Hot new Interview with Aiesha India
I’m a 20 year old singer/composer/producer from London (United Kingdom). I finished my GCSES and quit college to pursue my music career. I’ve always had a strong support network which are my family and close friends. I was born with a rare skin condition called Ichthyosis which restricted me from living a normal life, everyday is a different day and I never know when I can leave my house. So I stayed in a lot and constantly made music since the age of 13.I started playing piano at the age of 6. I’d always had a passion for playing the keyboard. My dad used to own a small Yamaha keyboard and I always used to create melodies on it. I started songwriting from the age of 13.As every songwriter would say, I write from experience. Songwriting became therapeutic for me and it’s my solution to every problem I have. I started singing at the age of 11. I started performing during assemblies whilst singing the piano and gradually grew from there. I started high school and life was hard dealing with my condition and the people but the one thing that got me through it was the Christmas Entertainment show which was every year.Throughout all my years of high school, I auditioned and performed every year and became more confident and found myself through these performances. I used to replicate beats from Top 40 songs on my keyboard and mash songs together and sing them live. At the age of 15, I started working with Jovis Music; brothers, Herman and Joash. For five years I put out material that was in collaboration with the boys.At 16. I quit college and started self-producing and writing songs for what would eventually become an EP; my parents had invested in getting me a home studio which really made music-making easy. I’d always be inspired by 80’s/90’s dance and I’d make the music and put together potential demos. I started to look around for performances and went from performing theatrical renditons of Top 40 hits to my original material which I’d put together.I started putting out professional material at 16 and continued making music.So far, I’ve released over 8 singles and have had music videos made for some. I had an interview/airplay on IMINRADIO, and on BBC Radio 1 with one of my singles, “Beautiful”. I performed on the main stage at the London Mela for the BBC Asian Network and BBC Radio. I’ve done a variety of club performances including Aura Mayfair and Freedom Bar, Soho.The music I make is all based on life-experiences (so far), role-models and music that I’ve been brought up listening to. Currently in 2016, I am enjoying making Covers of various songs, hoping that people enjoy them.I will also continue to make original material and hope that one day I can make my dream come true.
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Aiesha India: I heard about Exposed Vocals via Twitter. I was putting some music up, got retweeted, checked out their website and decided to follow back! 🙂
I saw that Exposed Vocals were interviewing artists and thought why not? I’ll give it a go! Thought it’s a great opportunity that Exposed Vocals were offering to artists! 🙂
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Aiesha India: I grew up in London, Harrow. I was extremely passionate about music since a very young age. I was born with a rare skin condition, ichthyosis, which restricted me from attending school and pursuing a full education. The only thing that I knew and loved to do was make music. I quit education aged 15 and followed my dreams ever since!
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Aiesha India: My real name is Aiesha! However, the ‘India’ part was something my dad liked. He knew someone called India and then somehow I was called Aiesha India 🙂
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Aiesha India: I support online music sharing 100%. We are now so fortunate to gain exposure by simply uploading to a channel or to a sound cloud. Upcoming artists have such a fantastic platform to build on. The fact we can all share our music means people can listen to what we put our passion into from all around the world! For most of us, the exposure and the love is what we make music for, the money is just a bonus.
I give my music away for free. For me, the money really doesn’t matter at all. I’ve lived a life where I feel I have stories to share, issues to raise awareness for and if I can do that and people can relate to my music, that’s a reward in itself. It’s nice to get paid, definitely but I think that stage does come a lot later. It depends on what field you’re going into when it comes to music. If we don’t share without expecting anything in return, I think its a lot harder. When someone downloads your track and they have the option to download it for free they will obviously download it but I also think if the listener really likes the song, they will buy it! Either way, the song is being listened to!
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Aiesha India: Never give up! Sounds incredibly cliché but it’s true. Social media is definitely the way forward. I really did underestimate the power of Social Media! Get a youtube channel, get a twitter account, keep tweeting, share, hashtag. Put little clips up on Instagram, be interactive and always ask what your audience wants to see or hear. Don’t just upload your music, upload pictures, put a face to the music! Submit your music forward to radio stations even if they’re the smaller ones, any airplay is still exposure. Go around to your local clubs, get them to play your CD. Perform your songs at open mics, even if they’re acoustic or stripped down versions. Let people see your journey through, that’s the best tip I can give! 🙂
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Aiesha India: I’ve made mistakes during performances, but you can’t let it knock you down at the time. For the 5% which might’ve gone a bit wrong the 95% is being up on stage even having the courage to perform in front of a crowd. Handling it is pretty simple, you just keep going! For the performer the mistake is a big one, but the likelihood the audience have even picked it up or even care, you might as well laugh it off and keep going! Mistakes are all a part of it. You can rehearse 100 times before getting up on stage but the atmosphere will change it so much you’ll get pumped and you just have to focus on your crowd!
