As a child, Shachi always sang as a hobby and never got herself enrolled in any kind of training. She was busy going for debate competitions, painting, and sometimes singing competitions, in her school days in Gwalior. “I thought my calling was forensic sciences since I am a very curious person,” she says and went to Mumbai to pursue studies in the same. Her first-ever performance in college was in one of the fests, where she sang “Luka Chuppi”, as an ode to her mother who had passed away a few months ago. “The response I got was unbelievable. That was probably the time I started realizing that my calling probably wasn’t forensics!”
For her EP Mann Tarang, Lo-fi and Chill Step were Shachi’s main inspirations. She wanted the songs to have a bit of both and have Synth-Pop from the 70s to be the highlight of a few since it is making its way back in the music scene today. “I was highly inspired by Joji and The Dream for the EP. When I want just to listen to music, I usually go to Bonobo, The Local Train, Ankur Tiwari, Anuv Jain, and the likes” says Shachi.
On having to work on her first EP this year, Shachi says “The biggest hurdle was definitely the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19, as the entire EP was produced during that period. I didn’t have high-quality equipment, so I had to find my way around it and manage with whatever was on hand”. This being her first-ever foray in original music, the first song “KAREEB” took the most amount of time, as she didn’t quite know the process and had to learn & adapt quickly. “However, the writing and ideating part and then getting feedback when all is done, those two have to be my favorite in the whole process.”
Everything she has done for “Mann Tarang” has been a fun learning experience, with great insights into the realm of making and producing music. Shachi says “I must point out the best ones though. Firstly, piecing together parts to create a roughly mixed track, and then going about having professional mix and mastering done. Secondly, the entire process was quite exhausting, especially mentally, given all the coordinating with many people for various parts.”
As for how the lockdown has influenced her, Shachi tells that having so much time on hand has definitely made her explore way more music and expand her taste and understanding. She’s quite excited to have discovered a plethora of new, interesting artists. “I’ve also gotten to explore and know more about artists whom I vaguely knew about, and that has helped me to better understand & find my voice/style. There are quite a few songs in the pipeline and I’ll be releasing my next single very soon, which is a very upbeat song and I’m really looking forward to how you all receive it!”
You can listen to the EP here.
Music by Shachi Pathak.
Album art and cover photo by Aditya Damle.
Curated by Rahul Singh Manral.
