Born in New York, raised in Vienna, schooled in London, lives in Los Angeles but her roots are firmly planted in Southern India. Artists often refer to the place they call ‘home’ as the wellspring of their creative vision. 

This versatile artist has a style she characterizes as “pop songs in a jazz setting: intimate, original, personal, and timeless”.

 ‘Where do you come from? That’s how it always begins…’

”I always tell people that my origins lie somewhere between Southern India, New York and Vienna. My birthplace is New York but my family moved to Vienna when I was two. 

 

During the course of my education I spent five years in England and two years in the U.S.A. Most of my life has been spent in Vienna. Both my parents are from India and I have strong ties to the country; I often feel as if I am just another Indian girl”. 

At the age of five, Sumitra started piano lessons and later in a British boarding school, she studied classical piano, sang in the school choir, sat for a number of Royal Schools of Music exams, and began to write music. Her first compositions were put to paper at the age of thirteen and she started performing her own compositions at the age of nineteen. 

Her early years were influenced by the music of Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and Al Jarreau. Later on Sumitra developed an interest in the music of singers such as Rickie Lee Jones, Sade, Seal and some of the great jazz singers including Billie Holiday, Nancy Wilson and Ella Fitzgerald.”

After two years studying economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, she returned to Vienna to study for the classical piano entrance exam at the Vienna Music Academy. She didn’t make it into the V.M.A, but instead formed her first band Satu with whom she performed throughout Austria.

Sumitra got an enticing taste of the music business when she and Satu recorded their first single, “Trying,” in a major Austrian recording studio. “It was overwhelming, so exciting, and the producer was thrilled when I played him one of my songs on the piano,” she says. “I loved being in the studio and was fascinated by every step of the process. I stayed there the whole time, regardless of what was going on, because I wanted to learn how everything worked.”

After elation, came disillusionment. “Trying” was released and charted, a record deal followed which led to disagreements and arguments which in turn created a toxic environment for creativity. A disappointed Sumitra backed out of the deal.

She received a business degree from a university in Vienna, all the while writing and playing music at home. The sting of the negative experience of a record deal gone bad made her reluctant to get back on stage and perform. “I started playing smaller gigs with a trio,” Sumitra says. “We did some covers and jazz standards, but it was just for fun.”

Eighteen months later, driven by a desire to write and perform, she quit her full-time job and returned to the studio with Georg Tomandl, former keyboard player and member of Satu and together they assembled a new band.

A four-track EP entitled Sumitra followed in 1994, enabling her to reach a wider Austrian radio audience, and the following year she returned to the studio to record The Secret of Our Souls, which enabled her to break into the Austrian jazz/pop scene. 

 
The year 1998 brought another turn in her career, as Sumitra formed a duo with guitarist Alex Machacek, whom she married in December of 2003 and who encouraged her to explore different styles of music while continuing to work on her own songs. Her singing style and Alex’s playing fused to create a unique sound, and the duo started to explore different styles together.

A devoted fan base continued to develop throughout Austria, and Sumitra achieved her dream of music as a full-time career.

In the years that followed, she worked on several projects with other musicians, both live and in the studio; did commercial work; studied voice with the renowned Maria Alsatti; instructed voice at the Gustav Mahler Konservatorium in Vienna; and coached singers in her own home studio.

Indian Girl represented the first time that she would present her music in a “guitar trio setting” with no keyboards or piano. The recording features strong guitar work from Alex Machacek, who is joined by Mario Lackner on drums and Tibor Kovesdi on bass — all underscoring Sumitra’s originality, individuality, and personality as a singer and songwriter.

One imagines that this Indian Girl will eventually feel grounded in a place she can call home. Until then, Sumitra brings a refreshingly real feel to the concept of being an artist, teacher, and partner.

“Music has always been a part of my life,” she says. “I try to do what feels right, honest, and true. My songs have provided a solid platform on which I can always stand and from where I can communicate. I hope that I will always be able to touch people of all ages and cultures.”

Produced by Alex Machacek, ‘Indian girl’ is a collection of twelve original songs penned by Sumitra plus her interpretation of Robert Burns “My Love Is like a Red Red Rose”. 

Vocals: Sumitra Nanjundan

Drums: Mario Lackner

Bass:    Tibor Kovesdi

Guitar: Alex Machacek

Label NGE Next Generation Enterprises

Catalogue Number NGE 033

www.sumitra-online.com



www.amazon.com

www.abstractlogix.com  

Sumitra Website
http://www.sumitra-online.com

Indian Girl

The Secret Of Our Souls

Sumitra E.P.

Alegre Correa Group.      Raizes Negro Coracao (Lead vocal)

Sandra Pires.                Sandra Pires (Backing vocals)

Bass by Al.                   On the Air title 1 (Duet)

Zena.                            Zena (All vocal arrangements & backing vocals plus voice coaching)

Ali Schmidl.                   Anima (Lead vocal)

Albert Kreuzer.              Mira (Lead vocal)

Sunshine Enterprises Label
Fruit Collection–Melon Groove. Casino Sunshine Club 

Der große Hallamasch compilation album

Rainhard Schwabenitzky’s ‘Eine Fast Perfekte Scheidung’ Title track, ‘Love is a Mystery’ and one of my own tracks ‘Wildest Dreams’

‘Sarah’s Kurzes Leben’ (documentary, television production) Title Track ‘A Perfect Moon’ and ‘The Girl With The Fire In Her Eyes’

Roland Dueringer’s ‘Viertel Liter Klasse’ Lead vocal

Backing Vocalist for Gloria Gaynor, Wolfgang Puschnig and Count Basic

Include T-Mobile, Erste Bank, Saturn, Elektra Bregenz, Moser Medical Group… (All in Austria)

Pat Tynan Media
PO Box 785
Ickenham
Uxbridge
Middx
England UB10 8WQ

Tel: +44 (0) 1895 631336 Mobile 07985 400297 
pattynan@btinternet.com  + www.pattynanmedia.com

Providing recorded music to associated media, radio producers, film and documentary makers.