An Interview With Newcomer Indian Singer-Songwriter ADITI On Her Global Debut Single and Much More!

Meet the musician, ADITI! She just released her global debut single “Somebody” which was written and originally recorded by Bonnie McKee in 2004 (Katy Perry, Kesha, Britney Spears).

ADITI is a young, gifted Alt/Pop singer-songwriter with an Opera/Classical background from Mumbai, India. She has collaborated with well-known musicians and has sung in over 200 music videos, some of which are on her official YouTube channel. ADITI was invited to sing in the prestigious NCPA Experimental Theatre in 2018 as part of the gifted youth series as she impressed the music lovers in Mumbai. She has been featured in several media publications, including The Times of India, Asian Age, The Hindu, and The Indian Express. 

Connect With ADITI Online Here:

www.facebook.com/AditiIyerOfficial 

www.instagram.com/AditiIyerMusic

www.youtube.com/AditiIyerOfficial

Learn more about ADITI in our All Access interview with her here:

When it comes to your music, what are you most excited for this year? How has 2020 been treating you so far?

I’m really excited to get the songs I recorded for my EP out there. I’m just super proud of how they turned out and they sound way more professional than anything I’ve ever done before. I literally can’t wait to just show them to the world. 

Honestly, 2020 has been treating me pretty well so far. My song ‘Somebody’ just released and I’m so happy with the feedback it received. I’ve also been doing some interviews, which I love filling out, and I’ve been writing a lot of my own songs. Overall, 2020 has been pretty productive for me.

Can you recall the moment when you thought you could be a musician? What do you think motivates you day in and day out? How has that changed over the years?

I think I really started to think of being a musician at 7, when I had my first performance. I really loved the feeling of going on stage and singing. It was pretty exhilarating and, after that, I guess I started thinking that maybe this is what I could do for a living. 

What really motivates me day in and day out is the fact that making music is the meaning of my life, it’s why I exist. If I didn’t have music, I’d be adrift in life without a purpose, without anything to even tell me why I’m here. Music makes me happy and, really, the desire to be truly happy is a huge motivator. Another thing that really motivates me, I think, is that drive to make people happy. I just want to share what I love to the world and have people connect to it and genuinely smile because of it. I really think that music is even more important than we think it is. It could help people find their place in the world and that’s exactly what I want to do. 

And that’s not changed much over the years. A lot of things about me have but these two things remained the exact same. I think my desire to be a musician is one of the purest things I could think about. That’s because I didn’t choose this for the money or the fame. Sure, I want those just like most people but my real reason is that I just want to be happy and make people happy.

How do you think your hometown of Mumbai, India has influenced the kind of music that you make? If not, why is that?

So, to be completely honest, Mumbai has not really influenced the music that I make. That’s only because of the fact that my music is so different from what’s popular here. I do English music but in Mumbai, as you must know, Bollywood is a huge thing. I’m not and have never been big on Bollywood. Mumbai has influenced a lot in my life, especially a lot of the feelings that I put into my music but it hasn’t influenced the music itself.

Growing up, how important was music in your life? Was your family and friends supportive of this career choice? If you weren’t a musician today, could you see yourself doing anything else?

Music has been extremely important to me. I can’t even remember a time in my life that I didn’t have music with me. I’ve been told that at nine months I was humming songs and at three, I was singing nursery rhymes. 

And my family has been super supportive of that. My parents really encouraged me from the get-go to follow my dreams. They never even had a moment, where they were doubtful of my career choice. And, really, they were never the kind of parents who forced what they wanted on me. I’ve grown up knowing that my career is my choice and that freedom is such an important thing to have. My uncle was also really encouraging. He helped me set up my YouTube channel. 

Music is a part of me and I can’t just ignore that part. No job could ever come close to what music is for me.

What has been the biggest surprise so far about making music your career? What has been an unexpected or welcome challenge to it all? What has been the best part?

I think what really surprised me is how competitive the music industry is. I knew that it wasn’t easy, of course, but I never knew the full extent of competition there is. There are so many talented people fighting it out for a chance and the odds of really making it are so low. I never realized how difficult it would be. 

So, I think that a big challenge of making music a career is that everything is uncertain. I don’t even know if I’m going to make it or not. Even if you’re really talented, there’s no guarantee you’ll be a success, and I never expected this level of unpredictability. But I don’t think that this is necessarily such a bad thing because the fact that I don’t know what’s going to happen, makes me work harder to make it happen.

