How To Kickstart Your Singing (& Music Composition) Career In Bollywood - w/ Trishita

I was invited to a thing where they wanted to celebrate fellow women creators who had contributed into the success of Netflix. I think I am talented as a musician. I am practicing in search. I plan to make the move to Mumbai. How can I get my first singing gig? How are you going to sustain yourself if you don't have a solid base of your crowd? If I were to be born without any inherent singing talent, could I still be a good singer? How can you write the lyrics when you don't know the tune?

For that last video, we only had 25 minutes in hand. And we went by so fast and that is my most viewed video so fast. 15 or 15 million views on that goddamn video. That song actually ended up changing the trajectory of my entire career. What were some of the first experiences now that stand out in terms of getting started in your musician journey? I remember this fun occasion that my HOD actually called my father and threatened to basically restricate me on the grounds that I have a YouTube channel.

Welcome to the Ready Set Do podcast, where we learn from journeys of not experts who are just two steps ahead of us. I am Naman Pandey and in this episode, featured not expert is Dishta Rex. Dishta is an award-winning playback singer and songwriter whose work has been featured on Netflix, Hotstar, Z5, among other notable places such as live events and concerts. Perhaps like most of you all out there, one of my longest-standing loves of life has been my love for music.

Having spoken to a DJ on this podcast link in description and here, this time I wanted to explore this theme from a more traditional viewpoint. Dishta walks us through how she was exposed to the world of music as a child through participating in singing reality TV shows. We go over her process of coming up with new songs, performing live and really balancing the art with the business side of things such as landing gigs, finding work and forging a sustainable income source through her talent.

Indeed, it was rather eye-opening to contextualize this struggle artist's space and by the end of this episode, you will definitely learn to appreciate the grit and determination it takes to even have a shot at making it. In keeping with my goal of learning from guests who are just two steps ahead of us instead of an expert, my goal with this episode is to highlight Dishta's unique journey and how she continues to navigate so many challenges to trailblaze her career as a single in such a competitive landscape.

This is the Ready Set to Podcast and to support it, please subscribe to the YouTube channel and or leave me up to a five star rating on Spotify or your music app of choice. And now my dear friends, here's Dishita. Thank you so much. It's so good to be finally sitting down, at least virtually to talk to you. And yeah, let's talk about singing. So my first question is, and this is something I've always actually wanted to ask, you know, somebody that knows this stuff.

If I were to be born without any inherent singing talent, could I still be a good singer just based off practice and such or am I just doomed forever? Yeah, so I do think that a certain degree of a knack is necessary, I would say, like if you are someone who is naturally very, very tone deaf, it's challenging, but I would still say that it's not impossible to sing. It's possible, but you know, these things are often the degree of how good or bad you are can also be very subjective.

So it's definitely possible, but there does need to be a certain basic understanding of, you know, rhythm as well as melody. So when you say tone deaf, just so just to make sure I'm understanding this correctly, what you're referring to is when there's a shift in a song from a certain scale to a certain scale, I'm able to pick that up when I listen to that. Is that what being told is correct? So if you can hear a certain frequency or a sound, are you able to identify and replicate it?

That is usually just if you can do that, then you are capable of learning and by learning, then you can become better. So that has to be sense. So for you, when did it all start, when like, can you walk us through maybe early childhood, when you first started singing, and then maybe at what point you finally decided that this could actually be, you know, something you build your career out of. So I think I was four or five since I used to go, like, you know, I'm a big girly girl, so I always have singing and dance classes.

And at first I was just kind of accompanying my sister when she would go to her class, and then slowly that turned into a situation like that was my mother's me time and her entire day that she would just like get rid of the two kids have like a couple of hours to herself. And that was why I was there, there was like no other reason why I was there, and that kind of turned into this one particular occasion where, you know, my sister or someone was singing and they were preparing for one of their upcoming exams, and they forgot the words.

And I finished it, and I was so little, you know, like, and everyone was like, how does she know it because I was just sitting there and I kind of just like learned it by listening. And then my sister's teacher spoke to my mother that you know I'm not sure about this one, but this little one you should really consider putting her into, you know, like because my primary at that time was more of Kataka dancing. So, you know, it was back then I was living in a very small town in MP so the thought was that there weren't a lot of teachers there so what to prioritize.

And my dance teacher kind of ended up leaving the town so I didn't have a choice like I always wanted to keep going to stage. So, kind of like the singing thing ended up happening very accidentally it wasn't really like planned or something. And eventually as I grew up, I tried several different things but like, I think nothing brought me as like I didn't do anything with as much confidence or ease as I did this, you know, like it continues to be the same, and it just was like a very natural choice for me like never really.

