SHALINI - The Band

The Band

Shalini is Shalini Chatterjee's current 4-piece rock band.

History in a nutshell:

Shalini enjoyed modest mid-90's college radio success with her previous combo Vinyl Devotion, which released three singles (two were purple and blue vinyl), an EP, and a full length CD, Floor Model. In 1996, she won First Prize in the 1996 National Rockrgrl Magazine Songwriting Contest, judged by Joey Ramone and others, for her song "Digital Noise."

In the late '90's, she moved from San Francisco to the South and met some more serious, seasoned musicians, reforming as a lean rock band called Shalini with Mitch Easter (lead guitar, vocals) and Eric Marshall (drums), both formerly of Let's Active. She has maintained her evolving band career without a break, consistently performing and working on new material.

Albums of original music and their eras:

All recordings are produced by Mitch Easter.

We Want Jelly Donuts (2000).
We Want Jelly Donuts (Parasol) was rated #11 on the All Music Guide's list of best pop/rock CDs for 2000 and the song "Get Free" was on Spin.com's best-of-year compilation. Shalini, Mitch and Eric played with bassist Laura Weislo that spring and went to South by Southwest to play at Lucy's on March 17, 2000. The band completed a 2,200 mile regional tour that fall. The live band in this era: Shalini, Mitch, Jon Heames on bass, Eric. Some songs we covered: Roxy Music's "Do the Strand", Love's "Seven and Seven Is", The Ventures' "Walk Don't Run."

Metal Corner (2001-2006).
In 2001, Shalini started playing bass in the band. She, Mitch and Eric traveled on regional mini tours throughout 2001-2003 to promote a new, harder sound and the songs that would become the next album. Dalloway Records released Metal Corner on April 6, 2004. That summer, bassist Jane Francis began playing with the band, allowing Shalini to move back to guitar. It felt like the band had developed its personality and sound. Some songs we covered: Garbage's "When I Grow Up," Frida's "There's Something Going On", the Go-Go's "Vacation" and "Vision of Nowness," The Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant," and the Byrds' "Goin' Back." This four piece toured out-of-state less, but played various regional outdoor shows such as the Shiner Bock Ribfest, Summer on Trade, and the Zebulon Ribfest at Mudcats Stadium. In addition, this combo participated in a 2005 Katrina benefit by playing a set of Ventures covers.

The Surface and the Shine (2007).
This making of this album began with a May 2005 recording session at Gravity Studios in Chicago. Mitch, Eric and Shalini met bassist/friend Paul Chastain for this weekend session, which yielded basic tracks to four songs for the new record. After a split in 2006 with Dalloway Records, with half the new album completed and Jane contributing backing vocals on the four Gravity tracks, Shalini returned to the studio in 2007 with Mitch on drums and a new, glossy vision and concept. Live band: Holt Evans began playing bass in late 2006, a spot filled by him or other fine players such as Forsyth County's Dave Barker, depending where we're playing in the country. Jane Francis is involved when possible. Professional touring drummer Chris Garges now plays regional and local live dates, and Don Dixon joined the band on bass for a few 2007 and beyond dates. We're working on '08 spring and summer bookings.