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Sumeet • Interviews |
| Sumeet is the most pleasant of
vocal surprises. From the first note, her
strong, smooth voice can send an electrifying
jolt down your spine. In fact, "electrifying"
best describes so much about this unique, young
songstress. She notes Hip-Hop, Reggae, and
artists such as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and
Angie Stone as some of her inspirations, and she
approaches her music with the same down-to-earth
elegance. As much a talented vocal stylist as
she is a singer and songwriter, Sumeet adds her
own vibrant, invigorating flavor to every song;
a touch of sweetness, a dose of spice, a pinch
of old-school funkiness, brought together for
one-of-a-kind melodic expression. |
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- For readers who don't know you, can you just
say a little about yourself?
Hello all, I’m Sumeet, about to drop a double
single to follow up my first single release of
‘Agony’ featuring Elephant Man. I’ve been trying to
work the music scene for as long as I can remember,
and things have finally begun to take off. Music
means everything to me… it starts my day and changes
the way I step, the only thing that makes me truly,
undeniably happy. I’d like to bring a piece of
myself to you through my music, and hopefully make
your head nod!
- What inspired you to become a musician?
The music. Growing up there was such calmness, such
a sense of home for me whenever I would hear music.
The way it felt… it’s hard to describe. I didn’t
know what it was then, it was just a feeling, I
guess. We lived on a little farm on the outskirts of
town and I was the shy, overly-skinny little brown
girl that would just play by myself. I had a little
red transistor radio though, that I listened to
morning and night. Those tunes, boy - I knew every
song they would play.
And then one time my father’s friend left Marvin
Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ album on cassette tape at
our house and it was over. I fell in love with his
voice, the sweet ache in it – although I was too
young then to understand his message – I could feel
something in his sounds. I would lie on the floor in
my bedroom with my tape deck and follow every single
instrument individually through the song – one
instrument at a time – and marvel at how perfectly
they all blended together.
After that I became hungry for such music, got lost
in it, ate up whatever I could find. Those artists I
listened to me inspired me to be a musician. Artists
like Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald,
their music, their sounds were inspiring. I still
turn to such talented artists for inspiration –
artists that believed in their music and created
such beautiful sounds, never to be forgotten.
- You have been called "electrifying", why is
that?
Electrifying! I’ll take it! Everybody hears me
differently, describes me in their own way. I
couldn’t really put a name to my sound - it’s a
unique fusion of hip-hop, funk, r&b, pop, and a
little dancehall – so when it comes to comparisons,
I don’t think I sound like anyone that’s out right
now. I think I sound like me. I feel unique in the
sense that I grew up listening to a lot of different
styles, which in turn influence my sound today. From
Nusrat Fateh to Louis Armstrong to A Tribe Called
Quest – everything factors into making me. So
electrifying to some, smooth to others, I’ll give my
all and let the listeners feel it out.
- Are you currently working on an album? If so,
what kind of songs will be featured on it?
Yes! The album is actually almost done; we’re just
finishing up a couple more songs for it. It’s got
something for everyone, I’m positive! There are
going to be 12 quality tracks on the album, and if
we’re not feeling a track, trust me, it’ll get cut
from the album. There are no fillers on this album,
we are firm believers in good music, in
musicianship, in heart and soul in every song. The
album’s got everything from hip-hop/dancehall
fusions like my first single, ‘Agony’ featuring
Elephant Man to mid-tempo R&B Ballads like ‘Can’t
Wait to See You (I Really Miss Your Style’ featuring
an electric guitar solo by Andre Netto. I got a
chance to work with Grammy nominated engineer, Dave
O’Donnell, on a track called ‘Rush’ that is
positively one of my favorites… there’s so many
tunes I love, every one is a favorite… there are
snippets of them on my website, www.sumeetmusic.com,
for those whose curiosity has been aroused.
- "On", a song featured on your last album
supposedly has a subtle safe-sex message, is that
something that you try to promote through your
music?
Well safety is important… but no, it’s not something
I try to promote exclusively through my music. ‘On’
is a fun tune to me, we didn’t start off to make a
song about that, it just came about, and we had a
great time with it. Some people will get it, some
won’t, it can mean different things to different
people, but in the end it’s a real sexy, fun track.
- What other ways have you used your growing
popularity to educated and promote other causes?
I try to let the music do most of the work. I
want people to listen to some of the older songs
that are so full of heart in comparison to some of
the songs that are out now. Everything’s in the
music, all the answers are there. I try to recommend
songs or tracks that are meaningful, that have
taught me things in Diary entries I write off of my
website, www.sumeetmusic.com. Sometimes I’ll get
emails from listeners who have listened to a track I
might have recommended telling me how dope they
think it is – which is great to me, I’m glad to have
turned someone on to a new artist they haven’t heard
before. It’s especially important for younger folks
who are being raised in this musical era where every
song kind of sounds the same and musicianship is
almost unheard of. Save the Music.
I try not to preach in my entries, but I’ve also
been trying to stress the importance of letting your
voice be heard, or in other words VOTE! This is such
an important year, so much is at stake, the future
is in our hands.
- Do you think we will be seeing more emerging
Indian artists coming from Canada?
