Indie Music Women

Giving a voice to women in the indie-music business

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Featured Artist of the Day: Sawagata Biswas

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Indie Music Women’s Featured Artist of the Day is…

Swagata Biswas (@swagatabiswasmusic)

Born and raised in New York City, and currently living in Seattle, WA, Swagata Biswas is full of love, happiness, tenderness, and contemplation. With her powerful, soulful, and honest voice, she draws in the attention of her audiences with her groove-centered, soul-ingrained music.

At the age of seven, her parents recognized her passion for music and she began her journey with her elementary school choir, Indian classical vocal training, classical piano, and most recently, guitar. From this foundation, she began writing songs and composing music, inspired by her love for Soul, Jazz, Classic Rock, 90’s Rock/Alternative, and Pop and her favorite artists such as Amy Winehouse and Norah Jones.

She has performed live for a range of audiences throughout the U.S.A. and Canada at prestigious venues such as:

  • Rockwood Music Hall (NYC)
  • Pianos NYC
  • Sidewalk Café (NYC)
  • Churchills (Miami, FL)
  • Bourbon Bar at Columbia City Theatre (Seattle, WA)
  • The Royal Room (Seattle, WA)
  • The Chapel (Seattle, WA)
  • Tim’s Tavern (Seattle, WA)
  • Vashon Center for the Arts (Seattle, WA)
  • Metro Toronto Convention Centre
  • New York City Hall
  • Nassau Coliseum

Swagata released her debut single and music video “LENS” in September 2019. She is currently recording brand new music in New York City to be released in 2020.

Swagata shared with me what it means to her personally to be an indie music woman artist:

“To be an indie music woman artist means to embrace who you are as a woman, a person, and a musician. It also means being a role-model and helping women break barriers to achieve their dreams in any field.”

You can hear Swagata’s single, “Lens” on the Indie Music Women Spotify Playlist.

Featured Artist of the Day: Sphie

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Sphie

 

Indie Music Women’s Artist of the Day is…

Sphie (@sphiemusic)

Sphie, is an American singer, songwriter, music producer and visionary. She intertwines an intrepid blend of soul, indie, and pop mixed with operatic undertones. The heart of her songs yearn and breathe an air of hope. Sphie is a pure world experience. Sphie began performing in church, choirs, and public venues at the age of seven. At this time, she also began studying classical piano, opera, and musical theater. In her early adult life, she continued studies in Vocal Performance and Music Business at a private music college in the Twin Cities.

Her upcoming release, “hOMe,” showcases Sphie exclusively as writer, arranger, performer, and producer.

To better understand her true connection to life, Sphie sold most of her possessions in 2007 and set off across the United States on an unstructured journey of the soul. In this quest, she became engrossed in many different communities and found herself among many diverse humans and landscapes that inspired new growth and expression in her music.

Sphie has written, recorded and produced several projects including, “Listen to Pretty Music and Let Your Soul Shine,” and “Limitless Extraordinaire.”

Sphie shared with me what it means to her personally to be an indie music woman artist:

“To me, to be an indie music artist is reflective of the embodiment of my own femininity and power here in this life. I spent decades sifting through the pain, discomfort, rejection, and inferiority associated with this glass ceiling of being a female in the music industry.

I hated feeling dominated and coerced by many men who told me I couldn’t be something without them. Early on, I learned that I could really move mountains by standing up against this and stepping out on my own. Over the years, I have gained more and more independence and autonomy in my own creativity. I now own 100% of my music because of those years of inequality. It forced me to learn a language that women before me were never allowed to speak or learn.

I am now prepping for the release of my first, self-produced, full-length album and it feels liberating.

To me, being an indie music woman artist means that I get to empower other women to be independent, autonomous and embodied in their own power. As a collective, we get to rise up in this power. We get to tip the pendulum of balance in the world back to peace, equilibrium, compassion and love the more we rise up.

I love being a woman and I love being an independent one in a professional music realm. It means I get to connect with my community in so many diverse ways and to compliment the gifts I was given by empowering others to also share their own.”

