CHENNAI: She’s known for her unique blend of Western pop and traditional Indian music...Vidya Vox, born Vidya Iyer, has become synonymous with musical innovation, and cross-cultural fusion. She has carved out a niche for herself in the global music scene. Born in Chennai, Vidya later moved to the US.
She first gained prominence with her YouTube channel, where her covers of popular songs and traditional Indian music went viral. The artiste, with her latest EP Sundari, gets talking to CE. Excerpts.
How did your musical journey begin?
It began at the age of five with Carnatic music which I learned with my sister. In college, after I met Shankar Tucker, we started collaborating on YouTube for his channel. I would tour with him on the weekends and then I realised music is something that I wanted to do, and here we are. That was a hard decision to make but I haven’t looked back since.
How did growing up in both India and the US influence your musical tastes and style?
Growing up here allowed me to broaden my listening to different genres and musical influences. I draw inspiration from a bit of everything, and it allows me to create my own unique style.
You’ve collaborated with various artistes. Could you tell us about a collaboration that was particularly meaningful or memorable for you?
I’ve honestly loved all my collaborations, the artistes I’ve had the opportunity to work with are some of the best and contribute such a unique flavour to each song. Most recently, in Sundari, working with Rohith Jayaraman was so brilliant because he’s so virtuosic and his style added such a cool layer to Yaazhiha.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your career?
I feel like each phase has one huge challenge — in the beginning, it was proving that I’m here to stay, even as an independent musician who has mainly used social platforms to release my music, and my shows are just as fun! A constant struggle has always been financial stability, and people don’t talk about it enough. Large streaming platforms don’t pay artistes their dues and it’s getting harder and harder to be an artiste.