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Aiesha India: Sadly, I don’t tour. I would absolutely love to tour but due to health reasons it’s probably advisable for me not to! I just make music videos and produce music and do the odd performance. I’m not overly unhappy about it! Hopefully I’ll be able to tour soon though! 🙂
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Aiesha India: I gather songwriting inspiration from experience. I really find it difficult to write about something that isn’t real, I wish I could just write for the fun of it so I’m not too emotionally attached to my music! My usual songwriting process includes my phone and an experience! I can literally get the most random idea whilst shopping or being out and about and I write. I suffer from depression so any time I feel like I’m going to cry or go on a downer, I write. I write two or three songs in about an hour due to all the ideas in my head. I don’t record all of them, I just pick between the songs sometimes and maybe merge it all into one song. I write all the time, even when I’m not feeling down, the weirdest and strangest things come to mind and I have to drop everything and write the idea into my phone! Perks of technology! But if I’m at a studio session or at my studio, I’ll either be given or make a beat and write according to the beat style and structure. My songwriting process varies quite a bit!
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Aiesha India: Yes! I have my own website! You can find me on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and Soundcloud!My website is: http://http://www.aieshaindia.co.uk and you can access all my social media/music through there!
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Aiesha India: Oh Jeeze! Not sure if I had embarrassing songs on my mp3 apart from my old, old, demos! 🙁
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Aiesha India: Wow! Definitely set up a record label for artists and get all the appropriate gear to help young artists work towards making albums! I think being young and entering the music industry is pretty daunting and I’m 20 and I feel like if I had more guidance whilst finding my way I would’ve benefited hugely from that!I would donate money towards several charities and help fund the charity for my skin condition. A lot of awareness needs to be raised but because of not enough exposure, nobody knows about it really. I would give money to family and fund my husband’s career too! My family/husband have been great when it comes to supporting me with music even though I’m not earning and the least I could do is give some of their contribution back to them!
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Aiesha India: Ahh! I’m upgrading my studio… bit by bit! I have an iMac, some big speakers, an audio interface and a midi keyboard at the moment. Pretty basic, but does the job! I’m currently turning my little room into a studio. Currently waiting on some bits to complete the room! I used to work on Logic Pro 9 but I’m now using Logic Pro X and am going to be learning how to use FL studio pretty soon!
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Aiesha India: I promote my music via my personal Facebook page first, get some opinions of people I know then I upload to Youtube/Instagram and sometimes Vimeo. I am on Twitter always tweeting my new material out and putting 15 second clips of my work up on Instagram and I swear by hashtags! I love them! I’ve also learnt not only to just put music out, put yourself out there, upload pictures of other things and open up a bit more, it’s interesting and you can put a personality and a person to the music! 🙂
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Aiesha India: Oh my gosh! Anyone who knows me will know that I love, love, love Lady Gaga! When I was back in High School, she got me through a tough time of bullying and also even through experiences after school! Love her to bits, it has to be Gaga! She has been raising awareness lately to issues which really do need to be addressed and she’s done it excellently. I can totally relate to her music and will forever be a fan!
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Aiesha India: I got two new music videos coming out this year, I’m part of a wonderful project where I get to share my story when it comes to my condition and making music and battling depression through some experiences, can’t say much about it yet! I’m just gonna keep my head down and keep on making covers for now and am looking to start performing again later on this year!
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Aiesha India: I’d probably go into acting. Anything that has anything to do with expression through art, apart from being an artist… I can’t draw to save my life!
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Aiesha India: I know my mum bought me a Destiny’s Child album. Although I can’t remember much, I can remember thinking I was Beyonce singing into my hairbrush whilst listening to Survivor. 😀
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Aiesha India: I honestly don’t have an answer for that! I just deal with everything as it comes. I dedicate time to my music. Sometimes a whole day, sometimes an hour! All depends. My aim is to get the most out of every day!
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Aiesha India: I mentioned earlier about this wonderful opportunity, not entirely sure where it will lead to but I have a pretty good feeling about it! Apart from that, just releasing my two music videos which is a continuation from my mini movie/music video ‘Criminal’. Criminal is by far the biggest project I’ve worked on so far and I can’t wait to finish and share the story! You can find Criminal on my website/youtube channel!
