The 29-year-old Dubai-based Gayathri Krishnan, singer, songwriter, lover of cats and all things vintage, was born in a southern Indian home to Carnatic music aficionados. Her childhood – a masterclass in music appreciation – made her career in the arts a “glorious inevitability”, but that’s the only certainty she’s ever had.
Krishnan's debut album The Unknown confronts the notion that creativity serves a larger, mysterious purpose, often making it an excruciatingly abstract process. As she struggled to raise money to release her music, she realised that there was no one way to succeed. The artist eventually crowd-funded her anthology, one of the first to have done so in the Middle East, raising more than US$23,000 (Dh84,500) in 10 days through the American website Indiegogo.
On June 11, Krishnan will perform a launch concert in Vox Cinema 12 at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai.
“The core idea is to really push the theme of embracing the unknown. Dubai offers a plethora of clubs to perform in, but there is a severe dearth of venues specifically created for the singer/songwriter with an alternative sound. The acoustics in the theatre are ideal for an intimate setting of 300 people,” says Krishnan.
The space also lends itself to showcasing her new music video for the song Our Lil' Thing. As well as the technical advantages, taking an everyday space, such as a movie theatre, and putting it in a novel context appeals to the artist, who wants to give the UAE an unprecedented sonic and visual experience.
Krishnan believes that financial resources need to be more readily available for people in the arts in the UAE. Crowd-funding, she says, is a powerful tool for independent artists to not only solve their monetary problems but also engage with their followers.
With pop-star culture and the gap between musicians and audience growing ever wider, this digital phenomenon allows for a genuine interaction between artists and listeners.
Produced by Krishnan's husband, Reiner Erlings, The Unknown has 12 self-written and composed tracks and features the local musicians Hamdan Al Abri and Haruka Horii. After the soft release of the album in March 2013 online, Rolling Stone magazine gave it one the highest rankings of any unsigned artist in the Middle East, calling it "a bravely raw affair; it's reportage from the heart and mostly about love – whether celebratory or rueful".
Krishnan says she has been inspired by women vocalists such as Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette and Björk since she started writing songs at 17. The young musician recently jammed with the Grammy-award-winner Joss Stone during her Total World Tour stopover in Dubai. Stone, who is currently collaborating with local artists as she travels the globe, is documenting the series, which will be broadcast by the BBC, in the hope of educating viewers on various global, musical cultures.
"Joss asked that I take her to a place that was quintessentially Dubai and yet very personal. Where better than the middle of the desert in the city that I call home? I took her to an isolated spot in Nad Al Sheba. We could see the skyline but sit in perfect silence. Once we started jamming, it became one of those magical moments where we really connected with one another." Footage is available on Krishnan's website, www.gayathrimusic.com.
In late June, Krishnan will embark on her first (self-funded) tour of the United States. While her dates aren’t confirmed, she’s scheduled to play in New York City, Boston, San Diego and Los Angeles.
• Gayatri Krishnan plays on June 11 at Vox Cinema 12 in the Mall of the Emirates, Dubai. Tickets cost Dh50 from www.voxcinemas.com or at the Mall of the Emirates box office
