“I believe good music heals you”- In Conversation With Firuzeh Mihrshahi

As Pune based singer-songwriter Firuzeh Mihrshahi releases her peppy debut track ‘What Are You Looking For’, we get in touch with her to find out about her musical process, her journey as a musician and what she thinks about the society we live in.

Q1. Tell us about your childhood. How did you get involved in making music?

I was born and raised at a small hill station known as Panchgani. I discovered my love for singing at the age of 12 years and soon started writing my own songs as a way of expressing what I feel. I was very shy as a kid and wasn’t comfortable in sharing or talking about my feelings to anyone. So writing about what I feel or thought was what I was comfortable with.

Q2. Which bands/artists were your first love, how has your taste in music evolved over the years?

I didn’t exactly have a first love in my choice of music or artist because I would go into a phase where I would listen to a few artists music for quiet some time. As a kid I would listen to a lot of Christina Aguilera, Demi Lovato, Alicia Keys, Eminem, Paramore, Lady Antebellum and more. But the first ever album that I bought from my pocket money was of Miley Cyrus in 2010. Ever since then my taste in music has been growing I always like to keep listening to different types of artist and different music that people make. I think its really important to listen to something different and grow with it.

Q3. Tell us about your debut track ‘What Are You Looking For’

Well my debut track called ‘What are you looking for’, is basically me asking someone special in my life what are you looking in me for you. I started writing this song with the thought of an observation that I made about humans, i.e we love to celebrate everything we do. From our birth to our death we love to celebrate different experiences. It can be a celebration of something happy or something sad it doesn’t matter. And then I just connected that between the bond that two individuals share. That’s how the songwriting part of the song came to life. As for the recording part of it I was working with a good friend of mine who helped me figure out my way in expressing the song with the help of arranging instruments and creating the final product. As this was my debut single I had no prior experience in the process of recording my own song and I’m glad that I got the opportunity to work with them.

Q4. Why do you make music ?

The reason why I want to make music is because I want to have a small effect on a person’s life. When I was younger music was something I would fall back on when I was feeling happy or angry or sad. And I believe good music heals you. I want to add a small meaning in peoples lives, give them some kind of comfort when they are distressed or want to feel good about themselves. And also give them peace and hope for something better even if just for a few minutes. I want to be able to say that you are not alone and whatever you feel I am right by you side. “Music has the power to change the world” my dad always tells me among few other things. And so I want to be a part of that change.

Q5. Which do you enjoy more, the performance or the writing-recording aspect of making music?

Well, I have experienced more of the writing-recording part of music making and have a little experience in the performance department but I enjoy all of them equally. The end result is as important as the journey to make it all happen so for me its all a learning process from the beginning till the end.

Q6. What is your music making process like?

My music making process usually starts with a thought that I get or want to write about and I just follow it with a melody that comes to my mind and just go along with it. Once my song is ready I figure out the chord structure and play it along my keyboard. That’s about it.

Q7. What views do you have about the society we live in these days?

I have very conflicting views about the society we live in right now. We live in the 21st century but we don’t act like it. Some of us are living in our heads and have become comfortable living there and are unable to make proper decisions with our lives. Whereas some of us are well aware about everything that is happening round us but are unable to bring effective change even though they have the capacity to make that happen. Then we have all the media and politics like the cherry on a cake.

Q8. Which Indian bands/artists do you admire?

I admire the work of Aditi Saigal, Kanchan Daniel, Siddhant Kalmegh, Kavya Trehan and Ape Echoes . All of them have different genres and are very good at what they are doing. And its important to welcome different types of music because music is an art of expression and everyone has different ways of expressing themselves and that makes it more beautiful with each artist.

Q9. What do you think about the music scene in your city, especially for your genre? 

I think there is a lot of space to work with my type of music because its very light and easy to listen to therefore it can speak to a lot of people.