Peekay was always scorned at school for failing to top her class, but her anger that board exams prevented her from pursuing tennis as her passion led to something that would change her life. , became an opportunity to discover art.
“I started venting through poetry and eventually turned those poems into music. My mother taught me how to play some chords on the guitar. My father always played great rock music to me. So I started learning songs on the guitar, eventually “playing in front of audiences at home and eventually in pubs and bars too. I’m pretty good at it.” It seemed like a good idea, so I decided to keep doing it,” she says. Kanna is currently performing Not only is she an artist, but she is also an entrepreneur, and it is not wrong to say that her art and hardships have overcome her all.
in an interview with she is peoplePEEKAY talks about her musical journey, her creative process, what brought her to jazz, her entrepreneurial spirit and why music needs soul more than anything else.
Peekay interview
What were the main challenges you faced when trying to build a professional career as a musician?
It always starts with equipment challenges like buying a good guitar or ordering a decent one from overseas and selling kidneys to cover everything, then sound challenges, budget challenges with venues, and parking. Go into a dark place where you can be chased by drunk man. So I think it starts with a general frustration of women in the music industry. Now, after 10 years of establishing myself, I can say that my current challenge is getting enough opportunities to play gigs outside of Hyderabad. Sure, I’ve been on a lot of shows, but it’s been really hard to keep up the momentum. I always have to stay relevant and strive to keep releasing music to be seen nationwide and build a fan base in every city. And I’m not on a label. You have to do this yourself. Right. I just need a nap!
What is your creative process like?
Fall in love, get hurt, get mad about it, write a song? smile. No, seriously, that’s life these days. I have written all that I have observed about human nature. There’s a lot of dialogue about getting out of difficult situations: battling illness, losing a loved one, fighting for recognition, and depression. Album to be released in August Starlight, is a book that covers all these topics. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and march on.
You are one of the few artists who represent the jazz genre in this country. What made you choose this?
Billie Holiday. Specifically, her song loneliness. When I first heard this song when I was 24, the first verse alone gave me a really strange feeling. I don’t even know how to explain this feeling. The lyrics go like this:
“In my loneliness you follow me
remembering the days gone by
In my loneliness you tease me
With memories that never fade
And I think I was home alone after losing a loved one. The house was kind of empty and I never stopped listening to jazz. My grandfather always loved Nat King Cole and Sinatra, and he used to sing this old jazz song, “16 Tons,” comically. But I was always into rock and pop. I think when I really ‘grown up’ I turned to jazz as an outlet for a new phase in my life. Where the story is more mature. My voice also fit the genre. I was blessed with an amazing teacher and guide, Dennis Powell. He is one of Hyderabad’s oldest jazz musicians and teachers. We recently lost him. But yeah, it was like God picked me up at 24 and put me into this genre. Here’s the atmosphere, here’s the playlist, here’s the teacher. Come on sing, girl!
Is the movement within the music industry evolving when it comes to supporting indie musicians?
We all love it and hate it equally. Now any old Joe can upload his music to the internet to grow his following and promote himself using the tools available. That’s all. In his recent interview, Niki Minaj said that when we were kids (30+), all we heard on the radio and TV were talented musicians. What we are listening to now is a popular musician. You can buy popularity and blue ticks. You can’t buy talent.
So while I’m happy that this digitization allows us all to use Instagram and Spotify to reach a global audience, I’m equally sad that there are no filters here. It’s just ‘Kichidi’, this whole musical ‘industry’.
Who are the artists that inspire you?
It’s a strange spectrum. From people like George Harrison and Paul McCartney, to Jim Morrison, Roger Waters, Incubus’ Brandon Boyd, Audioslave’s Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda and Stevie Nicks. , Janis Joplin, and even women like Madonna, Alanis Morissette, Gaga, and new soul artists like Leon Bridges, Tom Misch, Anderson .Paak. So even Opeth’s Michael Akerfeldt played a big part in my songwriting inspiration. But so is Avril Lavigne.
