950-60s era Hindi film music. When he is not hanging
out with his family or chilling out in front of the TV, he attempts to satiate his
deep and abiding interest in Urdu poetry by composing Ghazals. UVR hails from Delhi,
works in Menlo Park for Sun Microsystems and lives in Fremont. He also sings with Jhankaar, a Bay Area based Hindi Music band.
A self taught enthusiast with a keen ear for music, Vikram Kalyanaraman started out playing the guitar and after trying his hand at the keys and bass, turned to drumming. He plays the drums for multiple bands in the SF Bay Area and has performed with Bollywood artistes. He is interested in a range of music styles from reggae to raaga to rock.
A Bollywood buff and die-hard A.R.Rahman fanatic, Vivek Garud loves to sing every kind of song, from nursery rhymes to semi-classical oldies to sufi-rock. When Vivek isn't rocking the audience at a concert, he is singing some soulful numbers with his acoustic guitar at home. Vivek has made some forays into composing as well and dreams of composing for a Bollywood movie someday. Well, you never know! Keep reading the credits. Vivek also sings with Dhoom,
a Bay Area based Hindi music band.
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