Chennai Music Band ‘On The Streets of Chennai (OTS)’ is playing a huge role in making the city the street music capital of India. Their journey is inspirational.
Some of the most well-known figures in current music, such as Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran, started their career journey as street performers. None of the performers of ‘On The Streets of Chennai (OTS)’ have reached the top of any music charts but this factor hasn’t stopped them from expanding as a community dedicated to making Chennai the country’s street music capital. They are even planning to start their record label.
On the International Day of Happiness, which happens to be on March 20, music enthusiasts on Chennai’s streets and parks grooved to their favorite numbers from Ilayaraaja to AR Rahman in a gig marathon, all sung and mastered by buskers from the OTS, who loves promoting music culture and happiness.
Senthil Raj T, the founder of OTS said that the response to the long 10-hour gig was outstanding. “We ended up singing eleven hours straight and the people were so high-on energy, People would smile, dance, and enjoy the space. If a closed space would bring so much joy, then we thought why not on streets and that’s how OTS came to life. The struggle was huge initially. We started off with very few musicians and it was a big deal to earn the government’s trust. Today we are in a much better place and have permission to perform in almost all places.” The group, which now has 815 members, initially started with only 5.
Raj went on to claim that they are offered multiple financial contributions but a happy face makes their day. He said, “People shower us with so much love, we get water bottles, sweets, and flowers. Just seeing a grandma dance to our beats would make our day.”
The level of love and compassion that the OTS community receives from the people of Chennai can only be believed upon witnessing. Anna University student Pooja B said that it is wonderful to see them perform and engage people naturally. “I saw OTS performing on my way back home last week at the Airport metro station. I love everything about the community and I came all the way to Pondy Bazaar with my friends just to listen to some great music.”
IT employee Siva said, “I work from home all week and weekends aren’t the same after the pandemic. I follow their social handle and keep a track of places where they are performing. Listening to them has become my new weekend hobby.”
