Rising Stars: Meet Shivaraj Natraj

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shivaraj Natraj.

Hi Shivaraj, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Shivaraj Natraj, but I’m better known as The Konnakol Beatboxer. I come from Bangalore, located in the southern part of India. I was however born and brought up in Muscat, Oman. I’ve gained international recognition as a vocal artist with a unique style. What sets me apart is my ability to combine beatboxing with the traditional South Indian vocal percussive art form known as Konnakol. I’m not only a beatboxer but also a trained Carnatic vocalist and a skilled Mridangam artiste. In fact, I serve as the lead vocalist and co-producer of the band Project Mishram.

Music runs in my blood as I was born into a musical family. At the young age of five, my father, Mr. Natraj Pushpavanam, began training me in Carnatic vocals. My grandma and great-grandma (both deceased) were artists in the prestigious All India Radio. My early schooling took place in Muscat, Oman, where I had the opportunity to showcase my talent alongside my fellow beatboxers from school and even won Muscat Festival’s Got Talent. Throughout my musical journey, I’ve also received training in Mridangam, a Carnatic percussion instrument, from Vid. PK Ram Mohan. For the past eight years, I’ve been fortunate to study under the guidance of Kalashiromani Mridanga Vidwan A V Anand, one of India’s most respected Mridangam Gurus.

I was invited to “La Voce Artistica”, a world vocal conference in Ravenna, Italy in 2017 to represent India amongst a conference of vocal artists and voice doctors from all over the world. I have completed two successful UK tours with my band Project Mishram in 2019 and 2022. I have performed live with 3x Grammy (R) winner Ricky Kej as lead vocalist in various shows, as a beatboxer with Grammy winner Vijay Prakash, and have recorded for two feature films in the South Indian film industry. I had the pleasure of working with star producers Rob Lewis and Ash Rodriguez, performing live with Tigran Hamasyan, and also performing at the stellar MGM Hall in Fenway, Boston. I had the honor of meeting Robert Downey Jr. as part of making the music for the opening of a bionic arm research center in MIT. Most recently, I had the honor of being featured in the latest album by 3x Grammy (R) winner Ricky Kej and drummer of Police (band) – Stewart Copeland, as part of the Berklee Indian Ensemble.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been somewhat of a rocky road. I took the path of mechanical engineering before diving into full-time music. It wasn’t necessarily because of my parents’ push, I wasn’t convinced of my own level of skill that would be enough for a career in music. I have three years of work experience as an SAP TM Consultant as well. In the meantime, my music was also riding on full throttle as I started gaining more recognition both solo and with Project Mishram. Gigs started clashing with my office timings, and I realized after COVID and a year of working from home that music was actually my calling. I gave Berklee a blind shot just to see what would happen, but here I am in my 7th semester! My parents would try to show that they were supportive of whatever decision I would take with my career, but also were at the same time, wary of the risks and make sure I was not choosing Berklee over a whim.

Getting a loan in India for this course wasn’t easy. Banks are way more judgemental over the career path. They almost denied me the loan despite having collateral, saying music is not going to pay back loans. Luckily, the branch I applied in had a manager that appreciated the arts and debuted supporting music degree loans with my application. There was a huge rush for visas to the USA as this was the batch just after COVID lockdown bans were slowly being lifted. I am lucky I was able to get a visa appointment in time. After coming here, it isn’t easy settling in from a country which has a lower buying power. The stars definitely aligned for me, such that I had supportive roommates from the Indian diaspora, as well as support from the Berklee Indian Ensemble, where I work as a student employee.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am known to be The Konnakol Beatboxer, and the name comes because I am pretty much the only one to do so on the earth. There are others who claim to do so, and some are brilliant at the beatboxing aspect while covering existing compositions, while others might be great at Konnakol but are only fiddling with beatboxing. I have been deeply studying both art forms and sharing what little I know, which is why I am where I am today. I have been featured in 18+ events, both live and online at Berklee College of Music.

I was also invited to perform and present a lecture demonstration in Italy at La Voce Artistica, a world vocal conference in October 2017, which was filled with vocal artists and throat specialists in medicine from all over the world.

I am also a Carnatic vocalist under the tutelage of my father, Sri Natraj Pushpavanam. I am the lead singer and arranger for my band Project Mishram, which I founded with friends from my engineering college in Bangalore, RV College of Engineering in 2016. We are a progressive Carnatic fusion band, with most of our work being progressive metal as of now (with some jazz fusion and electronic elements). I am quick at producing metal riffs with syncopation inspired from the math of Carnatic music. We have completed three successful international tours – UK in 2019 and 2022 and Europe this year in August 2023. We had the honor of representing India at prestigious music festivals like UK Tech Fest and ArcTangent. Our debut album ‘Meso’ was long-listed in the Grammy (R) ballots in 2021 for Best New Artist.

As a vocalist, I have also performed with 3x Grammy (R) winner Ricky Kej in various shows of his. I had the recent honor of recording in the latest album of his with the drummer of Police – Stewart Copeland in their album Police Beyond Borders.

I have been playing the Mridangam (a South Indian percussion instrument) for the last ten years now under the tutelage of Bangalore’s senior-most Mridangam artiste – Kalashiromani Vid. A V Anand. Apart from all of this, I am also a music teacher, where I have had experience teaching Carnatic vocals and Mridangam for kids, apart from workshops for various avenues both in India as well as Berklee College of Music.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory is that of when I first tasted the Burj al Emlaaq, a delicacy by Baskin Robbins in Oman, which is meant to represent the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is basically a tower of six ice cream scoops with brownie pieces in between loaded with chocolate syrup.

Pricing:

• Project Mishram merch can be purchased at: https://mishram.myspreadshop.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thekonnakolbeatboxer.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekonnakolbeatboxer
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thekonnakolbeatboxer/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivaraj-natraj-583b54165/?originalSubdomain=in
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbD6MGHoVemwpZqM-gC6_LQ

Image Credits
Jitesh Babu Raghunandan