Score Indie Quickie : Zoe & Urgen
Talk to us about your single “ With me ”. How did that come about ? With Me , written by Urgen Yolmo , cowritten by Zoe Siddharth , is based on two lovers coping with separation . It represents the juxtaposition of want and understanding - one wishing to stay while knowing they have to leave and the other , wishing they stayed but understanding why they have to leave . The focus of the song is in the intensity of the build towards the bridge where what started out as a conversation starts turning into the characters trying to say their piece .
What is your process of songwriting ? Where do you draw inspiration from ? Zoe & Urgen don ’ t live in the same city ( Z lives in Mumbai , while U lives in Bangalore ), hence working together is possible only when either of the two is visiting the other . In one such instance , after finishing the work for the week in Mumbai , Urgen was going back to Bangalore and in the spirit of the moment , since he badly wanted to stay back , he took the guitar and started playing some chords while humming the lines “ stay with me ” and Zoe added her harmony to it .
After a month or so , Urgen was going through my recording and found this
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one little melody and immediately told Zoe about the sort of eerie feel this was giving him and that the two should make this a song . She agreed .
Thus , Urgen started working on the song . After completion , Zoe wrote her verse . Since the two are diverse from each other as songwriters it worked in their favour by creating a unique syllabic and symbolic balance in their lyrics . The absolute uniqueness emerged in the bridge . The both wrote their own conversational part of the bridge separately ( keeping in mind the rhyme scheme ) then later Urgen put them together working on the disparate syllabic structure of what both has written . Urgen , for this song , drew inspiration from several slow rock and gothic rock bands he used to listen as a child while Zoe ’ s writing is inspired by pop ballads .
How do you train your voice ? Zoe usually does a couple vocal warmups before singing , to make sure the voice is completely open . She doesn ’ t do too much , but also constantly sings songs by artists she is inspired by in order to improve range , runs and technique .
Urgen also does warms ups and a bit of breathing before singing . Most of his training happens when he is working on arrangements of songs vis-a-vis
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3 artists you would love to collaborate with in the Indian Indie scene - When Chai Met Toast , Anoushka Maskey and Kamakshi Khanna .
2 pieces of gear you cannot live without - Phone , Laptop ( Cuz we literally do all our editing work on the two devices !)
harmonies and melodies , that require him to push his range every time .
Tell us about the video production that went into the making of your latest single . This self directed one-shot music video , shot by Blake D ’ silva , represents the aforementioned state of battle between wishing and understanding within the characters in the modern world , with respect to the turmoil that both of them carry throughout the continuous motion of the camera and the characters , as it builds towards a cathartic finish . Our aim was to create quality content while also going easy on our wallets . So , we chose Zoe ’ s apartment as the location of the shoot , designed it ourselves , keeping in mind the aesthetics of how the video was envisioned .
If there was something about the music industry you can change , what would it be and why ? We would hope for more English language singer-songwriters / artists to get the recognition they deserve . We would want this particular scene to become more developed in order to be able to hit the global stage . There is so much talent that the world needs to see , coming from India .