Banking on Holistic Sense of Music – Siddhant Mishra

Siddhant Mishra is an Indian Indie-pop singer-songwriter and music producer, known for his heartfelt and conversational songwriting and intimate vocals. His songwriting generally stems from honest feelings and emotions he feels in life, painting a deep, yet simple picture for his listeners to relate to.

Anatomy of the Genre

I draw inspirations from Coldplay, John Mayer, Pink Floyd. So preferably I’d try to play my songs to them after describing a particular feeling that the song talks about. Once a listener is in that zone, they’d love the song.

Tell us something about your latest single.

If you were in a dream, where you get the chance to spend time with someone you have always dreamt of being with, and you know this might be the only chance you have to tell them what you feel, how would the conversation go? “Aao Na” is a song that describes the desire to be with or talk to someone we can possibly only dream of being with. A song about the hope that the dream could turn into reality someday or a wish that the dream never ends.

According to you, what does it take to earn the acclaimed badge of “Established Artist”?

Contrary to popular belief, I firmly feel being “established” has got more to do with emotional connect than with numbers. If as an artist, you can make your listeners feel and emote better, and put them at ease, and they have something meaningful that they can take away from your music, then you have established yourself as an artist for that listener. Of course, on a commercial aspect, there is the number of listeners that feel this way for an artist, but that comes later in my opinion. Quality comes first.

An artist’s Best Friend is? 

Empathy. As an artist, it is very important to really feel what you’re writing about. To be able to do so, you need to be able to empathise. Also, after this, taking the right decisions in all the parts of the process of making a song, be it composing, producing, or performing the track, even post production for that matter, being able to retain the most basic core emotion of the song, is very very important.

What was the first ever instrument/equipment you played?

As a kid, I was learning Hindustani Classical Vocals, and during those days, I used to play the harmonium. I then went on to nag my parents to buy me a keyboard, which I learnt by the ear. The more I played, the more it inspired me to get better as a player, and also built my curiosity towards other instruments like the Guitar, which I learnt a lot later. Also the bass.

An Ode to the Roots

More than my place of origin, I feel it’s the influence of all the places I have lived in. As a kid, I learnt Hindustani classical in my hometown. Then I joined a spiritually inclined school, where I was introduced to devotional music like bhajans. Then in my college I was part of a prog rock and heavy metal band. I then quit my job and moved to Mumbai, where I started working as a music producer in Bollywood and also the south film industry. Hence, all these experiences have helped me shape a holistic sense of music.

How are the psychological rewards in this career you have chosen? 

It may sound cheesy, but the psychological rewards make me way more content than the commercial ones. When you receive messages from strangers, who tell you that your music made them smile, cry, laugh, or forget their pain, or feel anything in any form, it is really endearing and empowering.

An artist whose music according to you is attracting international attention which is going to propel the industry’s growth. 

I honestly feel the Indie scene in India is going to garner a lot of international recognition soon. Prateek Kuhad, Taba Chake, etc are definitely on top of that list.

If we speak to you again exactly this date 5 years from now, How different are all the above answers going to be?

None of these will probably change, except that I would have more insights to share on my stage shows. My influences, inspirations, aspirations will mostly remain exactly the same. 

If we speak to you again exactly this date 5 years from now, your answer to which question would remain unchanged?

All the questions that are about how I feel about music, and being a musician, will have the same answers as now.

Well, thank you once again for spending time with us, giving us valuable insight into your career. We wish you all the very best of luck in your endeavors. See you soon at a Concert.

Thank you 🙂