Vipasha Malhotra - Always Believe In Yourself (Singer From India)

Don’t lose yourself in the trends and number of likes, make meaningful timeless music that you believe in and no matter what anyone says, never stop believing in yourself.

1. Tell us more about your background and journey.

As a kid, I was really into music. I’ve been singing ever since I can remember, be it festive gatherings in my society, to the school choir, I would always be up for performing. My mom was my first teacher in music, and her teachings propelled me further in perfecting my singing. My parents used to have an extensive cassette collection of ghazals and Bollywood songs, which we used to listen to over the weekend. So, I think that really got me interested in the different genres of music. 

Coming to my teenage years, I had become very intrigued by western music and the guitar and I started taking guitar classes to write my own songs. 

Still, coming from a middle-class family, there was a lot of apprehension about pursuing music as a career. So, I took a safe bet and got admission to VIPS, IP university, for a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass communication. It wasn’t a compromise because I was equally interested in writing, videography and communications. I got to explore a lot in my college years, my peers would help me make videos for my Youtube Channel and I also started performing at Cafe gigs around the city. 

During this time, I also started performing in Stand-up comedy open mics from where I started building my Musical comedy set. That's when I also started garnering some internet recognition for my funny songs and found out that I was doing something unique.

Right after that, I got offered a 6-month internship at Radio Mirchi, where I started creating content and lending my voice to Radio Jingles. After those 6-months, I took up a copywriting job with an NGO but figured that a typical 9-5 structure wasn’t working out for me. Every day, I felt that the time that I was investing in my job, I could rather be investing it in my skill and get better and build a proper network. So, that’s what I finally did, I quit my job and started doing Voice-overs(jingles) and live performances full time along with keeping active on social media. 

When the pandemic hit, it was a big blow to the music scene in Delhi. That’s when I started creating content for fun, to distract myself from the upsetting daily news. 3 years later, I’m now here collaborating with the exact platform - Meta, where I used to post content for recognition. 

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

Right after my copywriting job, I realized I wanted to pursue music full-time. I started out by reaching out to my network of people to look for voice-over work. For live performances, I built a portfolio and would reach out to talent management agencies that would link up performers with gigs in the city.

3. Who is your favourite artist and why?

It’s hard to pick one favourite artist, I listen to all kinds of music and I have favourites from multiple genres, be it classical music to rap. Shreya Ghoshal, AR Rahman, Justin Bieber, Frank Ocean, Taba Chake, Kendrick Lamar, John Mayer, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Maroon 5 are my top favourites, to name a few.

4. Can you throw some light on opportunities one gets as a singer? 

Nowadays, with the internet, one can create opportunities for themselves. So, the options aren’t as limited as before. Definitely, one can become a playback singer if an opportunity like that comes their way. Another could be, to give their voice to jingles, which again comes under playback, but with ad jingles, there is much more work for singers now. Live performances, commercial gigs, devotional music, all these avenues are also open for singers. I’m sure there are work opportunities that I’m not even aware of at this point because that’s just how much the scene is changing and evolving. Independent music and songwriting is also an option to make your own music and gain recognition.

5. Is format training required or can one train themselves purely based on talent?

There should be an interest in learning even if one is not trained. Good music doesn’t always come with natural talent, a lot of times it comes with skill and years of practice. So, yes one can self-train themselves, but it’s always an added bonus if one also gets the right kind of training, to be able to jam and communicate with other musicians in a collaborative space. 

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

I am one aspiring artist myself, so if I were to say something, it’d be that - Don’t lose yourself in the trends and number of likes, make meaningful timeless music that you believe in and no matter what anyone says, never stop believing in yourself.

- Vipasha Malhotra (Instagram)

- Interviewed by Tushar Mudai