A 22-year old singer/songwriter based in Gurgaon, Aadya Jaswal writes soft yet haunting melodies on her musings. Her indie folk/acoustic pop compositions explore everyday moments and thoughts. The artist established herself in the indie scene in 2023 with her debut single ‘Aisha’ and has opened for Grammy nominated artist Jamison Ross, as well as seasoned independent artists like Tanmaya Bhatnagar and Frizzell D’Souza. In a conversation with us, she talks about her journey so far.
1. Tell us a bit about your project. How did you begin your journey as a singer-songwriter?
It started quite organically, I think. I’d been writing poems since I can remember, and I used to sing random tunes in the shower sometimes, but on one of those days I ended up recording what I had sung and then figuring out chords to play along with it. That ignited a journey that I’ve just wanted to explore more and more of. It came with a lot of fear as well, which is why I never thought I’d be doing music, so I suppose another beginning for me was realising how much I wanted to pursue it and that I was running away because I was scared. Some of those fears haven’t gone but realising that allowed me to wade into things one step at a time and take things on as they come.
2. Which bands/artists were your first love and who is your biggest influence?
Hmm, I don’t think I can name any! I grew up listening to a lot of different music, so for me it’s songs rather than artists and bands that I remember loving, that would have shaped me and my music. It really was a wide range – a lot of old Hindi music, bands like The Carpenters, Queen, Beatles, Cutting Crew, Elton John, Simon and Garfunkel, Disney music from all the movies of course, even a lot of classical music from the greats; and then, later on, thanks to middle school there were the billboard pop songs – the Kesha, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato era. It’s the same reason why I haven’t been able to think of my biggest influence. I reflect on a song and realise retrospectively – “ah, it sounds like my Ed Sheeran phase inspired this”, or “wow, I didn’t know the rock songs we heard on our road trips played such a big role!”
3. Tell us a bit about your latest single ‘Cavern.’
Cavern was originally just the first two lines of a poem that came to me that I couldn’t complete. And then, one day many months later, I was playing the guitar, and the song wrote itself in a couple of hours. It’s like the guitar brought my feelings from those last few months to life, and they floated to my phone, penned themselves down in this form and made themselves known to me. For me, it’s the product of a point when things weren’t the best and I felt helpless about the way I felt.
4. What is your music-making and recording process like?
There’s no fixed process really, but the words and the melody have usually come to me together. Sometimes I’m completely at the mercy of my creativity – when it comes it comes and I’ll scramble for a phone to record it or write it down and it’ll be done in a couple hours. A lot of times I’ll get just a couplet or a phrase and it’ll become a full song sometime in the future when I decide to return to it or a new muse speaks well to that particular draft. Sometimes I’ll experiment with the chords to see what fits the melody and mood I’m going for, and then other times I’ll start something on the piano or guitarand then build it systematically. There isn’t really a cohesive process, I like to go with my gut for what sounds and feels right based on what I want, but lately I’ve been experimenting more with the music-making, seeing how far I can go with an idea, giving myself prompts and challenges and seeing where those take me and how much I can breach my comfort zone.
With recording, well, the only songs I’ve recorded till now have been the songs in my album, and at that point I had no idea what the basic steps for recording a song even were, let alone have my ownprocess for them. I think every song will demand a different recording process, and I’m excited to find out!
5. Why do you make music? What drives you as a musician and what are your songs about?
To be honest, I’m not very sure myself. But I have a feeling my answer would be similar to why people listen to music, or why we do anything creative – it resonates, makes us feel alive. I think that’s the heart of it. I think it started as a desire to engage with my thoughts and feelings, but over the last few months I’ve learnt about how much more expansive music-making is. I think that desire still drives me, but it comprises a lot more now – not just understanding myself, but what goes on around me, in the world, understanding other people. Music has been, and is still, a form that allows me to converse with these things in a manner that is as fluid and uncertain as they themselves are. And I think my songs are about these things too – the everyday, sometimes tiny sometimes big, things that we feel, think about, and experience.
6. Which Indian bands/artists do you admire? And why?
There are so many, it’s hard! I think Dot would be a big one. There’s something magical about her – she weaves words in ways I would never have been able to imagine, and when she sings it makes me feel like everything will alright. I also love Komorebi, Inga, Dhruv Viswanath, Easy Wanderlings for the spaces they have created for themselves and their music. It has inspired me to be more confident with my own music and my journey with it.
7. What’s your take on the independent music scene in India?
I think there’s a lot of really cool stuff going on! I have gotten to know so many great artists in the little time I’ve spent in the music scene. The artist community is also very supportive – everyone is eager to help each other out and create a community. There are also lots of organisations helping artists understand the music industry and world a little better and providing a platform for them to become more visible – you guys are one of them! I think as far as listeners and audiences, even the industry is concerned, however, we can create a lot more space for music that is more experimental and alternative – both in terms of language and genres. I hope that will also help artists earn more from their music without having to commercialise it or compromise on their visions.
