How would you characterise your sound?
I don’t. That is for the listeners to decide. A lot of the music I write is
mellow, mostly because I like melancholic music but there are songs
that are heavy. Songs that try to rip apart the idea that everyone has of
singer-songwirters. But let’s talk about that after the next album. Broken
Compass is a mellow EP. But there's a lot more in store.
Outside music, what are your primary avenues of artistic
expression?
I guess I'm pretty boring outside the music. I sleep a lot. Scare people with
political rants and sometimes I paint empty wine bottles.
SHREYA BOSE
Different people give me different
opinions about my music anyway.
To me, its like the background
score to the movie we're all
a part of.
Tell us about the first song you wrote.
I was thirteen and had learnt my first chords. My parents loved listening
to Harry Belafonte and there was something about that calypso that
captured my imagination. A failed attempt at trying to get there led to a
song a called 'Since You've Been Around”. I liked to rhyme back then and
put together a few verses (that were obviously dedicated to a high school
romance) and that was it. I remember recording it on a tiny Mp3 player
and giving it to my mother. She didn't believe me at first and told me I
shouldn't take credit for the work other people had done. I had to show
her the piece of paper I wrote the verses on to convince her. Playing it just
wouldn’t do. This was especially embarrassing as the piece of paper was
full of notes passed around in class! But I think the fact that I wrote a song
trumped anything else. I don't play that song anymore but I think it’s cool
that the first song I played on the guitar was my own.
Can you walk us through your songwriting process?
Musical ideas usually come out of nowhere. I like to keep playing them
and keep them alive in my head. But the song doesn't come around until
something I want to write about fits a musical idea. I can’t write a song
with just a cool riff or a nice melody. The theme must be established
before the first word is penned down. Some songs happen within minutes
and some take years. You can always tell when a song has been written to
put a name to a musical idea and there's nothing wrong with that. But my
process is almost entirely an effort to avoid that.
Are you already writing new songs?
Yes I am!
One of the most annoying things is the time it takes for artists like me to
record and release a song after writing it. There are too many songs just
waiting to be recorded but it'll happen. I might not have all the money in
the world but time is abundant!
Which is your favourite song to perform?
There are so many. But currently its Explorers. I've started playing with
a band now and Subhadra and I