The Streets of Chennai: An Opportunity for Artists
An upcoming musical band with 1000+ growing artists. They are a non-profit band based out of Chennai with the motto of spreading smiles among the people of the city.
2 hours ago
If you spot a band in Chennai at popular spots like Pondy Bazaar, Elliott's Beach, Thiruvanmiyur Beach, Metro Stations, etc., with young women and men usually singing on weekend evenings and holidays, they are probably a part of a music group called ‘On the Streets of Chennai (OTS)’. In the West, artists called ‘buskers,’ commonly stand on the sidelines of lanes to perform music gigs, but in a bustling city like Chennai, where people are always on the run, it is not easy to attract an audience by performing music in public places. But this band has proven its naysayers wrong and has been performing in public areas in Chennai for over three years, attaining an enormous audience and fan following.
Photo Credits: The News Minute
The band began its journey back in 2017 with five members in a coffee shop beside Elliot’s beach in Chennai. "When I was working in Bangalore, I went on a vacation to Ooty, where I met a bunch of people from Chennai. We spent time singing together. We exchanged phone numbers so that we could meet back in Chennai. When the time arrived, we met at a coffee shop by Elliot's beach,” says Senthil Raj, the founder of OTS.The band began performing small gigs at the cafe when they were just five in number. Their musical evenings received a great response from the cafe’s customers – this marked the beginning of OTS.
After watching the performances of the band in the cafe, artists and music lovers expressed their desire to work with them. That was how the band expanded to a crew of over 800 members. Most of them are youngsters under the age of 25. Doctors, lawyers, as well as IT engineers are also a part of OTS. It is their custom to hold a music program, usually for two hours in the evening. However, they have held concerts which went on for more than 10 hours on occasions like International day of happiness, Kaanum pongal,etc. The musical event was filled with A.R. Rahman and Ilaiyaraaja’s musical hits. The crew also considered the audience’s song requests and performed them on stage.
OTS does not charge money from their audience for their performances. “We only have mic sets on behalf of the band. All members of this band bring their own instruments to play. They even take care of the cost of traveling from home. Apart from this, we are invited to sing for house functions and even in hotels. We charge a fee for such events, which is used for the band’s expenses," says Senthil. Apart from these, the band has officially produced a collection of eight songs. During the pandemic, they organized a concert as part of an awareness program called ‘Awe50me weekend’ in 2020 with administrative aid from the government. It is said that this music group, which has so far only conducted gigs in Chennai, also receives calls from cities like Coimbatore and Madurai. The band has been spreading smiles across the faces of Chennai’s citizens, and continues to grow with each performance.