Weaving Her Ancestors’ Voices: Sheila Chandra’s Legacy

By Divya Sethu January 4, 2021 In Culture, Music 1 1980s music, Asian Music 1

Sheila Chandra’s musical journey began in the 1970s and 80s. Racial tensions were peaking in the U.K., and violent attacks against South Asians (paki bashing) became more frequent. The 70s closed with the advent of Thatcherism, and Pink Floyd’s The Wall – the latter encapsulating well the social change and “thought control” in anticipation of the former. The decade had been marked by thoughtful experimentation in the music scene and dominated by post-punk acts like Echo & the Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs and Joy Division.

As the 80s rolled in, so did newer technology and the video age. Artists found grounds to combine their music with a strong visual identity. The decade, often termed as the Second British Invasion also saw the incorporation of world music. Meanwhile, there was an increasing demand among the South Asian community for live music more relevant to brown culture, especially for weddings and cultural events. Bhangra and dance music flourished, and many records incorporated the dhol and tumbi with synthesisers and electro beats. These turned out to be a hit for even those outside the community.

Despite this, brown people remained mostly absent from the mainstream music scene. The 80s saw a gradual shift from post-punk to pop, and along came the first record with clear South Asian influences since the 1960s to reach the top ten on the U.K. Charts.

Ever So Lonely

In 1982, world/pop trio Monsoon released their single ‘Ever So Lonely’. The song stayed on the charts for nine weeks and was also a hit in Ireland, the Netherlands, and Australia. In the video, Chandra dances and sings in a sweet voice, dressed in a sari and flanked by two white men playing the sitar and tabla. There are visuals of camels and sand dunes. The colour scheme is the typical yellow used to depict South Asian countries in cinema and television. While the song is strictly pop, the addition of Indian instruments set it ahead of its time. No white person is at the forefront here – Chandra leads the song from start to finish, and the rest can only attempt to match her joviality and charm.

The U.K. charts had not seen such a venture through the Orient since George Harrison and The Beatles.

Born in Waterloo, London, Chandra was all but 16 years old when the song was released. This was not her first brush with fame – from 1979 to 1981, she played Sudhamani Patel’s role in the British children’s soap opera Grange Hill. She formed Monsoon with record producer Steve Coe and bass guitarist Martin Smith just as she finished high school.

Monsoon’s fame was short-lived, but Chandra’s was far from over. ‘Ever So Lonely’ was followed by ‘Shakti’, which reached 41 on the U.K. Charts, but was the band’s final charting single. Monsoon dissolved a year later due to unrelenting pressure from their record company over music direction. Coe and Smith put their talents behind Chandra to promote her as a solo artist.

Through the 80s and 90s, she released a series of records, experimenting with her voice as an instrument. She soon split from Smith, owing to creative differences, and released three records under Peter Gabriel’s (lead vocalist of Genesis) Real World label.

The Voice of Sheila Chandra

In her album, Weaving My Ancestors’ Voices, Chandra used British and Celtic music elements. Still, the essence of her voice and music remained as Indian as they could be. She sang in a low tone, and had immense vocal range, borrowing from traditional Indian techniques and ragas. What stands out is the ease with which she hit her pitches. Chandra sat on stage with her eyes closed, and singing came to her as naturally as speaking.

Chandra Performing Live

Her effortless live performances sounded no different from studio recordings.

Chandra used the minimalist solo voice and drone style of singing. Smith’s absence from the scene enormously aided Chandra during live performances. She could perform alone with only the occasional taped drone in the background. She drew on the similar structures of Indian ragas and English folk melodies in her songs, and possibly set the foundation for world music as a genre.

Over the next few years, Chandra worked with several artists and pushed many records influenced by and enhanced Indian music in mainstream pop music. This included collaborations with folk-synth band Ancient Beatbox, and an album with the Ganges Orchestra titled ‘This Sentence Is True (The Previous Sentence Is False’. Chandra also featured on the soundtrack for Lord of The Rings: Two Towers in 2002, with a song titled ‘Breath of Life’.

Burning Mouth Syndrome

In 2009, Chandra began experiencing symptoms of Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS). BMS is a burning sensation in the mouth, with no underlying known medical cause, and no disease signs. She described the unrelenting pain as “when you grab a hot cup of tea and take a huge mouthful of scalding tea…” As a result, Chandra is no longer able to speak, sing, laugh or cry without experiencing intense pain, and has been rendered virtually mute. She has to limit her social interactions and spends most of her time in silence. She says the pain never really goes away. This, coupled with botched intubation during surgery, has meant that her flourishing singing career came to a standstill.

Chandra with Stix

Not bogged down by BMS, Chandra channelled her talent and creativity in other ways. She released several self-help books, including ‘Organising Your Creative Career: How to Channel Your Creativity into Career Success’. Chandra mentored Stik, a street artist who eventually gained international recognition. She found her voice once against as a career coach, specifically for those looking to pursue careers in creative fields.

Representation Matters

In an interview with Chicago Music Guide, Chandra said a big challenge was her own family. “In India, conservative families consider singers to be, socially, only one rung above actresses and dancers – who are considered only one rung above prostitutes. So you can see why they were upset,” she said.

Even when Monsoon was looking submit their demos to labels, the band was repeatedly turned down. Only one company, Phonogram, took a chance on them, and the rest is history.

At first, Chandra’s Indian heritage was of no interest to her. When her culture was deemed uncool, she spent most of her time avoiding it like the plague. When she joined Monsoon, she realised how much gap she had to cover to connect with her background.

Despite a painful end to her singing career, Chandra’s legacy lives on through her mentoring of other artists and those involved in creative fields. Stik says she gave him “the tools to hunt success and the infrastructure to handle it when it came”.

As a woman of colour, Chandra’s rise through mainstream music in the U.K. is of immense significance. In an anti-POC and bigoted era, people outside the brown community connected with her music. Her universality is a clear example of how music can transcend so many boundaries we create for ourselves. Her music was sampled and remixed by several artists across the World.

A Legacy Never Forgotten

Even today, British Indian women find themselves the exception, not the rule, to breaking through mainstream music. Artists like M.I.A and CharliXCX have attained mainstream success, but any connection with Indian music remains far-off. For now, talks of diversity and inclusivity remain just that – talks.

Rarely has western music seen such a star since, who brought her heritage and culture to the forefront the way Chandra did. Her voice painted a picture and recreated her own journey through Indian culture for her listeners. Never one to cater to the masses, Chandra, now 55, has built a strong foundation for diaspora attempting to find their own voices in western culture.