Can you give us a brief history of your musical journey up until now ?
I was three years old when my father took me to a guruji and I started with my Hindustani classical training . This was back in Sirsa . It is a small town in Haryana where I was born and brought up for the initial fourteen years of my life . After that , my father made this overnight decision to shift our base to Chandigarh . This was only for me , because he wanted to provide me with a better platform , a better training and better career options . So , that ’ s how in 2010 my family moved to Chandigarh . It ’ s only gone upward since then , and we ’ ve never looked backward because my training started getting better , and I started participating in competitions . My first professional venture was 2013 when I did Voice of Punjab . That was my first exposure on camera and the stage professionally as an artist .
In 2019 , ‘ The Voice ’ happened . After ‘ The Voice ’ I started with my independent journey . I collaborated with different artists and worked on various projects . I did my own singles also . And then finally in the last week of December 2022 , I got connected with Sony Music and began working on the EP Folkin ’ Rani .
Making a career out of an art form requires a lot of strength . Where does your motivation and strength come from ?
When you are a freelancer , a creative person , you have to create a space for yourself that people don ’ t let you create easily . You kind of dig yourself a space , and you have to stand on your feet and let people know what new are you bringing to the platter . My father has been a big support because much before I was introduced to the concept of becoming a doctor , or engineer , or teacher I was introduced to the field of playback singing and becoming a professional in that . I think my father has struggled a lot with me and walked miles to make this work for me . I don ’ t think I could have been here without his support .
You have participated in a lot of competitions . What have these competitions taught you about success , or failure , or fear ?
The one big takeaway from all these reality shows is how to present myself . I think I am in a much better space in terms of knowing and understanding what and how should I be presented in front of an audience . What is it that I want my audience to think of me ? Reality shows give you a clean mirror of seeing yourself . That ’ s how I got to know what my strengths and weaknesses are . Everything has been so clear in front of me ever since I did those reality shows . The whole camera exposure and understanding of the mic and stage techniques were all learnt in tit-bits which are actually big lessons in the long run .
Would you say your recent EP ‘ Folking Rani ’ is an apt representation of your singing style ?
So ‘ Folking Rani ’ EP is just who I am . It is an absolute definition of who I am as Siman , Simran as the person Simran , and the whole professional Simran . It is an amalgamation of everything I carry personally with myself . Because the word ‘ folking ’ has the whole folk element , and it ’ s a play on the slang word too . It ’ s like you ’ re folking with the folk thing . That is the cool cultural background that I come from . I come from a family where I have been nourished with a lot of Folk music and Sufi music . I have grown up listening to that . That has somehow become part of my muscle memory too . I ’ ve always been this person who likes to experiment around folk . I try to add some folk elements in my compositions . That is how ‘ folking ’ word comes . The whole ‘ Rani ’ attitude comes from a place where I own my roots , the place that I come from . I am very proud of where I come from , and I am proudly carrying those roots along with me .
Can you elaborate on how you curated the songs to make it an EP ?
The three of us Me , Aden the producer , and Raja the lyricist worked on this EP . This EP being produced was almost like our stars aligning . They too come from families where folk music was a major part of growing up . When we started creating music , we were sure about sticking to our roots . That ’ s how Folking Rani came into existence .
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