"Music Is an Extension of One's Strength "

Source: Ronit Sarkar

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1. Tell us about your background and journey?

After having entered the world of independent music as a drummer, singer-songwriter and guitarist, Aarifah aims at exploring every aspect in this industry. Armed with a handful of heartfelt songs and her refreshingly earnest approach to live performance, she wins over any audience who can appreciate good, honest songwriting.

Having played at a host of venues and festivals like Orange Festival, and Control ALT Delete and NH7 (Shillong and Pune), she has also played across cities in India.

Her music has been featured on Ennui. Bomb’s Stupiditties compilation, BalconyTv, Rolling Stone India, Homegrown, TLC, Grazia, Homegrown, MaedinIndia as well as on BuzzFeed.

Her most notable achievements have been led her to collaborate with producer ‘Sandunes’ as a part of Red Bull’s Searching for Sound, playing drums with Madame Gandhi on her India tour and performing for celebrated Grammy Award Winner Yo-Yo Ma on his recent visit to Mumbai as part of an artist residency co-hosted by G5a.

Besides playing the drums for Ladies Compartment and Toycatcher she is currently working on her solo project as ‘aarifah’, along with various videos on YouTube, and homemade audios on Soundcloud to pimp it out on her social media along with hilarious videos on her Instagram showcasing her strength in being human, Nah scratch that, in being herself.

2. When did you first decide, you wanted to pursue music and how did you start?

I didn't decide at any given moment, multiple opportunities kept me going and before I knew it music was the only thing I cared enough about to put in 100%.

I started like any kid would through school and college competitions and after college just trying to stay active in the music industry. Plus peers and mentors in the industry recognizing talent and how much effort I’d put in helped a lot.

3. Is formal training required or one can train oneself purely based on talent?

I learned how to play guitar through youtube videos and being a songwriter who writes most songs with my guitar I think I'm pretty okay. The learning never stops though so I'm glad to keep learning new things with respect to the guitar.

I would also say that learning theory definitely helps, since I have also studied drums up to grade 6, theory definitely helped me. So long story short, studying theory helps, but learning purely out of curiosity and passion develops character and that in the long run is the most important thing.

4. What are the various opportunities available for an aspiring musician?

The options are endless, it all depends on what you're looking to achieve in your music career with the skill set available. This ranges from sound design, sound engineer (studio/live performances), producer, programmer, score design, voice-over artists, commercial music composer, music director, music teacher, instrument technicians, music store staff, music journalists, music photographers, artist managers and labels, performers, ghostwriters, etc etc.

It all depends on what you are interested in. Being a musician is not just playing music. You need to be able to understand how to record, how physics works in relation to sound, how it travels, what sounds good, what sounds bad, whether things feel good or not.

It is understanding how different materials work well together, how different types of wood/strings make a guitar sound/feel different. It's about understanding how other musicians are working to fit in with them and not overpower. There is a place for everyone in the music industry you just need to work at finding out what you're good at.

5. What piece of advice would you like to give to future aspiring artists?

Music is just as difficult, exhausting, and frustrating as any other job, so if you feel frustrated you are never alone. Every single musician from the Beatles to Beyonce gets frustrated.

It will give you a space to share intimately and a community that if you're honest about what you're doing will give you back tenfold. Music is about sharing experiences and stories so that you make people feel like they aren't alone in their respective struggles.

There's a popular quote by Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters that goes “That’s one of the great things about music. You can sing a song to 85,000 people and they’ll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons.”

Have a reason to be singing/making/playing the song that you are. Because if you don't believe in it no one else will.

6. Who is your favorite artist and why?

Nothing But Thieves because they talk about experiences in a very real way. They address as opposed to being coy about hurtful things/stories because music therapy is also a very real thing.

Write a song about a certain grievance and sing it enough of times till that particular hurtful memory gets replaced with strength. That is what Nothing But Thieves is all about.

Ok, Go - They are just fun people with fun music and I truly know each and every one of their songs. The direction in their music videos is phenomenal and they're just geniuses.

- Aarifah Rebello , Musician

- Interviewed by Kedar Lalwani

- Edited by Shilpy Sharan