Artists Interview : Record Pink
Meet Record Pink, the indie-pop duo composed of sisters Siddhi and Saadhyaa. Having lived in India, Germany, and the Netherlands, their unique background provides a rich tapestry for their art. We had a chance to chat about their cross-cultural influences, their creative dynamic as sisters, and what's next for the duo.
Q. Having lived in India, Germany, and the Netherlands, how have these different cultures and environments influenced your sound and storytelling?
A. From these countries, we've picked up certain influences that have been incorporated into our music at times. Being based in Germany, we travel around so much in Europe, exploring different landscapes from mountains to oceans, all of which come back eventually to inspire our music, from lyrics to melodies. Especially for me, living in Amsterdam, I naturally picked up on elements from the energy and buzz that is always there in the city. From India, we utilized unique sounds. For example, you may not have heard it in our track “Glimpses,” but we added harmonium and sitar synthesizers in the background, since we really love their tones, which we think transports us out of reality.
Q. You're known for a lifelong affinity with music, from choirs to orchestras. What was the exact moment or specific reason you decided to shift from performing in groups to forming a duo and sharing your own songs?
A. It all started when we wrote our first single, “Setting Free,” which happened spontaneously after writing our songs separately for a while. This led us to the idea of making and releasing our music together as a duo. Before that, we focused more on the music, but after we started writing our own songs, the focus shifted to creating our own material, which we both found to be much more engaging than simply performing.
Q. As sisters, what's the dynamic like when you're creating music together? Does being family make the collaboration easier or present unique challenges?
A. As sisters, we do have sort of complementary personalities that mesh well together. Of course, while at times having different opinions for certain things does lead to clashes, usually us being siblings makes collaboration easier since we can both communicate easily without any judgments, which certainly helps with making music together. For us, usually, I (Siddhi) bring a more practical approach toward music, focusing on lyrics and melodies first and then following through with the rest of the song, while Saadhyaa dives in with a more expressive way, building off of whatever flows easily first and merging it with other ideas later on. Probably because of our different approaches, our music sounds cohesive at times and also varied at others.
Q. How do you balance your individual creative visions while working on a song? Who typically writes the lyrics, and who focuses on the melody?
A. As of now, one of us writes a song, and then, later, we find ways to collaborate together with our skills, like one of us creates the composition and writes the lyrics, and then another joins in with the melody and lead vocals. Even though it keeps switching between our songs, I (Siddhi) like to focus more on lyrics, while Saadhyaa likes to lead with melody. It's been a great fit for us since we could focus on what we enjoyed more and then create an even better product by combining new ideas. However, now we've started to focus on writing new songs together, which we think has helped and will continue to bring out more varied ideas.
Q. What's the meaning behind the name you've chosen for your duo?
A. Honestly? It was a random name we created by trying to fit words together that we liked. But what's more interesting is that our dog picked our name out for us. We had a couple of ideas for names (about 3 or 4), and so, after days of not being able to make a choice, we wrote them on tiny papers and placed them in front of our dog to choose, and he picked this name. So I guess, Milo (our dog) probably knows best the meaning of our duo name.
Q. Your music is described as infusing lyrics back into the pop and indie genre with a nostalgic twist. Who are some of the artists who have inspired this nostalgic sound?
A. Although we love listening to newer artists, our hearts still also belong to artists who had originally inspired us to perform, like U2, Alanis Morissette, Queen, and more. We, of course, also love listening to pop icons like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Olivia Rodrigo, but we like to focus more on the blend between lyricism and melodies, which often leads us to get inspired in the pop genre by artists from other genres whom we used to listen to while growing up.
Q. The song “My Heart Goes!” recently made it to the top 10 in the Young Songwriter Competition. Can you tell us the story behind that song and what it was like to be recognized on an international stage?
A. The story essentially makes light of the nature of having a hopeless crush on someone without them even knowing you exist. The lyrics sort of kickstarted their own existence after I first thought of the main melody, “and my heart goes da da dum, da da da dum..,” which I thought was pretty fun. Since I wanted it to have a cute and fun rock vibe, I eventually landed on the theme of a crush, since they can be simultaneously juvenile and intense, and it just took off from there. Besides that, it was quite amazing for us to see that this song was selected as a top finalist in a youth international songwriting competition.
Q. You're known for creating "musical landscapes." Could you walk us through your songwriting process, from the initial spark of an idea to the final product?
A. For us, we have no one songwriting process as we often merge different ways together due to our different songwriting styles. While I (Siddhi) dive in with lyrics first most of the time, Saadhyaa chooses to focus first on melodies and stories or emotions, and then we merge together our ideas and collaborate from then on.