Yeah, it never really came across as like until the pandemic at least it was a very clear decision in my head that this is what I was meant to do and this is what I was willing to do. And I just kind of kept following it there were certain years in my life that I fully kind of backed away from it a little bit because I experienced a lot of fatigue I was doing it for so long from from such a young age and again. I was like one of those reality show kids or one of those extremely seasoned kids in like the local competition circuits or like school fest and all of those things.

And by the time school ended I was really tired like I really thought, my God, can I stop for a little bit so I think in college I really didn't do much for like two, three years I was just studying interesting understanding is there anything else I could do. And then I did everything that I did so I came back. Yeah, this is right and it just helps that you know it as they say it's only when you run away from home that you realize how great home actually is.

So maybe in a way maybe you know needed to do that. I'm curious about what you said about the reality show kid. Can you talk a little bit more about that that sounds very juicy. Yeah, well, so basically, I, I, you know, like I mentioned I was growing up in a like till I was 14 years of age I was in a really small town called satna in Madhya Pradesh and. But then there weren't a lot of us from that area who had made it into the national or international television shows. I was a really big deal and I was really, really seasoned like I said in those local like everybody knew me in that area.

And I was among some of the few of us who broke that ceiling, you know, who took a lot of these very small town kids on to like a national platform. But at the same time it was extremely difficult to be there because I was only like my peers on that show I was only like her 11 or 12 years old at the time. I sure. Yeah, and the pressure is enormous, you know, because you have this entire sense of like am I disappointing my whole town because you know I'm, I'm creating this platform and, you know, I'm, I'm one of the first to be doing it.

So what if I mess it up. So there's a lot of pressure that kind of comes at a very young age and it's like really not good because a lot of what goes on there is not even authentic so. It's really hard to like I really don't think it's the right place for children to be like having been through that myself now I can say it with a lot of confidence that. Yes, you know, adults, we can all regulate ourselves much better, but I don't think like when our frontal lobe is like not even developed is the time to put in such pressure on ourselves because it could really lead to very permanent long term repercussions for a lot of people.

Yeah, I mean, that it does sound like that's a really heavy weight on some rather young shoulders would would mean or any of our listeners know the platform what it was called by any chance. Yeah, it was one of those that never got done again because the concept in itself was really flawed like it was something called mummy kiss superstar's and so if you actually know I have definitely heard of that. Yeah, how ridiculous it's like every time you are in like the danger zone your mom's supposed to sing and save you.

So it doesn't matter how good you are if your mom can't say and trust me, I got eliminated and my mom did it lives with that girl. Like now we can laugh about it, but it was a huge traumatic thing back then because again we both were carrying a lot of responsibility on our shoulders and we were in the show. And it was not a fun experience for like either of us. Now it's really funny to look back and laugh and you know it was like a really bad thing.

That's yeah I mean I have so many thoughts on that but yeah whoever thought that would be a good idea like that doesn't even make any sense because are you, you know, are you finding out if the child is a good singer or them and their parent as a duo. Like it just makes no sense but interesting. So yeah I'm honestly surprised that despite all of that you've, you know, stuck to this whole sphere. So to speak you must really enjoy it is what I'm trying to say.

Or maybe I suck at everything else you know, either or you know, I guess that's true. But as somebody that has heard you saying I disagree but of course that could very well be it I don't know. Something you said about once you were in college that you took you know a little break. I want to explore that just a little bit because maybe more so with the lens of what was the end of that break like at what point were you, you know in your head that I've tried these other things I've tried keeping away.

I need to go back. Was there a specific moment or something that led to that or was it just, you know, organic and graduate. So to be very honest simultaneously, like alongside the entire college journey of mine. First of all I went to a college which was very academically inclined. So they were very clear from the very start that this is not a place for you to be, you know, really going deep into extracurriculars if that's what you're here for then this is not the right place for you.

In fact, I remember this fun occasion that my HOD actually called my father and threatened to, you know, basically restate me on the grounds that I have a YouTube channel. That was the reason she wanted to promote the college. And when she called my father, she said, Mr. Madra, I'm gonna, you know, let your child go and my dad was just like, oh, when. Sometimes I'm going to be talking about what I mean. So, but the, the, the real, the real, honestly, like if I'm to say the truth of that entire phase of my life is that there was a lot of turbulence even in my personal life like I wasn't really in a good space.

Like I wasn't particularly happy with my friendships and I was in a relationship at the time that wasn't really like a great one for me. So I just felt like that entire phase really took me away from a lot of things that I love, you know, and this being one of them. And but I have no regrets of having done that, you know, because whatever caused it, it's fine like, you know, I can't change the past, but the conclusion of it was just that like after, you know, really eradicating a lot of these negative things and people and you know situations from my life, I just started to reconnect with a lot of, you know, habits and practices that did initially make me feel very grounded and getting back to my practice and we as was on.

