Life changed from just running from pillar to pillar: Shalmali

Singer Shalmali didn’t find the past year to be as bad, being a musician. In fact, she’s glad she got a chance to pursue a lot of things in the lockdown period because of which 2021 will be her “deploy” year. “It has been a meditative period in the past few months. Instead of running from pillar to pillar, making money, spending that money, life has really changed in that respect,” she continues, “Now I have so much clarity on what I want to do this year. I’ll deploy whatever I worked on in 2020. I’ll do songwriting as well, and take bigger steps in the independent music scene.”

And the 31-year-old has already swung into action on that front. “I’ve released two singles, Ruka Ruka and Kalle Kalle, and my first English single, Regular. In 2021, I’ll have Hindi, English and Marathi music releasing,” she says.

Covid 19 hit all sectors, including the music industry, and Shalmali points out that entertainment wasn’t exactly deemed important at the time. “What was important was health and security of everybody. We, the music industry, did get hugely impacted,” she elaborates.

The singer shares how social media came to her rescue. “I began by doing an Instagram property where I’d collaborate with musicians, who’d also be recording in their bedrooms. It was the time to hone your skills. I’m a very lone bird, and like to do everything alone, on my own. It’s not always the right way to go about things, but this time gave me time to start conversations with other musicians. I’d not say it was all bad for musicians,” adds Shalmali.