Sahana Naresh
Sahana Naresh is an Indie singer/songwriter traveling between Seattle and Chennai, pursuing her dual passion of soulful Indie music and classical Hindustani vocals.
Congrats on winning the MTV India/VH1 contest! Can you tell us more about it?
The pandemic has been hard on all of us – and according to an MTV Youth Study 2021, youth chose music 44% of the times when under stress in 2020, compared to 20% in 2018-19.
As it is truly said, 'Where words fail, music speaks.’
So, on World Music Day (June 2020), MTV India, VH1 India and MTV Beats created a contest for anyone to submit an entry for music that “lifts them up” – and my video of Milky Hands was chosen as the winner!
Did you always wanted to be a musician? Tell us about your journey...
My dad Naresh is a Carnatic Veena player, and my uncles Ramesh and Suresh were behind the pioneering 70s Indian rock band Human Bondage. My cousin Keshav, a talented artist who is my producer was also a huge influence on me. Born into a family of musicians, my sister and I grew up viewing the world through the lens of music and we were no strangers to impromptu music - singing sessions with guitar, ukulele and percussion at home and attending lots of concerts! My sister and I are trained Bharatnatyam dancers.
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I have a graduate degree in Psychology and Organization Behavior, and I moved to Seattle a decade ago. While I was there and working a full-time job, I (re)discovered Hindustani music. When I started learning Hindustani music from my teacher Vidushi Smt. Aditi Upadhya, I truly felt like I found my calling and decided to devote all my time to it. I travelled between Seattle (where my husband was working) and India spending months in India so I could get face time with my teacher. And it has been an absolutely wonderful experience – it has now been 7 years since I committed to music full-time, and I am so glad I did it!
What is the genre you specialize in?
Milky Hands falls under the Indie-folk and Singer-Songwriter genre.
My influences while writing music are artists such as The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and Phoenix who have energetic sound and versatile vocals - ranging from impressive falsettos to effortless laid-back singing.
I also love musicians such as Feist for her whimsical, free spirited music, Norah Jones for her elegance and soulfulness, and Jack Johnson for his meaningful music, percussive style, and his ability to foster a sense of togetherness while giving back to the community.
What kind of influence does Hindustani music have in your singing?
Being classically trained, I bring technical rigor and an understanding of vocal nuances to the songs. I feel that I can create unique texture in my songs which is the result of intricate layering of my favorite instruments and vocal harmonies.
My teacher Vidushi. Smt. Aditi Upadhya and my teacher’s father Pt. Dinkar Kaikini's music has influenced and shaped my musical aesthetic very deeply. Right from focusing on the importance of taal (rhythmic cycle), swar (musical notes) and chandh (the way words sit on and flow with a rhythmic cycle) I have learned to hone and bring finesse to my craft.
You play the ukulele in ‘Milky Hands’. When did you learn that? What other instruments do you play?
My uncle Suresh is a fabulous guitarist and I remember my teenage years with my sister where we would watch him practice and play for hours on end. He taught us to play many of the songs by The Beatles.
In Seattle, I took guitar lessons and picked up the ukulele on a whim during my visit to Hawaii. Since my guitar knowledge was transferable, I had fun learning to play the ukulele on my own.
How did ‘Milky Hands’ come about? Any interesting story behind it? How is the response?
The day my daughter was born, I was in a lot of pain but her beautiful face when she entered this world is still etched in my head. The love I have for her only grows each day, even when I went through the most challenging times in my life - physical pain recovering from childbirth, postpartum depression, and sleep-deprivation. A week or two after I gave birth, I was so overcome with love that, one afternoon, the song just came to me in a flash. Luckily, I had a note pad and pen next to my bedside and I managed to jot down the lyrics and record the idea on the phone!
Facing motherhood was quite a challenge, and I took it head-on. And just as I was finding my rhythm and developing some order in all the chaos, this little thing called The Pandemic happened! Between running a makeshift studio in my apartment, recording songs while planes flew above our building (never rent on the approach path to an airport if you are a musician), coordinating across different time zones with my cousin (also my producer) in Germany, and entertaining my daughter, it has all been part of the exciting (and wonderfully exhausting) journey of making this single and EP.
Sometimes these came together in the form of a happy accident, like when one day my daughter burst into the room babbling loudly while I was in the midst of recording my album. And that vocal outburst went on to become the beginning and end of Milky Hands aka my daughter's debut performance!
The response to the song has been heartwarming to me – I have so many friends and strangers who told me how it made them feel warm and fuzzy listening to the song and the video. And for me, that is the greatest compliment, knowing that I was able to evoke these emotions through my music!
Having grown up in Chennai and having lived in Seattle for a considerable time, what are the influences of each city on your music?
Most of my songs tend to have a laid-back, beachy, summer vibe. That comes from growing up in Chennai. The beach is my happy place – we traveled to Hawaii as much as we could while we were in Seattle. Chennai’s classical Indian music scene has also had a big influence on my music.
The other side of my music is evoking strong emotions and creating meaning – which is a very Seattle feeling for me. I have listened to some great funk and indie bands in Seattle that have inspired me to write my own music. Also, since it rained a lot in Seattle, I spent a lot of my time indoors, writing music and playing the guitar .
Urban Music Farm
This was one of my first real gigs early on in my music journey. I was working full-time and while I still had some time on my hands, I was frustrated with not finding like-minded people who wanted to make music with me.
That's when I discovered "Urban Music Farm", a community of recreational musicians in Seattle who were driven, who wanted to hone their craft and play good music. I signed up to participate in their Women of Rock Series and covered artists like Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, Sinead O’Connor and Tracy Chapman.
We met only once a week but managed to challenge ourselves and perform at the end of 2 months. We were lucky enough to perform at the iconic Jewelbox Theater in Seattle. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life and I am so grateful for it because it became clear to me that my heart belonged to performing and making music.
How do you think motherhood has changed you as a person?
I did not know that I had the ability to love someone so much and that was a huge surprise for me.
I have had my share of challenges as a mom, but motherhood overall has been incredibly rewarding!
I feel like I have learned to enjoy the little things in life, see the world through a happiness and curiosity filter and re-awaken my goofy side that adulting sort of suppressed.
I know that I have become a kinder person as a result of being a mom.
They say it takes a village to raise a child and in my opinion, it takes an army to support a mom trying to pursue her career . My army consisting of Dheepak (my husband), my parents and his parents have helped me every step of the way as I recorded this album. We moved back to India for this and I am so grateful each day for the love our families have provided .
Dheepak has co-parented beautifully and given me the time, space and energy to make music.
I also want to thank my cousin and producer Keshav for being my inspiration! He has been a pillar of support and encouraged me to write my own music. Without him, Milky Hands and the upcoming album “Shore out of Reach” would not have happened !
What are your future plans?
I have my second single “The Only Constant is Change” releasing on July 2nd and my EP “Shore out of Reach” releases end of July.
I am also performing a few Indian classical music concerts online over the next few months and have a few fusion music collaborations in the pipeline!
Finally, what’s your favourite mommie moment?
I have to say my favorite mom moment, which thankfully recurs each day is snuggling in bed when Tara wakes up each morning. She greets me with the most heart-melting variations of “Hi Mamma, I love you!”!
We play a little game called “Baby bear what do you see/like/eat etc?”, where I ask her a question about her favorite things in life and we have a meaningful fun chat about that.
I look forward to this each day with an eagerness that I can’t describe and cannot thank my stars that this little angel chose me to be her mom!
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