So that kind of slowly brought me back to the field and that's when I started to kind of expert going into industry slowly. And that, yeah, that makes perfect sense. And yeah, in terms of your arc, it sounds like you had a few highs as a child and then you had these lows as you were, you know, once you were in college, but then had those highs again. So I guess for adult Trishita, what was the start of your, you know, musician journey I should say because I know that it's much, much more than just being a singer you're basically an entire business wrapped into wrapped under the, you know, foil off.

Well, sorry, wrapping the foil off a singer so how did what was what was some of the first experiences now that stand out in terms of, you know, kick starting your musician journey. So, the first, actually, the first thing to know here is that my full time music journey properly hadn't even started until like two years ago. The majority of the things that like, like some of the very life defining things have happened for me very, very quickly. So during the pandemic, right before the pandemic is when I was starting to kind of dip my toes back into the field right like 2018 I graduated college 2019 I was starting to go back

to 2020 pandemic happened so 2020 to 2024 I didn't really even do much because, again, that was a time when I was really very, like in very poor health, poor mental health like a lot of us right it was a huge shock for my person, especially my industry I my work life just kind of came to a standstill before it even started. So it was a very disturbing time. So whatever I have done it has happened after 22, you know essentially.

How it began for me was simply that I was releasing a lot of music during the pandemic, and I was at that the time I actually devoted to, you know, right learning how to write learning how to compose and those things because I realized that I had different future of, you know, like vocals and not a lot of people were like eager to hire me to sing. And there's a lot of systematic, you know, sexism in this where you'll notice one thing that predominantly, you know, Hollywood movies are very hero centric. Nowadays it's changing a little bit. And when it's a hero centric movie, there's like a full guy song with like a couple of female lines. And therefore what happens is because it's essentially a guy song.

The female is really like the woman is not really been even considered the female singers not being considered when the key is being set, when the melody is being written, because she only has two lines so she's just going to have to adjust with the rest of it. And that was really a frustrating situation because a lot of times these two lines were out of my range, or I'm having to sound like a certain singer in my real texture would never really even come out.

And that really was putting me in a very irritating position where I was like, you know what, if no one's going to hire me to like sound the way I do sound. I'm just going to start making my own sounds like I'm not doing this anymore. So that's the journey of me starting to learn how to write. And at first the first record was very collaborative with. I got other composers and other lyricists on board and everything like it was a panel production so we all worked remotely with other parts and kind of made five songs together.

And because we were all very bored and, you know, at home, very frustrated. So I also got a lot of these services for very, very cheap because everyone was, you know, just wanting to just keep working in this time. Right. So I'm very grateful for the team I assembled back then because I still work with them a lot very actively. That's awesome. And yeah, and then, you know, I kept doing that. And slowly the team became smaller because I have learned to do a lot of this by myself.

So, alongside releasing when I was releasing, I also was focusing a lot on learning these skills and building the craft myself. So, sorry to interject quick question there, you said five people were needed or unless I missed her that. So who are these five people that you need so obviously you have a singer that's you you have your composer. And then I guess what other personas do you need to put music out. So, singer, singer, singer slash performer, a lyricist, composer, producer, and mix musher, mix master engineer.

And then, in some cases, like you may also have an assigned recording engineer, but that is usually rare, like most of us go to at least literally any recording studio, we may have a preference in terms of array. If he's there today, can you please put him during my session? Makes sense. Yeah, kind of like when you go for a haircut and want your person. Exactly. That's very accurate. And this is also interesting to me and granted, this is the first time I'm hearing about these details and these are stuff I've always wondered so I'm just, you know, like swimming with questions right now.

So, I would have, or at least my uninformed, you know, person would have thought that the person that writes the lyrics would also in some way be composing the song, because isn't composing just the tune of the song. So how can you write the lyrics that when you don't know the tune, and which comes first or is it all, you know, doesn't matter, like what's going on here. So that's what I meant that my team has become smaller because I now compose right and say by myself. So, typically how it goes is in the industry is that a composer has a scratch, which is basically like a very basic scanning of a child.

So you put like a metronome click. So, like if you put, and then you put a melody line on it. So, it's literally sung like and that's what we send to the lyricist. And then this puts words in that. So, like this is a very easy like I'm really, yeah, yeah, yeah, reducing it to like make it very easy to consume it, but usually this is how it works. Sometimes certain lyricists like who you probably become good friends with or something, they will send you like, Oh, I have written these lines see if you want to do something.

