Vasuda Sharma, singer-songwriter from Bhiwani, then Delhi-Berkeley-Mumbai. This is a tale of girl-next-door who transforms into a songster, stop. Rather, this is the true story of an intelligent girl, who had an unusual life, a gifted voice, and got where she is with the same earnestness that reflects in her eyes when she sings in that melodious Enya-like voice of hers, transporting us to a world where magic is possible and surrealism is for real.
All this from the teensy Vasuda Sharma whom you might recollect from the oh-so-delightfully-childhood band Aasma back in 2003 formed by Channel V, which gave us the danceable antakshari number “Chandu ke Chacha”. Now, with the recent mash-up of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” and “Oye Oye”, Vasuda validated that pop stars come in all flavours pop, even ironically so. If you thought Daft Punk was anything but dreamy, take a look here. Vasuda with her fairy like tresses can pump it up for fun, while her calm melodious voice is like a gush of fresh wind in the underground music scene of Delhi.
She launched her debut album recently, crowd-funding its production via Wishberry, titled Attuned Spirits. It’s a collaborative album with artists from all over the indie landscape including Jordan, Palestine, Turkey, Canada, USA, Croatia, Egypt, Israel and India. She intends on resisting temptations and staying an independent musician while formerly she had wished to give the civil services exam while growing up, “I think my mindset changed after coming back from Berkeley. I just had this vision that I would like to do what I want to do. At the end of the day, there’ll be people who speak good things about it or speak bad things about it. But if you don’t do what your heart tells you… I mean it’s your life; it’s your thing you know. So I decided this is the direction that I wanted to go in. It doesn’t pay me right away, but if I’m true to it and I keep going, that’s the independent way I’ve chosen, and I would obviously aim at being better at my craft and not bigger so that’s something I keep reminding myself and that’s how I do it.”
Vasuda remembers the journey from her first small performance in Gurgaon to being a regular in the gig circuit. “I’ve been doing live looping since 2010. That was the time where I was inside my house for two-three months figuring this thing out because it was extremely new. No one was really doing it in India so I didn’t know what was going to come out of it. I’m not a beat boxer but whatever I could try with my voice like harmonies or Indian percussions and stuff… So I made this small one-woman band where I create the music myself and sing on top of it.” Her first break was in blueFROG, Mumbai where she participated in a singer-songwriter night with the loop station, which went very well because people saw something fresh. “I mean you see a lot of things online and YouTube but if someone does it in India, obviously it was a big deal then.” Vasuda modestly justifies.
Presently living in Mumbai for the past decade, Vasuda has come a long way since Palash Sen had to talk to her mother about letting her participate in Channel {V} Popstars to now coming into her own, and guaranteeing her it would not affect her studies, Vasuda being the prodigal daughter so to speak. First album out and doing well, it is only a way forward from now on.
To know more about our Artist-in-Focus watch this TVSoundTree Exclusive and click here for her melodic song “Never Lose Heart”.
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