Biography
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Born
17 June 1978 (age 45)
Sona Mohapatra is a singer and performer from India. She is simply called SONA. Sona means golden in Hindi, the language of the Indian heartland.
Sona aspires to make soul music in many genres, music that moves you and therefore her music could be called, Desi Soul. Desi means Indian. She loves to infuse ancient & modern poetry with sounds that blend folk roots, Hindustani classical, Sufiana kalaam , eastern Baul music, contemporary rock ,funk & blues.
Sona grew up all across India , small towns and some bigger cities thanks to her father itinerant job. While she trained in Hindustani classical music for over 12 years, these constant moves ensured that she was not influenced by any one particular school of music & developed her own unique style instead .Each of the places became a part of her, imprinting their sights and sounds and music to her aesthetic palate. Sona moved to Mumbai in the post the year 2003 to find a city on the move. The timing was right, the whole country was on the move after years of stagnation- and Mumbai was leading the charge. She fitted in naturally and immediately plugged into the energy of the trains and the colour of the crowds, finding the paradox of traditional life coexisting with unbridled modernization very much in sync with the person she is and her music. The city's longing for love and lucidity amidst the fractured rhetoric of commerce inspired the songs of love and longing and acceptance in her music.
Sona formed her first band in this city and also teamed up with well known composer & record producer Ram Sampath, to release her solo debut album on SONY music. This album went on to win all the awards in its category in the year 2007. Her videos Aja Ve and Tere Ishq Nachaya were featured amongst the top world music videos by a US world music channel called Link TV.The association with Sony Music also lead to a collaboration with the legendary Australian band INXS for a desi version of Afterglow.
Sona has been amongst the first two artistes from India to be featured on the world music series called The Music Voyager on National Geographic. This series is slated to go across over 137 countries and is hosted by Jacob Edgar, head of Cumbancha records.
Sona is a fantastic live performer who lives for the high of being on stage & is most alive in front of a crowd, the larger the better She believes that she is fuelled by a very unique feminine energy called Shakti from the goddess Durga.
Instrumentation
The band is:
Sona Mohapatra on vocals
Sanjoy Das on acoustic and electric guitar
Naitik on percussions
Aatur on drums
Keshav on bass
Ram Sampath on keys & harmonium
Nitin Joshi Sound Engineer
Discography
Albums
SONA- Studio Album released on 11th Sept 2006
Singles
DILJALE- Single Released Aug.2009
Bollywood Songs
Lori - Family
Daav Laga - Aage Se Right
Chaayi Madhoshiyaan - Jumbo
Delhi Belly (to be released in 2010)
I Hate Love Stories (to be released in 2010)
PhillumCity (to be released in 2010)
Music Videos
Tere Ishq Nachaya
Aja Ve
Bolo Na
Abhi Nahi Aana
Afterglow-INXS
Diljale
Compilation
Love is (2007) - INXS Afterglow
Teri Deewani(2007) - Tere Ishq nachaya
Aao Ji (2009) - Aja Ve
Collaborations-
INXS with Sona -Afterglow (charted on the UK iTunes)
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