Say someone sends you the line and then that you, you know, sometimes there is some composition sitting in your bank. You know, it's sitting in your archives and then those words somehow put that composition miraculously. That also happened to me. And it's just like a happen chance thing that it just happened. Yeah, there's a lot of that's the magic and addiction behind this work. Right. It is so magical. Like, I have when I had a co composer for that particular record.

There literally was this song. It's called Tomo Jejanteo. It's actually one of my most streamed tracks so far. And I had written the chorus and he had a different song with the words and we just like kind of I was like, can you remove that chorus and fit this there see how it sounds and it became a whole song. So it's like really exciting this kind of collaborative work. So did you just teach yourself all these skills then now that you said that you do all of these. So a lot of it is definitely instinctive and it's a product of what you have learned and listen to since you were little.

That's I always tell people that if you want to do your music to listen to a lot because it will be very limitless. But the fact is after having like done this very, very regularly now. And now I have reached a point where I'm starting to write for other people as well. I can say with a lot of confidence that just like single a lot of songwriting can be learned like a scale. So if you read, you know, if you read poetry, I'll read or do an indie poetry on a regular basis. If you again listen, there are terms and terms of, you know, songwriters doing workshops teaching different kinds of techniques.

And of course read books, you know, like basically broaden your imagination as much as you can. You know, it really helps like at first I thought, Oh, songwriting is just something like some people can do it some kind, but it's really not like that you it is definitely a skill that can be learned and that can be, you know, fully. Okay, maybe you will not be like a hundred in the field, but you can definitely reach a 7080 and that's pretty great. Pretty damn good. So, yeah, so, so many insightful things from what we just said, especially, especially looking at my total of eight seconds of experience with actually it's not even sound songwriting it's more like music production I don't know the right word but for my podcast intro, I had to record. I just wanted an eight second, you know, intro theme, if you will.

And then I just went on garage band and I knew in my head what I wanted, and then it took me like two attempts on the piano section of garage band and it turned out fine so I'm actually curious to maybe you can later check that out and tell me how you feel about that. Yeah, but my question was something and this is also something that I've struggled with so I wanted to write music or, you know, make music probably is a better way to say it forever like I don't even remember how long ago I've, you know, first wanted to do that.

The thing that trips me is sometimes I'll, I'll have a tune so I have a few different tunes in my, you know, back pocket that I've just collected over the years where I struggle with is what instruments come in to make that tune. So do you have any thoughts on that or am I going about it the wrong way. So see now, I am, I sent like my primary craft within music is vocals. So my approach is always to think vocally first.

But that doesn't mean everyone should have to think that way. A lot of people go with instruments and melody first and that's totally fine as well. Like because I, I am primarily a singer I always start with that key. It's a Ghana, Ghana chorus, what is the hook or what is the first words, you know, and then the details of the instrumental and the track kind of comes in later. That's what happens most of the time. But to answer your question specifically, there is no one way to do any of this. That's the beauty of the entire process is that there are 100 different ways that works for 100 different artists.

So the key is also to try alternate ways, because sometimes you feel like, Oh, you know, this is what I can do. Only to realize that there was something else entirely that suited you a lot more, but you didn't allow yourself the chance to even try that. So, yeah. And it really sounds like what you're saying is, there should just be earlier you said you use the word limitless and I think it's making sense because I don't need to necessarily or any person doesn't need to be constricted to acoustic guitar tune only, you know, maybe that same tune would sound better in a different way, maybe using piano or something.

So, yeah, and then, you know, with modern day production, the, it's really like the number of kinds of sounds you can use. It's like countless like there is so much, right? Like if you just buy. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. If you garage management is like, of course, a very basic software, but I'm saying even like if you're supposed to go to like a pro level, you know, production tool or DAW as we call it, you buy one pack of VSTs and that's like a whole other universe to work with.

So, you know, everything production wise has evolved so much like in terms of sounds you can just use in your track, you know, it's a lot and it's really beautiful. So, there's a lot to do with it. So, for the uninitiated, can you go over please what DAW and VST stands for? Sorry. So we, oh yeah, sorry. So, we are staying is basically, I actually wouldn't go into the like just broad level what are the things, how do they come in for production.

So, for example, you have a particular song that you are thinking is sounding good, like you said on a guitar. Right. So, when you go on a software, the software is the DAW. Okay, that's the DAW. So, you go on say a logic pro, that's where you are like creating a track for that particular song track means the musical part of it, not the vocal. So, when you are creating that track and say you use a keyboard to just play the melody.

