One thing I love about songwriting is that it allows me to express emotions and feelings that are very personal to me, which is very cathartic and therapeutic.
Riya recently took some time out of her already busy year to talk to us about her career highlights, song writing process, and to give us the inside track on her future plans.
Hi Riya, how are you?
Good. I spent the weekend recording vocals, watching True Detective and sunning myself in a beer garden. Living the dream! Majorly regretting giving up crisps and chocolate for Lent though.
How has your year been so far?
Funny you should ask that because I was only talking about this a couple of days ago. I came to the conclusion that it’s been an exciting yet eventful year so far… but I’m really enjoying the challenges and having lots of fun. I think if I had to pick out some key moments it would be moving to Stoke Newington; singing at Spearhead Records with BCee for the first time; collaborating with some of my favourite Drum & Bass producers and vocalists of the minute; meeting my adorable boyfriend; discovering more of East London (particularly The Aubin Cinema in Shoreditch and my passion for painting; meditating more; and being given the opportunity to go out to New York to work on some hip-hop/soul music.
You have played at some of the biggest events around, what have been your highlights so far when singing live?
I used to say that all my best gigs were abroad but that’s slowly changing. I’ve had some of the best times ever in London recently at nights like Spearhead, Launch and InnerSoul. I also love Overflow at The Warehouse in Leeds. It always makes the experience nicer when the promoters are lovely and the crowds are really into the music, which is what I always find with those events. Abroad…I’d say Sun and Bass by a long shot, followed by Tokyo with dBridge; Russia with Lenzman; and the Asia tour with Total Science. I would love to sing in Brazil with Marky one day, and sing at some festivals in the UK. Later this year I’m gigging with Hybrid Minds which will be a lot of fun.
Can you talk us through your song writing process; are the lyrics you write personal to your life experiences?
Interesting question…I think this differs from artist to artist but for me, once I have an instrumental to write to, I usually break it down into three parts…the melody (first), the lyrics, and then the structure.
The lyrics I write are always personal to me. There’s very few that are not. If I look at the topics of my songs over the years, I think most are about heartache, insecurities, doubts, dreams…they’re not happy love stories. I think this is because I’ve used music over the years to express some of my rawest emotions that I don’t necessarily talk about openly, and music is a great way of channelling all of that negative emotion. That’s my understanding of it recently anyway, as to why I write about what I do.
In terms of how I get the lyrics down…I usually refer to the notes and journal I keep that contains thoughts, feelings and experiences I’ve had along the way. I might pick something and build on it like a story, thinking about how the story starts, what’s the middle, what’s the end? How do I want to express this story? If I don’t have any lyrics to draw on, I might get inspiration from the title of the instrumental and develop on that using the method above. For instance, I was sent a song recently called ‘new day’. It triggered lots of ideas about what a new day means, how we only have a new day…because as soon as that stops, we are dead. That then triggered thoughts about how important time is, how precious life, how important it is to maintain perspective and how each day gives us new opportunities for change, love, experiences etc. Before I knew it, I had a song. Another way is to watch films, read books, look at book titles, look at art, speak to friends and get ideas and concepts that way. If that makes sense?
One thing I love about songwriting is that it allows me to express emotions and feelings that are very personal to me, which is very cathartic and therapeutic, but then those words can also heal or uplift a total stranger in another part of the world just through listening and relating to those words. Isn’t that magic?
Do you ever plan on writing an album?
Sure. I’m working on two (!) at the moment; one neo soul influenced and one Drum & Bass. I have tried working on an album twice before but it didn’t work out for various reasons and in truth, I wasn’t really ready to dedicate myself to it even though I knew it’s something I needed to do and that the fans wanted. I really enjoyed releasing singles because it’s a quicker project to finish, and quicker to see an end result. It’s not really the same with an album…you can be slogging away for years! That takes strength, determination, motivation, and belief which can be hard at times! But I want to do this now more than ever…and luckily I have a cracking set of producers behind on both projects and so I’m very hopeful you will see an album from me in the near future.
Are there any particular artists you would like to work with who you haven’t already?
Lots!! There are always new people I’d love to work with both inside and outside of D&B. I don’t want to list them because I’m usually great at missing people off I meant to include and kicking myself later haha so let’s just leave it at that.
What other genres do you listen to other than Drum & Bass?
All kinds. Soul, hip-hop, house, funk, indie, folk, acoustic, rock…
What albums are you currently listening to at the moment?
Can you tell us a random fact that hasn’t been said in previous interviews?
One of my favourite words is ‘Aubergine’. I love how that sounds when said in a French accent. Random.
What are your future plans?
Well, apart from the things I mentioned earlier with music, who knows! I’m just going with the flow really and taking opportunities as they come. Outside of music, I have this life long ambition that one day I’ll be a Psychotherapist and I’m one step closer having completed a Certificate in Counselling skills and Psychotherapy but there’s a long way to go yet…so let’s see!
RIYA/FACEBOOK
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