Alisha Batth, is an artist who stands outside given labels and constrains, by saying “I do not associate with labels any more, I prefer not to be categorised. I like to be recognised as ‘queer’. I’ve had people refer to me as; She, He, and Them and personally I don’t care…” Leaning on the maudlin yet forthcoming, her music is subsumed within an emotionally thriving (and volatile) atmosphere, made of voice, guitar and sometimes a lot of grunge. It’s beautiful, because it’s real!
“Coming out is a deeply personal experience, and given the emotional difficulty of announcing your sexuality to your loved ones for the first time…” begins to speak of Alisha Batth and identity - confronting her world, via lyrics, voice and music. Currently living in Mumbai, she studied at the Berklee College Of Music, moving to Paris for a bit to study photography. Her return to India saw a slew of collaborations and new singles, live concerts and a brief appearance on Coke Studio. Alisha Batth represents a new vanguard of talent from India, navigating the personal, the queer and the changing times. “I accepted my sexuality when I was sixteen years old, this was right after I passed out of my senior year. Although I must confess it was always apparent, I just wasn’t aware of the right vocabulary to articulate it…” she states in a recent interview with Grazia.com. We spoke to Alisha recently about her influences, empowering queer talent in India and future plans!
What lead you towards music initially?Alisha: Music has always had a strong influence on me as a person. Starting young, I chose violin as my instrument, until I realised I could sing as well, is when I picked up the guitar.
Mumbai created that space for me when I was just starting out. Artists like Ani DiFranco, Patti Smith, Nick Cave to name a few, have really inspired my work. Growing up, having queer icons really helped me stand on my own, be open and out… In many ways, music has helped me figure out a lot about who I am and what I care about...
Alisha: I’m not sure I’ve faced very many challenges as a queer artist. Personally, the challenges have been to create a space, the environment.. that I can truly call my own, thrive in and create the music I want to.
What according to you could be done to empower non-binary artists of India?
Alisha: I feel as long as someone is comfortable in their skin, is in the right environment that supports their growth, having the guts to speak out, is enough. As music is essentially an expression of what we live through. If someone has a nourishing environment, they are bound to flourish.
What's next? Tell us about your upcoming music? What motivates you?
Alisha: Next is a live EP that I’ve been planning on releasing. I’ve recorded a lot of demos, much music, at home during the lockdown; I’m excited to see how I can put that out. I released a strong of singles last year; there might be one more coming in the October… I’d love to be working with a record label, considering I’ve only independently released music so far… As for motivation, it comes through dreaming about what I’d like … I prefer spending a lot of my time in nature, the last few months… an amazing source of inspiration always!