Okay, you can use that same melody and apply tons of different kinds of sounds. It can be an electric piano, it can be an acoustic guitar. So, those sounds are known as VSTs within the production software. So, there are many different soundscapes which are not even real manual instruments. They are created by different kinds of people, you know, and that's why I said like the you know, like you walk by one pack of new VSTs, it's a whole new universe that you can explore because it's like fully new kinds of sounds that a lot of them may not even exist manually or naturally in the universe. Someone has created it, you know, so it's a lot of fun.

So cool. So, to pull it back just a little bit. Maybe you could start with you mentioned some of the best things that have happened have been within the past two years. So, do you mind sharing a quick highlight real of what some of those nice things have been. And then we can go over, maybe how how those things. So, I'm not one of them. Sorry. Yeah, let's see doing the project for Netflix. Definitely. Yes, it's great. But I wouldn't still think of it like as the highlight because on the day, like I've worked with other OTTs as well. And when you are like a professional industry professional, it's like your voice goes to different platforms.

So that's great that it has happened for me. But within the dashboard of Netflix, I was actually invited to a thing where they wanted to celebrate a lot of fellow women creators who had contributed into the success of Netflix. That was a very special day for me because I, you know, like some, it's not a linear journey all these right in this field. Sometimes there are like months go by. And if you are someone who has like I have fed off of this excitement and validation since I was very little right. So I get bored very easily.

So even if things are going fine to me and it's just like really slow, like nothing's really happening right now. And it's not like I'm not, I'm sustaining fine. It's just like nothing crazy. Nothing crazy can keep happening to you. That's just like not how life works. Right. And so that came to me at a time like that when I was feeling really like saturated like things are like not moving forward. So even that little bit of recognition meant a lot to me coming from Netflix directly because going into that entire room full of amazing beautiful women that I have admired for so many so many years like I never imagined that I would see myself standing beside them as an equal, you know, like so quickly I was not some and moreover it's a personal victory because I'm a first generation artist in my family.

It's a huge huge lasting being broken like I'm really like after me, couple of cousins have like now got now going into media and entertainment. So it's a huge personal victory for me that, like, you know, maybe I'm changing a little bit of a mindset here. So that was, yeah, that was definitely highlight number one. The other two would take me a little bit back not really in the last two years but the one more would be the first time I released an original song.

And that song happened very randomly. I was doing a lot of covers on YouTube at the time and it was actually going really well for me. And I think I do remember was this around 2018 ish time 2019. Yeah, I think obviously because of our common friend, I think he used to be really good at share. Yeah, yeah. So I think that's how I was exposed to one of those many covers and I was like, this is legit, like this is as leisure to have anything that I've seen.

So I was doing that a lot at that time, and this particular time I actually went on a trip with a good and a couple of other friends right to the chicage. And I thought, Oh, like, you know, he and I have done a lot of photography video fun projects together. Yeah. So this was a great opportunity for us to shoot some stuff in the mountains. So I thought, you know, why not do a cover there and let's do a travel mashup or something like that back then it was still not so Monday and then, you know, everyone wasn't doing it.

Yes. But then I don't know why I just felt like if we are doing something all the way up there so far away and like whatever, let's just do something original instead of doing another cover and it was a very random idea. And then I sat down with two friends. Someone like that person produced and composed it. One more guy came in and wrote it. I know that anthropologist guys came on board. We made the song. And they're like, what do you want it to be about? Should it be a love song? I was like, yeah, I would like a love song for myself like not really good.

And I wasn't in love with anybody for a long time, so it wasn't a feeling I was able to like kind of relate to like I would just like rather keep it authentic and say what I actually experienced because I feel like otherwise people kind of catch on they can tell if you're not being truthful right. So the song was called asthma. And that song actually ended up changing the trajectory of my entire career because I was doing all of these covers and they were getting a lot of views and traction.

And one original, just like touch so many people in such a personal way, the kind of DMS and message and of course, a lot like that song kind of found its peak in numbers much later, but even the few people that were listening at the time. And the DMS and the messages and the comments just like warm my heart beyond measure they were just like, you know, this made me realize that I can choose myself first and things like that.

A lot of people really in very messed up spirals where they are in unreciprocated, you know, love situations and things like that, where they've come and listen to the song and they have checked like you know made real changes in their lives and I was like, yes, this is the kind of work I want to do like this is, this is real art that can cause someone to stop and be like, Oh my God. What am I doing? You know, like someone, if I can make someone stop and think or if I can make someone stop and just like feel anything, you know, and that's an artist, you know. Yeah, and that too, through something original, not something that somebody else made. So that it was, it meant a lot. That was number two. And one more is this was a little bit even further in the back in the day.

