Little things in life matter for singer Amira Gill

Music, Amira Gill says, is a gift of god to her, and she forayed into this realm, learning tabla and Kathak at six but moved to singing a few years later.
Singer-songwriter and a certified neurological music therapist, Amira Gill
Singer-songwriter and a certified neurological music therapist, Amira Gill

Singer-songwriter and a certified neurological music therapist, Amira Gill has come up with Black Coffee, a soulful and calming number that reminds people to enjoy the small, seemingly insignificant activities of daily life. 

​The song's video features her friends from all over the world, and is as heartwarming as the lyrics. 

“One day, during the lockdown, I was feeling really low when my friend Jason (songwriter Jason Sibi-Okumu) called me up from Los Angeles. I told him how life was becoming overwhelming and confusing. Inspired by what I was feeling, he wrote this song and sent it to me. I immediately fell in love with it and we decided to bring it up,” says Gill. 

Born to a Punjabi Sikh family in Delhi, Gill is a first generation singer. Music, she says, is a gift of god to her, and she forayed into this realm, learning tabla and Kathak at six but moved to singing a few years later.

“I was 11 when I got my first music system and began listening to Beyonce, Alicia Keys, JoJo, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Jordyn Sparks and Leona Lewis, and slowly began training my vocal muscles,” she says. Gill started her professional music journey at 15, while studying at The Shri Ram School Aravali (Gurugram) as the lead vocalist of The Incredible Mindfunk, a genrebreaking indie band. As her love for music grew, she moved to Boston (USA) to learn music at the Berklee College of Music.

“I was very young when I started performing professionally with an all-male band (The Incredible Mindfunk) in bars and clubs late at night. Most parents would not be comfortable with that but mine were very supportive, and would show up for almost every performance, full of pride. They supported me even when I wanted to go to Boston, instead of being fearful that I did not have 'a safety net' of an academic degree to fall back on if music as a career did not work out. They trusted me and my decisions.” 

Berklee exposed her to incredible global sounds, and also brought her in touch with her true self, she says, adding, “Since I wanted to learn music therapy, I had to learn guitar, piano and percussion. I realised what music therapy can do to dif ferently abled chi ldren, olde r adults and those in psychiatric wards in hospitals. I am still in touch with professors; they are still a resource for me when I need their expertise.” 

Gill even credits her alma mater for exposing her to India's rich musical and cultural heritage.

“The world of Carnatic music fascinated me so much that I enrolled under Chandana Bala Kalyan to learn it,” says the singer who has performed with the aces in the field such as Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan, Vijay Prakash, Raghu Dixit and bands like Indian Ocean. 

In August last year, while completing her music therapy internship at the UCLA Children's Hospital in California, Gill also travelled to Uganda and Kenya (as part of the community music therapy organisation Umoja Global) to undertake music therapy sessions fo r the underprivileged.

Role models:

Inspired by Beyonce, Lianne La Havas, SanamMarvi, Reshma, Silvia Perez Cruz, Rosalia, Umm Kulthoum, Fairouz, my teacher Chandana Bala Kalyan, and TM Krishna

Other interests:

Reading, running and cycling

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