Sivamani
About
Sivamani popularly known by his stage name, Drums Sivamani is the only Indian drummer to receive the Padma Shri and is considered a truly world-class Percussionist and a great showman. He is famous for his command of many different percussion instruments including drums, octoban, darbuka, udukai, and kanjira.
He started his career at 12 and got his first break when he was asked to substitute for his father in the entourage to play for South India’s leading music composer K. V. Mahadevan. He began his professional music career with S.P. Balasubramaniam, whom he regards as his godfather.
Schooled in both the Carnatic rhythmic tradition and Western Jazz drums, he started as a substitute in music maestro Ilayaraja’s group but his talent led him to a permanent position in the group. It marked a successful career beginning for him and helped him build strong relationships with a lot of music composers in both Tamil and Malayalam film industries including T. Rajendhar, Sam Joseph, and Sankar Ganesh.
Sivamani gained recognition as A. R. Rahman's lead percussionist, and no A. R. Rahman global tour is complete without him. He also worked on the Bollywood-themed musical Bombay Dreams with A. R. Rahman and in collaboration has worked on hit scores such as Mustafa Mustafa, Humma Humma, Chaiya Chaiya, and ZEE5 original film Atkan Chatkan.
He was invited by world renowned tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain to share the stage with him along with Trilok Gurtu for a fusion concert in Mumbai, which became a great highlight in his life.
Sivamani has created magic over the world with some of the best international artists and is also a part of world music outfits such as the Zakir Hussain World Drums Ensemble, SILK, Asia Electrik, and Shraddha.
Sivamani has a band called Asia Electrik with famous sitar player Niladri Kumar, Louiz Banks, and Ravi Chari as well as a member of the musical group Shraddha, which included Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan, U. Srinivas, and Loy Mendonsa.
In 1990, he shared the stage with his inspiration Billy Cobham at Mumbai's Rang Bhavan.
He has played drums for many Bollywood films including Roja, Rang De Basanti, Swades, Taal, Lagaan, Dil Se.., Guru, Kabul Express, Rockstar, Jodhaa Akbar, and Taal among others.
He was invited by Coca-Cola India to perform at the Limca fresh face event at the Mumbai Festival in 2005, where he showcased his amazing talent and created melodies from Limca bottles.
Sivamani has a long association with the Chennai Super Kings IPL cricket team, having performed during the IPL Championships in 2008 and 2010.
He has performed in front of India's former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who commended him and expressed an interest in learning to play the drums. He has also performed for the former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela.
Sivamani is the Brand Ambassador for Xone - wirefree music.
Awards and accomplishments
Awards and accomplishments
- Sivamani is the recipient of ‘Kalaimamani Award’ announced by the government of Tamil Nadu in 2009, which is the highest state honor in the field of arts.
- He was honored with the ‘Best Instrumental Act’ at the prestigious Live Quotients Awards in 2015.
- He won the ‘Best New Music Compose’ award for the hit Tamil film Arima Nambi.
- Sivamani was conferred with ‘Padma Shri’ by the Government of India in 2019.
- Hindi film Atkan Chatkan, won the ‘Best Music’ award at the Jaipur International Film Festival.
- Ustaad Zakir Hussain in a live show presented Sivamani as a ‘phenomenon that walks the planet but once or twice in a century’.
- Sivamani was invited by the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston for a special performance.
Why Sivamani??
Sivamani is a self-taught, passionate, and creative percussionist who has expertise in Western harmonies and orchestration woven into it. He has been a part of several fusion groups performing at the intersection of classical, folk, carnatic, jazz, and pop. His unique style of modern yet contemporary music fusion is outstanding.
Sivamani belongs to the rare breed of drummers who do not need any sophisticated electronic gadgets to produce music. From a pillow to an empty water can, a photocopier machine to a suitcase, kitchen utensils to stationery items he can literally transform anything into a source of music. From traditional music instruments to generating rhythm inspired by nature to creating music out of daily use materials like utensils, he is truly a rare phenomenon in the world of music. His contribution as India’s best drummer and percussionist maestro not only shows how interesting his journey is but also shows the evolution in the music industry.