I actually went to like a friend's wedding, very, very close childhood friend of many years. And her grandfather had been, you know, suffering from Alzheimer's for a very long time. And you may know, may or may not know this, but like DaVinci and Alzheimer's patients find a lot of comfort in music. And this is a man who hadn't spoken in several months. Like he was having to be assisted in every single activity of his life. Like the smallest to smallest things you can imagine, like picking up a glass of water to use in the washroom.

And I just went on stage because, you know, I'm a singer. If I'm at a wedding, people will ask me to sing invariably. It's going to happen. So at the Sangeeta, I got up and I just sang Ajit Dasta. And I still remember I got down and he's held my hand and he just went like, "Baha, Chibhah, Chibhah." And everyone was like, "He's speaking. Are you serious?" And I don't know. I don't know, my God, that just stuck with me for so long. I couldn't believe it. Like, I didn't know that there was such power in music, you know, like, and then to render true need becomes even more special, right?

That I sang that and it touched him like that. It was very special. You know, it's rather telling that all three, all three of your examples or, you know, all the three highlights that you referenced, all had to do in some way or the other about the impact of your music and not exactly, you know, stuff like, you know, sometimes they're called just vanity measures like, "Oh, I have these many subscribers, whatever, blah, blah," you know, or that one song. So I think that's really cool in that clearly you have a mission that you're on with this whole musician type of thing, which at least to my uninitiated worldview

was not the most common thing because if I imagined myself as a musician, like, sure, a couple of DMs would be great, but I don't know, maybe I would be more focused on, you know, how many downloads my thing got on Spotify or how many live shows I played at, or how many, what's the biggest crowd I've played for, et cetera. So, yeah, maybe I'm outing myself there, but in a way for you to not go down that path, I think is very, very telling, and I think that's really cool that this is what drives you and not that other stuff, not that there's anything wrong with that other stuff.

Yeah, so I think here what is needed, see, first of all, to survive in this space, it's very important to have a healthy mindset. So when you, when what happens is a lot of people, when they come here to Bombay to become a musician and things like that, there's a huge confusion between fame and success. They are very different, and they don't always go hand in hand. If you are a first generation musician, what is success you need to define it very clearly.

It could simply be able to make a living or not out of your art, because that in itself is a huge huge success, like you have, because understand this, there is no guidance here. It's a constantly evolving, very, very dynamic industry, and you have zero idea how to navigate it. So everything you are doing is trial and error, there is no parent, there is no godfather, godmother telling you what to do. So if you have navigated those very, very turbulent times and reached a point in your life where you can make rent, you can take care of yourself.

If you can send some money back home, then nothing like it. First of all, that needs to be defined what is success. Now, often times with this success, if you are very, very lucky, something clicks for you and fame comes your way. But if you come just for the fame, and let's face it with our current attention spans, fame does not stay every, like for a very long time. You'll become probably viral one day, but how are you going to sustain yourself if you don't have a solid base of your craft.

You're not going to stay in your this industry because that one video, there is someone new and younger doing it better than you two months later. People are going to forget. But if you are good at your craft, you will stick in the industry and you'll keep getting work. That will be your peak, but it's not like you will not survive. So that is very necessary. Like if we keep on looking at numbers while we are creating, especially in Indian music, if you keep doing that, it's very difficult to kind of sustain yourself with a healthy mindset. That's at least my experience. I mean, it's not a one.

And even like I said, there are countless ways to do all of these things. So this is what I have learned from my journey. So, no, that's, I think that's a really helpful call out for anyone that's considering doing this on that same note. Say I have, I think I'm talented. You know, as a musician, I have done some work, you know, I'm practicing and such. I plan to make the move to Mumbai. What, how can I get my first singing gig? Is there a blueprint for that or not really? There is a blueprint for that because the first thing is that a lot of what happens here is really based on network.

So, and there's a lot of gatekeeping to be honest, like people have their own preferred friends and company and they are not always going to be very welcoming of a new person, because again, a lot of us have made it, you know, made a space here with a lot of hard work. And it's very easily could be taken over by just like some newer shiny old person, you know. So there is no blueprint to be very honest, use Instagram, go to, you know, parties go to networking events, talk to people.

But most importantly, before you do all of that, like be very solid at one thing, like jack of all trades master at one, there needs to be one thing you are really good at. So if you are like in music, you write, you produce, you compose. And you see, one of these has to be like really, really solid, something that will be your primary thing to fall back on. So like mine is singing. I do everything else, but like my solid income comes from singing.

So pick one thing that you'll be like really great at so people keep coming back to you for that. And of course, initially find ways to offer your services. I know there's a lot of debate on this particular thing that should you work for exposure, should you work for without payment and of course demand a token amount, but in the initial times when you are building your network and you're building your relationship, there will be moments that you're just probably not going to get money.

