Singer - songwriter Vasuda Sharma's journey has been marked by quantum leaps, from years of training in the Hindustani classical music to her stint with pop-band Aasma and the raw, earthy compositions of Sharma and The Besharams. And then there's Miss V, an alter ego born out of her passion for production, with live-looping mashups of Hindi and English music.
"It's a learning process for me," said Sharma, whose proclivity for experimentation and expanding her horizons belies a deeply philosophical nature. "I'm very philosophical, a firm believer in karma! As a musician, I believe if you ever reach a point where you think your mixing is done or your song is ready - or believe that perfection has been attained - well, that's your downfall! Sometimes, we just have to learn along the way." Making mistakes, she believes, is part of the journey. "You can't wait around thinking, the world will see this when it's perfect."
A Sociology student in Delhi, Sharma made her earliest entry into music through - Aasma, a culmination of the Coke V Popstars 2 talent hunt. After hits like Chandu ke Chacha and Tumse hi Pyaar, the band found themselves inundated with offers to perform. "We travelled the world, it was a lovely time," said Sharma. "Pop music in India began to decline after that and touring didn't leave us with the time to produce an album, so we went our separate ways. Amicably, though. We're all fond of each other as people, we grew and changed together." Neeti Mohan moved into playback singing, Sangeet Haldipur composes for Bollywood with his brother and Jimmy Felix concentrated on live gigs, she explained.
Her own journey, however remained peppered with transformations - when she returned from Berkley, where she studied contemporary writing and production - Sharma wanted a gig at Blue Frog, Mumbai. "I didn't even know musicians in the indie scene who could accompany me," she said. "I bought myself a sampler, made my own songs using my voice as an instrument, with percussion and a guitar and put songs together." It was a revolutionary step back in 2010, but it worked. After the initial surprise wore off, other musicians found they admired her style and approached her. "That's how I got into the scene and formed Sharma and the Besharams," she said.
Sharma and the Besharams grew into an unplugged, earthy sound, a far cry from her experiments after Berkley. Attuned Spirits, a crowdfunded album produced at a time when neither indie nor crowdfunding had the draw they do now, was a massive affair. "I'd roped in about 30 musicians from all over the world," she said. "I didn't want to limit fusion to a tabla and semi classical vocals - I brought in the sax and the guitar and drums and bass for an eclectic mix." Is this the mark of a perfectionist? "No. On the contrary, I think I overdo it sometimes! People listen to Jaagi Jaagi Rehna and say it's brilliant, but I think I could have decluttered the whole thing. But no. I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist because learning doesn't stop."
How does she strike a balance between trends and staying true to herself as an artist? "Anything I do has to be to my liking, really. I can explore an existing idea, but I make it my own." There's her work with VLoopMash, for instances, which produces her videos. "That's more commercial, but my interpretations are my own," she said. She finds her sound in her two indie avatars - Sharma and the Besharams and Miss V. "It's been a huge learning curve, from an acoustic sound to something more electronic. I'm very intrigued by production techniques. Miss V is my alter ego - the kind of music I create as her fills me with energy, it makes me feel like a different person. People think I'm on drugs, but it's the music!"
What: Miss V (Mumbai) + Early set by Dhruv Visvanath
When: May 12, 9 pm onwards
Where: BFlat, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar
