Talent
Meet the Voice Behind
Jalebi Baby Shweta Subram’s voice is behind the hook in the viral hit, Jalebi Baby, which has people dancing all over the world! Currently in Dubai, Shweta has been overwhelmed with the love and admiration she has received for this single by Indo-Canadian singer Tesher, aka Hitesh Sharma and American singer-songwriter Jason Derulo. It was such a pleasure for Desi Australia to speak to Shweta and learn about her journey, the highlights, challenges and lessons learnt. We’re now looking forward to Shweta’s new song “Doli” which will be releasing soon!
By: Ruhani Dhillion
Q: Tell us about yourself Shweta. A: I was born in Dubai and this is where I am right now, but during my teenage years, we had moved to Canada for a period. For me, music was always a hobby and I never really took it seriously. My parents enrolled me into many classes and it was always a juggle between music, dance and school. But I do feel that these classes really paid off because in school I would get involved in a lot of music, dance, and drama, and all that the training was very helpful.
A: I come from a South Indian background and music is a very big thing in the Southern part of India where from a young age, parents put their children in some form of music or dance. My grandmother and my father are trained Indian classical singers. During my trips back twice a year, I’d be exposed to so much music and it made me wanted to learn more. My maternal grandmother who had a beautiful voice was in fact my biggest critique. I would be humming something and she’d stop me in the middle if the notes or expressions were not right. Q: When did you realise that you want to take this talent to the next level? A: There was this competition happening in Canada (much like American Idol), but it was organised by a group from India, and all my friends were after my life to compete. It was an intense four-month long competition in which I competed and won. That’s when everything changed for me. I started realising how much I loved music and I wanted it to be more than just a hobby. After I won that competition in North America, I was sent to India as part of the prize package. I went to Mumbai and had the opportunity to explore the industry. It was so fascinating just to see the way they make music for movies, but I wasn’t quite ready to move to India. Instead I came back to Canada and started writing my own songs. I wrote my first original Jee Le and my second single Ajooba.
Q: When did you cultivate an interest in music?
I remember putting that out and a couple of months later, I got a call from music director Salim Sulaiman, telling me they were coming to Canada for the IIFA Awards. They wanted me to perform with them and it was surreal. I thought it was a prank call and couldn’t believe it. They came, and I had two days to prepare a song and perform with them on stage. We see these things on TV and here I was with Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar and Bipasha Basu right in front of me. So that’s when I think it went to the next
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level. In 2015, I did my first Bollywood movie, Hawaizaada with Ayushmann Khurrana and sang the title song, Dil-e-Nadaan. Q: Where do you draw your inspiration from? A: My parents are a big source of inspiration for me as well as watching and listening to legendary singers like Lata Ji and Asha Ji. I was very lucky to have toured with Sonu Nigam before the pandemic. He had invited me to perform with him in South America, so that was a great opportunity. One can learn so much from that man – just traveling with him and seeing him day in and day out, and the way he leads such a disciplined life. Q: What have been the biggest challenges so far? A: I think for me it was getting into the music industry during an era when social media was not so big. If I had social media at that time, it would have been very different for me. Another challenge was that I had never lived in India, and to pursue playback in Bollywood, you have to be in India. I was geographically very, very far away and it was definitely a limitation. Q: What have been the biggest highlights on your musical journey so far? A: You know, that’s a tough one to answer because every time something new happens, obviously that’s a highlight at that particular moment. But the best experience which I feel I’ll cherish for the longest time was when I was chosen by The Piano Guys to render an Indian adaptation of Swedish House Mafia’s Don’t You Worry Child. With them, I got to perform at the Carnegie Hall in New York and that’s a dream come true for any singer. Q: Tell us about the Jalebi Baby journey! A: In between the www.DesiAustralia.com
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