And that's okay, you're building certain relationships, you know, you would probably have to think of it as giving away free samples of your product when you're starting a business. How are people supposed to know how good or bad your service or your product is, if they never try it. And why shouldn't they try it? You know, in this, the thing is in situations like this, like if we are hiring a session artist, like someone to come and play the guitar in a studio.

Then we I am already spending hours in the studio where I'm paying the studio a certain rent. Now, if you are not a good guitarist, how am I supposed to take that bet on. So if I'm taking that bet on you, it's easy for me to take that bet. So if you offer to do the first project either at a subsidized rate or for free. I say that once and next time, next time I'll be like, Oh, I want this person. Like, you know, this person was great. Let's get them again.

So certain things in the beginning, I feel like there needs to be certain some openness to understand that, you know, some relationships need to be built in the initial stages. So have a little bit of flexibility. But at the same time, no one to stop and not get exploited. So, yeah, so many, so many helpful call out there. You also mentioned Instagram. So I do want to talk about that just a little bit, because again, it feels like, if again, if I were a good singer, I would probably, you know, be sharing reels and such of me myself singing and, but I guess what happens from there. Can you share anything that you've learned from your, you know, journey of growing on Instagram that has helped you or that would serve well for somebody that's just getting started.

See, Instagram books, very similar to a very typical Indian society to be very honest, the algorithmic preferences are very specific, specifically to a lot of times a very, you know, how do I say this like a very straight jacket expectation of beauty and you know visuals. What is, you know what you would generally find very desirable outside like in general society is what usually also gets pushed very easily on Instagram. So for me personally, I have not found the platform to be that much of a, you know, important tool beyond just being able to be in people and get them to get in touch with like my, my wheels there on my content there has never really like, like that hasn't done as much, especially organically it hasn't done much for me.

And that is my stance it has, there are a lot of people for whom it's been life changing, but I'm being very honest for me it has not been that way. And that's okay like there are different platforms that work for different people different methods work for different people. So, but if somebody were to, you know, be starting on Instagram, I would say at this point, it's very necessary to have a bit of a unique style of content, because like people should have a thought that.

So, like if you see a certain person's a real or whatever piece of content before even really consuming it, it should have that USC that you know this is theirs. So that kind of a recall value or that kind of almost standardization consistency in the style and graphics in the visuals in your aesthetics personal or otherwise, that's very much needed. Otherwise I highly just recommend using the flat like, you know, creating a visually very, you know, appealing feed, which is going to help you kind of broaden your contacts, you know, through through the platform itself.

So like a lot of contacts, like a lot of connections I have built has been through that where I have just commented on somebody's photo or sent a certain response to a story. And it could be something very simple, like a literally like, oh my god, Max related or whatever like you know that though that's literally how I made a lot of friends in the field. It happened very randomly so that way through connections in terms of the ends and all it's been really great for me but like I said, the other aspect like the virality aspect has like me that not worked for me yet so I don't know.

So that's that's still helpful because what you already said about the USB bit that it should be immediately very clear to the viewer what they should be expecting for lack of a better word when they click on a real that I've posted should be there, which I don't think it's there as well right now. So that's already a helpful point in terms of, you know, stuff that I could start doing that covers that gap so to speak. So no that's that's still helpful and yeah as for the virality itself.

I feel like what I have at least experienced is the trick is to just do the thing and then not worry about virality because every creative and that I speak to has shared that it's always a stuff that you have no absolutely no expectation for for doing well. So that does the best, you know, absolutely absolutely. Oh my god. Yeah. And they're like what is the point of me sinking so many hours into this really important episode or thing that nobody cared for.

And then I put out this half ass half big piece of content and people are going crazy about this. Yeah. It's not, you know, even don't even think about it. Yeah, like that. It happens like you know the only thing you can see the only thing we can control from our cell from our side is consistency and the quality. The algorithmic machinery is really like out of our control. What are we supposed to do about it? And that's really nothing. There's nothing like what your friends have said is so accurate because I remember this one time.

The first 2019 monsoon I think that I booked like monsoon of course in Bombay is pretty bad. Right. So this is again that phase of time when I'm doing a lot of covers very, very frequently, like to do very well produced cover videos in a month. And I recall the fact that I actually booked this photography studio. They had a bunch of different backdrops and stuff. So I thought, okay, I'll do three videos within this one studio itself. So I had booked the entire studio for six hours.

The thought was to take two hours for each video. And what happened, I don't know after the second video, I was trying to curl my hair because I don't end up looking the same. So you want to keep doing some differences in your hair to kind of look a little different and you change your clothes and all of that. So I'm doing that and I burnt my finger. And that caused a lot like I lost a whole kind of are trying to tend to that because you know, it comes first you take care of like obviously a burnt finger first.