I think the best part of all of this, though, has been the euphoria of performing on stage, the achievements that convince you to go on and give you hope that maybe you’ll actually do it, and the fact that at least you’re at least following your dream. 

What was your inspiration to record “Somebody”? What made you decide to create your own version of it?

When I was working on my EP with A & R Worldwide, we agreed that I should record ‘Somebody’ because it would be cool to do a reinterpretation of the original. It’s a great song and I could really connect to the lyrics. Something just clicked, and I’ve heard of a lot of songs that became famous after someone else recorded their spin on the original, like Bette Davis Eyes and I thought I could do the same. So, my version of ‘Somebody’ is my own personal interpretation of the song, with a lot of nuances and twists. 

How do you think “Somebody” prepares listeners for more music from you?

Somebody formally introduces me to my listeners and makes my style of singing clear and tells listeners to expect this kind of singing from me. But, other than that, I wouldn’t say that ‘Somebody’ prepares listeners much because my music has a lot of variety and that’s exactly how I like it. I don’t want the music I do to be overly predictable. I always want to be doing different, unique stuff.

Do you plan on releasing more new music and a full album of new songs anytime soon?

I did record an EP of 4 songs, one of which was ‘Somebody’, and I’m planning on releasing the others this year, and those are written and sung by me. And though, I’m not currently planning on releasing a full album, I would really like to someday.

Would you like to incorporate your opera and classical background into your future music?

Yes, I would like to and am currently incorporating my classical background into my music. My style of singing is in a way unique because I use a mix of my chest and head voice. I plan to do that in the future too. Another thing I think I would like to do is maybe a Night At The Opera type thing where I could infuse classical music and pop music in my future work. That would definitely be interesting and I’m really open to the idea of it.

With your incredibly large collection of over 200 music videos on your Youtube channel, which ones are you proudest of? Which were the most fun to be part of?

I really enjoyed everything but I think I enjoyed recording Love Of My Life by Queen and All By Me by John Legend, in particular. That’s because I love these songs and that made it fun to record them. I’m pretty proud of how they turned out. 

What was it like being invited to the NCPA Experimental Theatre in 2018 as part of the gifted youth series?

It was a really great experience for me. NCPA is a big deal in Mumbai and I was really excited to actually perform there, even more excited to be the only vocalist there. I think some of the things I really liked about the experience was just how professional everyone was and how people actually paid to see us and to appreciate the music. NCPA was my first paid gig. Another new thing for me was having a live accompaniment. I generally use backing tracks so that something I had to get used to. But it was really cool to hear those songs played live for me for the first time. NCPA was also much more formal than my other performances and I even had to pick out a gown to wear, which was again something I wasn’t used to. Everything about NCPA just gave me really good exposure.

How do you think you have grown as a musician since you first started making music? What if anything has stayed the same about your music-making process?

I think that I’ve really grown as a musician because, when I first started singing, I didn’t have any style of my own. Naturally, since I was so young, just about 3/4 years of age,  I kind of did what I thought was a good imitation of singers. Now, I actually have my own way of singing. I mean, I’m actually singing like myself. 

Another thing is, I wasn’t so big on writing my own material before. I basically did covers and if I had to do something original, someone else wrote it for me. Now, I spend a lot of my time making my own songs, which I think is really important. You have an added benefit if you can sing and write your own songs. You’re more efficient and you don’t have to depend on anyone else. So I am a singer-songwriter now. 

But, that being said, one thing that has remained the same in my music-making process is the passion. I still have that same fire in me to make it as a musician. I still have that same passion for music. 

How do you feel about social media? What do you think social media has done for your career so far?

Social media has been really important for me so far. Social media is what helped me get whatever fan base I have and it really helped get me out there on a platform where people could listen to my music. So, I would say it really kickstarted my career.

What musicians would you absolutely love to work with in the future? 

I would absolutely love to work with Billie Eilish and Bruno Mars. They’re both really talented musicians and I love and respect their music. If I had to collaborate with anyone, it would be with them. 

Where would you love to hear a song of yours played? 

Everywhere. I know that sounds overly ambitious but yes, I want my songs to be everywhere. On TV, on the radio, on Apple Music, on iTunes. You name it. The goal is for my songs to be everywhere and in everyone’s ears. I want my music to reach millions of people around the world. 

At the end of the day, what do you hope people take away from your music?

I hope people take away real emotions from my music. I don’t want them to just like it because it’s catchy. Sure, it can be catchy but, more than that, I want them to connect to my music and feel it. I want my music to seem real to them, like I’m actually speaking to them.