@syndujayamusic... when did it all begin?

I think it's only right that my first blog post is a lil intro about me.

Hi, my name is Syndu, I'm 22 years old & I'm a final year dental student at King's College London. I guess you could say music has always been a huge part of my life; when I was a little girl, my mum would be pushing my older brother to sing at this competition, that show, and whilst he was less than keen (I'm pretty sure all tamil kids can relate to being pushed into everything when they were younger?!) , I on the other hand saw this, and my competitive side kicked in at full force at the tender age of 3. 'If Annah can do it, WHY CAN'T I?!' And that's how it began. I waddled up on stage with my bro & sang my first duet with him. I say 'sang' in very loose terms though; it was more me aggressively keeping thalam with my hand and mumbling into the mic but I was v proud of myself! Since then, I would perform with my brother, sing my socks off (or at least look as professional as I could) and spend the rest of the evening beaming as family and friends would shower me with compliments.

(^ this was actually my second performance; you can see the intense concentration on my face.. I did not come to play around)

It was around when I was 7 years old that my mum decided it was time for us to actually start learning Carnatic music. We started learning from Ms Yasotha Mithiradaas (who sidenote, is an absolute gem and is the reason I know everything I know now, biggest shout out and lots of love to you <3) and soon, due to our Amma insisting we practise everyday for half an hour without choice, my brother and I were put in our own separate class because we would race ahead learning the krithis and varnams. And I really grew to love it. I'll talk about my journey in Carnatic music and my thoughts on it in another post, but it really gave me such a strong foundation for all the music I do today.

We soon developed the rep as the 'singers' within our family, and so pretty much after that, it was without fail that my brother and I would be made to sing at any family function; whether it was a wedding, samathiyaveedu, family party.... you name it. My mum made us a singing book, complete with lyrics from every song we'd ever sung, and for weeks before any function, we would sit in the dining room with our mics, singing and crying in frustration for hours because our mum would insist we'd be saying 'la' instead of 'zha' and that our pronounciation was apparently 'tanglish.' However, despite this trauma (sorry mum, love ya) it were these very many performances that helped us overcome our stage fright and build up our confidence. Even though every party would be us stressing before we sang, gulping water and trying to warm up our voices in the toilet, I would get an overwhelming sense of happiness after performing every time. :)

After many years of exams, theory, and stress, my brother and I both achieved a Diploma in Carnatic music.. but now what? With no distinct path to follow, I knew it was up to me to make a conscious effort to keep music in my life. With uni looming ahead, opening the door to countless opportunities, I was excited to meet others with similar interests, get inspired by them, and continue to grow in both skill and knowledge. There were 3 main things I wanted to achieve: 1) sing in other languages & delve more into film music 2) choreo at least 1 stage music act and 3) start a social media platform to broaden my audience; and thus started, syndujayamusic.

syndu :)