Is it essential for you to be able to be vulnerable when your emotions are swirling? How do you translate that into your music?
I have never had the easiest life or the happiest life. No one really has. But I am a very sensitive person and every ‘blow’ I took left a scar that I couldn’t handle very well. It was music that helped musicians like me and my therapist. Writing, singing, screaming, dancing, playing, losing yourself are all coping mechanisms.when i started writing music Starlight (next album) – I was locked up alone in my apartment and then almost alone in my best friend’s apartment in Bangalore. I allowed myself to just grieve for what I lost at the time and what was in an overwhelming situation that I had no control over. I put all of that into the 5 songs on the album. It wasn’t easy. I cried a lot while writing it all, headbanged on one part, was completely wasted on the other half, and ended up sitting on the floor proud of how I had managed to cleanse.
If you don’t sing with your soul, nothing good will come of it.
I think the reason the music on this album is the best I’ve ever written is because I didn’t run away from the truth of my story. I’m very excited to release it, but I want everything to be perfect, so it’s going to take a long time.
How do you push your own limits?
I never stop studying. Take guitar lessons until 2022, be part of AMI cohort hosted by Tanish Sucker (founder of Amplify India etc.) and learn how to DJ (just to understand BPM and study crowds more) , studied production and live sound. Random he took the UDEMY course and asked producer Eddy his million questions about equipment. job.
I think the only way to push the boundaries is to keep learning and keep experimenting. Never compromise on sound when you’re just starting out in music. it’s a limitation. From rock to pop to hip hop to rap to Bollywood, go wherever your soul wants to travel. This is music. I know it’s an industry, but it’s also the sound of the universe. You can’t put it in a box.
I interviewed several musicians recently, and they both said that the challenge with the rise of digitalization is the need to stay active and keep selling their work, which is demanding and stressful. Told. Do you feel that way too?
As I said earlier, it is both a blessing and a curse. This Insta generation. Sure, your audience feels closer to you, and you can always be more active by publishing reels and snippets of songs and videos, but that ruins the whole concept of music. Shooting for Instagram and keeping up with planning posts can be exhausting. Due to the algorithm, every day, sometimes he knows he needs to keep posting twice a day. That is, you must be a thirsty fool, not an artist. Purists are fed up. But purists who want to succeed comply.
Is there a project/performance closest to your heart?
This album, “Starlight”, that I put my life and soul into. nothing comes close. I can’t wait to release it and go on tour.
You are an illustrator, a graphic designer, and a singer in many different roles. You also own and run a marketing and design company, The Whole Shebang. What drives you to continue to take on involved roles?
First of all, thank you for saying that. But I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I have a thyroid problem, eat more food than I can eat and can’t rest, so I’m constantly sick. I just merged with another company, so I’m excited to run this company, now called Freeform Creative. It’s also really cool to be able to do commercial gigs on the weekends, all of which fund my independent releases, PR, music videos, etc. My art requires quality, and that quality requires a lot of money. So whatever the value, I just want to leave this body of work so I can move forward.
Is entrepreneurship something you’ve always wanted to try? Did art play a role in this journey?
I started out as a digital artist. Art was my primary purpose. Design started when she was 19 when she applied for a studio job as an illustrator, but eventually became a junior graphic designer and fell in love with branding. I have been to quite a few exhibitions. However, since art is seasonal, I needed a steady income. Ever since I was a student, I have always organized things and put teams together for projects. So leadership has always been mine and therefore entrepreneurship. I’m a musician/artist who started TWS for kids like me who needed a day job to fund their projects. Now it has grown into a proper corporate venture, but I would like to continue hiring people who need income in the future.
What would you say has had the biggest impact on your development as an artist since you started?
Hardship.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians who want to pursue music or other avenues as artists?
Please don’t make excuses. don’t complain. don’t sit at home Go out, work hard and do it anyway.
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