And by the time I have gotten ready and stood in front of the camera for that last video. We only had 25 minutes in hand. And we went by so fast. And that is my most viewed video so far. 15 or 15 million views on that god damn video. So, you know, like it just boys my blood because I took about three hours, three, four hours with the previous stuff. Not even half of that many people watch those. I would so much effort to look trying to look fly and look good and feel good and all of those things. And I actually had time to like choreograph those little moments and direct the situation better.

But this I literally just stood there was a dummy Mike in front of me. He moved around a bit. I quickly went and changed my clothes. And that's it. We will like, we'll say what to do and I will figure something out. That that was my most most viewed video so far. How frustrating. So you know, you never know with these things like what's going to click what who's going to resonate with like there's no guarantee of any of it.

You said 13 to 15 million. I did not expect when you say it did well. I did not expect you to be chilling in the 10 million North category. So that's news to me. Is that on YouTube, because that that's crazy. Wow. I'm just so you just drop that, you know, just out of nothing. The first 10 days it had reached that, but it took a while to get to 10 million and plus that was a longer journey. But I even I didn't realize like what, what is happening. Why, why is everyone watching this and all the other wonderful things I've done with my life.

I have to go check that out. Yeah, it's been a while since I've been on your channel. I'll be on the lookout for any fingers that look, you know, and then real quick before I let you go here. What are some of your, you know, immediate future plans you have any exciting projects on the horizon or what's it looking like for the next year or two. Anything that you can share, I guess. Yeah, that's a good, that's a good addition. There's a lot of things that I'm not allowed to speak about, but I'm just like focusing, frankly, there was a bit of a break in terms of releasing for me.

After 2021, I had not put out a lot of music for a while. So right now I'm just kind of focusing this year to kind of get back in that game. This year I've already released four songs so far. I want to do at least two or three more. So that is literally the only benchmark I had for myself that this year I have to release seven to eight songs which I have fully written and composed by myself. If I do that it's going to be a huge thing for me because then I can really confidently then go ahead and pitch my work and pitch my writing to other people. And then, eventually, honestly, I really would like to write for films and compose and maybe have some music

of my own like so far I have worked in the films, but like it's more just as a singer. I want to do more as like a songwriter and composer as well. And of course I'm hoping to, you know, like, now I'm also starting to learn a little bit of production. So I'm hoping that that also kind of makes the entire process a lot more fun and exciting. But like, it's honestly just like, you know, do the entirety of my existence now is focused on just doing more of all of this like I'm not aiming for very specific miles or any of that. I just want to write. I just want to release more. I want to sing more. I want to do more gigs. And you know, just be just keep doing all of like music things constantly. Like that is all there is. And of course, reasonably constantly so I can keep like some rest time as well for myself.

But like, of course, yeah, I'm sure the burnout factor there is very, very, very careful. Otherwise it gets like once you if you shut down, it's very difficult to like bake yourself back up. Especially with stuff like art. Yeah. I mean, it's not like you can flick a switch and be running along like an engine. You know, it's like, yeah, comes from within. You need to let it simmer. Yeah, there's. Exactly. There's no specific way always right to do these things. So if your mind is like not well rested. So you will struggle.

You will struggle a lot. Yeah. Yeah. You know, Trishita has somebody that's always really had a big passion for. I don't want to say music. It just sounds kind of flat. But I do kind of have always wanted to, you know, make music like music. Just do things around music. Clearly, I think that ship has sailed in most ways. But, but for those reasons and other reasons that I'm running out of time to mention, it's been so great to, you know, talk to you about all that you do.

Um, you've been so eliminated, especially on aspects such as the songwriting part itself. I had no idea that, you know, the entire feedback that you mentioned the cycle that goes through while making writing every single song is so cool to me, not something considered. And yeah, really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and with you, the very, very best with your with that amazing magical voice that you have. Thank you so much. No one and thank you so much for having me here for this because, you know, we, we come a very long way.

And this is not how I expected us to be connect, but it's been like a lot of fun. And, you know, I'm always up to like share some beyond, you know, with people. So this is a great way to do that. And I guess, finally, I think it would be remiss to not shout out, so guys, any listeners that is interested in photography go check out rippy snapper. He is legitimately one of the best photographers I know in my life. Do you do do that. That brings us to the end of episode 31 of the ready set to podcast. Thank you all for sharing these conversations with those that continue to benefit from them. If you would like to support me, the easiest way to do that is by subscribing to my YouTube channel and or leaving me up to a five star rating on Spotify. Catch you all in the next one new episodes every once.