Shivam Sharma (Shivoryx) Interview
Q. Your posts reveal a deep connection to adventure, travel, and storytelling. Can you recall a moment from your journeys that unexpectedly changed how you approach filmmaking or singing?
Travel, adventure, and storytelling definitely have a strong connection in my life, but filmmaking and singing are two very different worlds for me.
Earlier, travel was sacred. It was something deeply personal. Today, travel has become a full-time profession where I’m often on the road with my team, creating content and sharing stories with a large audience. Filmmaking, however, has always been my foundation. My journey started when I quit my job in December 2018 and fully stepped into filmmaking in early 2019.
Music, on the other hand, is extremely personal. While travel and filmmaking now feel like work at times, singing remains pure expression for me. I’ve always believed that anything created with honest intention is art.
A turning point was shooting Chaand Baaliyan. Aditya A., the singer-songwriter, saw something in my work and trusted me with his vision. The song went on to become the most searched song globally in 2022. That experience reaffirmed my belief in intention over strategy.
Later, when I wrote my own song with lines like “In vadiyon mein kho gaya hoon, teri khamoshi ko sun raha hoon,” it carried my love for the mountains and silence. My audience connected with that emotion, and my debut song entered Spotify’s Top 50 in India. That moment taught me that authenticity travels further than planning ever can.
Q. With over 32 million streams on your debut song, is there a personal ritual or routine you follow before releasing new work that keeps you grounded?
I don’t follow any ritual or routine at all, and that’s intentional.
I can’t force myself to create art. If I feel like writing at midnight, I wake up, pick up my guitar, and start composing. Art is sacred to me; it’s how I express myself.
I’ve never created music to make it viral. I made my first song simply because I felt like doing it. I don’t plan releases, I don’t chase trends, and I don’t promote music beyond sharing it on my Instagram. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too.
If people relate to it and share it, that’s organic growth, and that’s the only kind I believe in.
Q. Many of your reels capture bold outdoor experiences. If you could film or sing about any place you haven’t yet visited, what location is at the top of your wishlist—and what story would you want to tell there?
Within India, there’s still so much left. I’ve driven Kashmir to Kanyakumari, explored the Northeast by road, but I’ve never been to Odisha or Lakshadweep. Lakshadweep is definitely high on my wishlist.
Internationally, Iceland is a dream.
My stories are always rooted in real experiences. Sometimes I plan, sometimes I don’t, but I never decide the story in advance. I let the place shape it. What I can promise is that wherever I go, my audience will get both information and cinematic storytelling that they can carry with them.
Q. Your audience spans travel, music, and lifestyle. What’s a creative risk you’ve taken in combining these fields that paid off, and one that didn’t go as planned?
Honestly, everything I’ve done has been a risk.
I quit a stable job, left engineering to pursue filmmaking, started a travel company in 2019 that failed, went back to freelancing, built a client base, and then COVID hit. For six months, there was nothing.
That’s when I turned to social media without any plan. I created a travel page, named it Shivoryx—“Shiv” from my name and “Oryx,” an African mountain goat. The skull of the oryx became my logo.
Combining travel, filmmaking, and music was never strategic. It just happened because I wanted to create art. The page eventually grew into one of the top travel creators in India, but it started feeling like a race.
To balance that, I returned to music, because music isn’t a job for me. It’s who I am. Filmmaking is my profession. Music is my soul.
Q. Outside of your creative work, what is a habit or routine that recharges you—no cameras, no music, just you?
Spending time with my family.
No cameras. No music. Just being home in the Himalayas, eating home-cooked food, doing absolutely nothing. That’s my detox.
Whenever work feels overwhelming, I remind myself why I’m doing all of this—to come back home, to my roots, my culture, my people. That silence and simplicity recharge me more than anything else.
Q. What do your adventures teach you about solitude and self-discovery, especially during moments away from the stage or screen?
The mountains force you into solitude, especially when there’s no network for days, sometimes weeks.
I’ve spent nearly 23 days disconnected at high altitudes. That silence makes you reflect deeply on life. That’s where real self-discovery happens.
Nature teaches you how small you are, yet how deeply connected you are to everything around you. That connection—to nature, to existence—is something I carry back into my work and my life.
Q. You’ve collaborated with brands and explored the outdoors through both lens and lyric. What’s a piece of feedback or challenge that made you rethink your approach?
A recurring piece of feedback I’ve received, from both collaborators and followers, is that my work feels honest and unpolished in the best way. It made me realize that people value truth over perfection.
That pushed me to become even more selective with brand collaborations and content decisions. I learned that protecting authenticity is more important than scaling fast.
Q. If your life were a song, what would its title and feel be,and where would you want people to listen to it?
The answer already exists in my first song: “In vadiyon mein kho gaya hoon, teri khamoshi ko sun raha hoon.”
That’s my life.
I feel most alive when I’m alone in the mountains, surrounded by silence. I wouldn’t want people to listen to my song on random platforms. I want them to hear it sitting somewhere high in the Himalayas, feeling the wind, the stillness, and their connection to this planet and universe.
Q. You’re constantly moving between places and professions. Is there an ordinary item you always pack, and has it ever inspired a creative breakthrough?
I’m constantly surrounded by technology, I love it. Cameras, headphones, speakers, gaming devices, laptops, they travel with me everywhere.
But if I had to pick something ordinary, it would be my headphones.
They create a bubble, whether I’m on the road, in the mountains, or sitting alone at night. Many ideas, lyrics, and visual concepts have been born simply while listening, observing, and disconnecting from the noise around me.
Bio:
Shivam Sharma, professionally known as Shivoryx, is an Indian filmmaker, travel storyteller, and independent musician. He quit his corporate career in 2018 to pursue filmmaking and went on to direct multiple viral music projects, including Chaand Baaliyan, the most searched song globally in 2022. His debut original song entered Spotify’s Top 50 in India, amassing over 32 million streams. Known for cinematic travel storytelling and deeply personal music, Shivam continues to explore the intersection of art, nature, and self-expression.
Interviewed by: Divya Darshni
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