Still, the general process is that we first try to identify the theme or story being told with our lyrics or melodies. Then, we work through how we want to convey it through the music (e.g., should it be a grand and energetic sound or quiet and haunting, etc.). Once that's clear, we make a demo at home of how we envision the song to be with all the instruments we'd like to help create our landscape, and send that to either a producer or studio that we plan to work with. After that, it just follows the basic recording process of going to the studio, recording the vocals and instruments, getting the song mixed and mastered, and eventually it's released as the final product. Quite a few steps, but it's worth it in the end to be able to actually hear your song.
Q. You're planning to release two new singles, "Edge of the Ride" and "Into the Light." What can listeners expect from these new songs, and do they share a common theme?
A. Both of these new songs will focus on the themes of adventure, hope, and energy. As we have many new things happening in our lives, these songs bring the emotions of change, but from varied perspectives and through different stories. We can't wait to finish recording and release them, hopefully soon!
Q. Is there a particular song that you feel best represents who you are as a duo right now?
A. Even though we've released a few singles now, I think the song of ours that represents us best would still be our first single, “Setting Free,” as it's all about embarking on a new step in life, which we're currently on: making our own music together. We're still discovering our music style, experimenting with new sounds, and collaborating with new people, which all tie back to the feeling of “Setting Free” and starting to live life with a new purpose.
Q. If you could collaborate with any artist, living or deceased, who would it be and why?
A. Ooh, this is a tough question since there are so many artists who we love that we'd adore to perform with, but if we had to choose, we'd probably pick to collaborate with Taylor Swift, U2, and Queen since we love their unique range of music and lyricism.
Q. What's the most unexpected place you've found inspiration for a song?
A. For our song, “Angel in Disguise,” Saadhyaa (who wrote the lyrics) found inspiration from our dog, Milo. The lyrics encapsulate the feeling of having someone always there by your side, no matter the ups and downs of life, which is all drawn from having a steady pet companion by your side.
Q. You recently performed at a small, intimate event called "Couch Concerts." What was that experience like, and do you prefer small, acoustic settings or larger stages?
A. It was nice performing for new listeners along with other artists on a night dedicated to music from small artists. We loved it! The event was essentially a few artists from a singing school performing as part of a showcase at a local event at a hotel, which gives a stage to smaller artists to perform in a professional setting. For us, it was the perfect stage to reach out to new people, all while getting a chance to perform live. Since we're new artists, we'd prefer small, acoustic settings for now, since we have a chance to connect on a more personal level with the audience. However, I'm sure that as our experience grows, we'd also eventually love to connect with larger crowds on larger stages.
Q. How do you prepare for a live performance, and what do you hope the audience takes away from your show?
A. We practice weeks before a live performance, preparing the songs and getting comfortable with performing them without thinking, in order to have a polished routine that we can follow through. Since there are always nerves at a performance, it helps to have everything practiced out several times. From our shows, we hope that the audience takes away an interest in our music first and foremost, but also a glimpse into the different musical landscapes that we try to create.
Q. What do you find most exciting and most challenging about being independent artists in today's music industry?
A. Since we're living in a time where the music industry is so saturated with new music and talented artists, it gives us a challenge to create more distinct versions of ourselves, pushing us to curate our individuality and who we are as artists to connect with audiences on a stronger level.
Q. Beyond the upcoming singles, what are your long-term goals for the duo? Do you envision a full-length album or an EP in the near future?
A. In the near future, we're thinking of perhaps creating an EP to see how our different sounds can come together to create a more cohesive work. However, since we have also been writing our songs for a while now, we also plan to release music separately under different personas as well. For example, Saadhyaa, who will be going to music college, plans to make songs with a unique sound in the retro/disco pop and jazz or rock genres, while I've (Siddhi) been writing more songs with an acoustic, singer-songwriter, or folk inspired style. Since these genres stray a bit from each other, we thought to release songs we work on together that fit well under Record Pink as a duo and then branch out with new types of music as different artists, or even under different Record Pink personas, but that's for the future to decide.
Q. What has been the most memorable or surprising moment of your musical journey so far?
A. The first time our song was played on the radio was quite a memorable moment, since we felt our music resonating with people on a larger scale for the first time. Hearing “Setting Free” being played in our car on the radio was quite an experience that we'll definitely remember for a long time.
Q. For listeners who are just discovering your music, which song would you recommend they listen to first?
A. For new listeners, we'd recommend listening to “Setting Free,” since it's our first song that we've released, which shows exactly what we're focusing on with this new step in our lives: trying something new by making music together.
Q. What's the biggest lesson you've learned since taking the leap to release your own music at the beginning of the year?
A. The biggest lesson we've learned along the way is that taking the first step is always the scariest, but once you do it doesn't seem so scary anymore. As an artist, it's harder to take the first step than to continue once you've started, since we let it grow bigger in our heads.
Q. As you continue your musical journey, what do you hope to achieve with your songs and your message?
A. We hope that as the years go by and as we write and release more songs that we keep on connecting with new people through our music and taking them on journeys with us through our storytelling.
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