Music has always been my personal passion, it was just a
matter of me working out if and how I could turn it in to a
career, and then build up the courage to make that break.
Seeing the women that Svatantra works with break-out of
stereotypes, blossom both personally and professionally, and
build something for themselves and their family – that was
a huge inspiration for me to follow my heart in to music.
Even though music and microfinance are very different,
the aim with everything I do is to reach out and connect
with people, make their lives better and spread positivity!
Is there a dream that you have not begun to work on yet?
One day I would love to write a song for someone else.
Right now I’m just working on my own music, but it would
be so fun to see another artist bring my music to life.
What do you really care about? What
drives the desire to make music?
I think it comes from a basic need to communicate – a
desire to express myself and have that message be
received by someone. Music is just the communication
medium that feels the most ‘right’ to me.
I went through a long period of not being able to
communicate how I felt, I feared it and I repressed it and I
felt so horribly alone as a result. I don’t want to be in that
place again myself, and I don’t want anyone else to find
themselves there either. I don’t think there is any shame
in wanting or needing to connect with something outside
of yourself – especially in this tech age where so many
of us just connect with a screen so much of the time.
Everything I’ve pursued in my life, business, advocacy,
music, it’s all been based in this deep desire to
reach out and make a connection, to feel like part
of something bigger, moving forward together.
Who do you listen to for inspiration?
I love Sia’s voice. Her songs are fearless, powerful, and
hit you right in your heart. She’s one of the best out
there at the moment. Sia worked with Mood Melodies,
who I also had the pleasure of hitting the studio with
in his freezing home country- Norway. Producers
like him are inspiring and it’s such a blessing to have
talents like that wanting to collaborate with me.
As a musician, you’re always going to go back to those artists
who first opened your eyes to what music could be and how it
could move you- for me that’s Kurt Cobain and Eminem. After
listening to both of them, I knew there was no going back!
They’re obviously very different characters but they share
this ability to be so raw and emotionally vulnerable. They
both ‘put it all out there’ and lay themselves bare for their
music in a way that is addictive and inspiring to me. The
emotions they communicate are universally relatable which
means they’ll always be relevant to a huge amount of people.
That is the ultimate aim with my music. My songs are
based on my own experiences, but I try to deliver them
in a way which people will connect with regardless of
their location, background, gender, sexuality, job etc
Tell us about your composing process. How deep is
the extent of your involvement with each song?
The idea for the song always originates with me, I draw
on my own experiences or the experiences of those
closest to me. I then work with producers and topliners
on the melody and words to help the ‘story’ connect with
the people who listen to my music. I am particularly
inspired by love and stories of overcoming adversity.
I released Circles a month ago, which I wrote to celebrate
friendship. It was dedicated to my best friend who has
been with me through all the good times and the bad. I
have so much to thank her for. I usually like to touch
on the things that we all go through: love, heartbreak,
isolation, friendship, trying to fit in, that kind of stuff. I
want my music to be universally relatable and to show
that at the end of the day none of us are that different.
With my previous single Hold On I was inspired by
relationships of people close to me which have been
challenged, because of sexuality, race or religion.
Society puts so much pressure on relationships and for
me, it is inspiring to see how people hold on to love and
overcome these pressures. I wanted to tell couples going
through a difficult time to reject fear and confusion,
and hold on to what they know is right for them.
Who do you like among Indian indie artists?
Such a diverse mix. Contemporary Indian artists like
Parekh & Singh who have this totally unique sound
and also make offbeat, cool videos that I think are
helping the face of popular music in India to evolve.
I like Aditi Ramesh – she used to be a lawyer
apparently, so knows what it’s like to break out of
the boardroom and embrace the piano! In her song
“Marriageable Age” she fuses Indian sounds with jazz
and explores the pressure that women like me feel
around relationships, and how we can feel torn between
being independent and living up to what is expected of
us traditionally. She has a great voice, a lot of soul.
Ritviz a lot of fun too, so catchy and it’s great to see Indian
artists get more in to electro and synth-pop, it was released
a while ago but I still workout to his tune Beatific.
But I’m not snobby about saying I love mainstream
artists like A.R Rahman. I don't think any other musician
has been able to deliver such instantly catchy songs so
consistently! I personally find it inspiring how he can
combine Western and Indian styles so seamlessly.
What do you hope to achieve within the next twelve months?
I have an acoustic version of Circles which I am putting
out soon, then another single some time in October before
dropping the EP in November. There will be a good mix on
there, some acoustic tracks and some which incorporate
more Indian sounds. My first musical training was in
Indian classical and I want to make the most of that.
I am really excited to have a good body of work out
there. The step after that is to use those songs to
do more live performances around the world.
I am also doing a few talks in Europe and potentially
the US about why it is more important than ever for
young people to be looking after their mental health.
If you could change one thing about any song
in the entire world, what would it be?
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. I would change
that I was there when it was recorded – that would
be like watching history in the making.
The
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