 

You can hear Sphie’s single, “Hate” on Indie Music Women’s Spotify playlist.

Featured Artist of the Day: Kendall Renee

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Indie Music Women’s Featured Artist of the Day is…

Kendall Renee (@kendallreneemusic)

 

Kendall Renee is a Singer/Songwriter/Recording Artist from Southern California. What some may not know about Kendall is that she was born Anaphylactic (allergic) to 95% of all foods & has a feeding tube in her stomach to get her nutrition. She has almost lost her life several times due to her condition. In spite of this, Kendall has been a well-known advocate for those with disabilities. Kendall uses her music as her mission to inspire others with disabilities & let them know they are never alone. Her debut album “Original” was named in the spirit of letting people know it’s okay to be different. She strongly believes in including EVERYONE, disability or no disability, & she hopes that her music reaches everyone who might be struggling with similar ailments or as she likes to call them “gifts”. She is currently in the studio working hard on her second album and busy playing shows!

 

Kendall shared with me what it means to her personally to be an indie music woman artist:

”To me, being a woman in the music industry in general means strength. You can’t be a woman in this industry without extreme determination & grit in you. You go into every opportunity knowing full well that if it comes down to your song (the music you put your everything into) & a male artist’s song, the odds are always going to be stacked against you. Add being an independent artist on top of that, it’s an easy recipe for exhaustion, however, you have two choices. You can either let it get to you, or you can use it all as inspiration & fuel to work harder, & pour it all into the music you create. At the end of the day, if your heart is in the music you’re making, that’s all that matters. That’s the music that moves people & reaches others, & that’s what it means to me.”

 

You can hear Kendall’s single “Future” on the Indie Music Women’s Spotify playlist.

Featured Artist of the Day: Lily Vakili

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Lily Vakili
Lily Vakili

 

Indie Music Women’s Featured Artist of the Day is…⠀
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Lily Vakili (@lilyvakiliband)⠀
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Genre-transcendent rocker Lily Vakili has had a wild, freewheeling life: “I was born in Honduras during a military coup,” says the New Jersey-based artist, “and my dad had to walk over bloodied soldiers in the hospital to welcome me to the world. He’s always said that set the stage for everything else in my life.”⠀
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Raised in a large family in Honduras, Florida, Puerto Rico, Iowa and Thailand, Lily trained as a dancer and left home at sixteen. Since then, she’s worked as a dancer, actress, summer stage director, choreographer, corn detasseler, night “nurse”, human rights researcher and waitress. She became a lawyer and the mother of three and having raised a son with autism, a fierce advocate for disability rights. Whatever the role, the gig, the job, she’s written songs marking the journey. ⠀
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Lily launched her recording career as a solo artist with Lake City/Next 3 Exits (produced by Bruce Hanson of Fellaheen) and Meadowlands (produced by James Mastro of Ian Hunter and the Rant Band and The Bongos) before forming a full band. The Lily Vakili Band includes lead guitarist Ben St. Jacques; back up vocalist, Cecile Williams, harmonica player, Joel Dorow, and bassist Jim Tyndall and drummer Gordon Kuba. ⠀
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The band’s first album, titled “Oh Alright”, was produced by Ray Ketchem (Magic Door Recording). A second album is in the works, engineered and produced by David Amlen of Sound on Sound Studios. The lead single “She Wants What” dropped in October 2019 to great reviews. ⠀
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Lily shared with me what it means to her to be an indie music woman artist:⠀
“If you’re a woman trying to make your own music your own way – you’re kind of indie by definition. It takes moxie, baby! To me, being an “indie music woman artist” means expressing yourself despite (or in spite of) the pressure to conform to somebody else’s idea of what you should be. It means speaking your mind and being willing to work (hard!) for the right to do it. The rewards are GREAT.“⠀
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You can hear Lily’s single, “She Wants What” on Indie Music Women’s Spotify playlist.

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