Most definitely. I think we will see more emerging
Indian artists altogether… not just from Canada.
Indian sounds are being found everywhere now,
especially after the whole Punjabi MC/Jay Z thing. I
think we’ll be hearing and seeing a lot more Indian
artists in the mainstream as barriers are breaking
down and artists feel they have more of a chance
trying to pursue their dreams. It’s a very popular
thing right now, the Indian scene, but I don’t see
it phasing out because the sounds, the soul of it,
is so beautifully musical, it can’t be denied. Good
music is good music, regardless of what language
it’s in or what sounds are used.
- You also write your own music, how has that
experience been?
It’s great for me – I love to be able to express
myself in such a way. I’ve never been much of a
conversationalist, it seems like the words never
really come out right, but in song it’s so
different:you have time to think about the words you
want to say and find a melody that conveys their
truth. I’ve never been the one to talk about
feelings or what’s troubling me with anyone, but
I’ll open up and bear it all in a song.
I started writing songs when I was very young,
probably around 6 or 7, but at that age there’s not
too much to write about. I had a favorite book
called the Big Book of Russian Fairy Tales and all
the stories were war tales about this fellow named
Ivan. So when I first started writing songs and
performing them for my imaginary audience and my
puppy dog, they were all about this dude named Ivan
who would fight Dragons and dim bright eyes with his
sword and rip out fiery hearts with his hands.
Enough said, my folks were pretty worried when I was
little!
- What kind of message do you try to convey
through your music?
My songs aren’t necessarily on a certain issue, or
have one particular message… they all have lives of
their own with their own story to tell. Overall
though, the message I try to convey is to Save the
Music! Musicianship is all but lost now, beats are
looped, instruments are rarely used, harmonies and
backgrounds seem to be fading with every new song I
hear. Music quality has been going downhill for some
time now – you’ll buy a CD and it’s only got a
couple of good tracks on it, the rest are all
fillers. We’re not having that. Each and every song
means something to me – if it doesn’t work, it won’t
make the cut, that simple. I’m behind every track on
the album – musicianship and quality come first.
Save the Music.
- What are your future plans concerning your
music and life?
Music and life are so intertwined for me one, is
nothing without the other. I will always be making
music – I can’t imagine doing anything else. In the
future, once I’ve become somewhat established, I
hope to set up a label and be able to help other
artists that are struggling to make it in this crazy
industry the way I am now. I’d love to be in a
position where I could help someone follow their
passions, I know how they feel – and I’ve been
really lucky to have met people that have helped me
along the way.
So besides putting out more albums, each one better
than the last, I hope, I’d love to set up a label,
and write songs for other artists in the future.
- What obstacles have you faced in reaching
your goal? How did you deal with them?
Hmmm, where to start. Well first of all, for me, I
needed to get out of my little city, make the move
and really commit to the only thing I could ever see
myself doing. I was about to enter into my last year
of college when I realized that to make it in this
business I would have to work a lot harder and give
it my absolute all. So I left out of school and
moved to California to bring my dreams to life.
Coming from the little town I grew up in and moving
to the big city really opened my eyes to a lot of
things. From shady people who say they’ll help but
are really out to get their own, to labels that said
they’d sign me if only I got breast implants first
-that they would be happy to pay for (yeah, right)
to being broke and not having a place to spend the
night… blah, blah, blah. There are so many things
that people go through when they want something bad
enough, it’s like a rite of passage, but you go on
because you believe in what you’re doing.
I deal with downfalls as they come, sometimes I’ll
cry a little, often I’ll write a song, or get lost
in an old song I love (Donny Hathaway’s voice in
‘Song For You’ always does it) but in the most part
I just try to keep going. I believe things go around
full circle so if you work hard enough it’s bound to
pay off someday.
I learned a lot from my experiences. Most notably I
learned how important it is to surround yourself
with good people that believe in the same things you
believe in, people that are as hungry as you are and
fortunately I’ve been blessed to have found such a
solid team here in NY.
- What advice would you give aspiring artists?
Above all I would tell the aspiring artist to stay
true to themselves and the music they are trying to
make. It’s so easy to get caught up in whatever’s
popular right now. Radios make songs hot by playing
them over and over, until we have no choice but to
like it: we can’t get it out of our heads! But good
songs don’t follow the mainstream. They have their
own life, they don’t need to fit into a pattern.
Look at artists like Prince, or Outkast, or Erykah
Badu – these artists chose not to follow what’s
dictated by radio and other media and their albums
are incredible, track for track.
- In ten years, where do you see yourself and
your music?
In ten years I hope to be playing on the radio all
of the time, I want people to know the words to my
songs; I hope to hear the truck that drives by
bumping to my tunes. I hope to have a full studio
set up of my own where I can keep learning more and
more and work anytime. I want to hear my track
playing through the headphones of some kid on the
train.
- Is there any final message you would like to
tell your fans?
I would like to give my love to everyone who’s been
supporting me, it means so much to me. Thank you
all. It means so much because I’m putting everything
out there, my secrets, my stories, my songs, and I’m
getting love from all of you that are feeling it.
Thank you so much. Much love to Mahiram.com for
taking the time to interview me, thank you. Save the
Music..
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