1. Thank you very much for your time! Before we introduce your new release to our readers – what kind of drink would you recommend to sip on while they listen to your new music?
Dark & Stormy.
2. Please give us an update about – new single, new album, tour dates, new videos?!
I released my newest single You’ll Never Know, produced by Grammy and Juno winning Akeel Henry. We shot our music video in India. I will be on tour this fall across Canada and then India. I’ll be dropping my full EP Exposed this summer.
3. We live in times of many conspiracy theories. Which, harmless, theory would you wish were true? (For example Dinos living inside Earth or E.T. living in a home in California)
Aliens walk among us.
4. What fashion style or brand would best describe your music?
Tribal rootsy fashion.
5. Tell us more about your songs! Topics! Message!?
“You’ll Never Know” revolves around the trauma of domestic violence, and the liberation that comes from healing. Neela wrote this song during quarantine, working alongside 5x Grammy-nominated Akeel Henry (John Legend, Mary J. Blige) and Kofo (John Legend and WizKid) on the production. “I wanted to transform this hurt and turn it into music. I realized when writing that, even if the other person will never know the harm they’ve caused, it is my job to do the healing and grow stronger for myself.”
6. Beside music, do you have any special talents?
Through digital fabrication and design, I make 3-dimensional mandalas. I’m also trained in Classical Indian dance, and I love acting.
7. Name 5 things we all should know about you as an artist?!
My roots come from North India, I am based in Toronto and Vancouver, I feel the most comfortable on stage performing, I am the most raw and vulnerable in my latest EP Exposed, and I love cooking and I can cook a hearty curry dish.
8. How did you learn to sing/ to write/ to play??
I started as a kid, began improvising a lot, at my family gatherings I was forced by my parents to sing and perform for them. It soon became my passion and I took classes in India and Canada for vocal training
9. A question you’d like to answer, but never been asked in an interview before?! + Answer pls
Where do you feel most at home?
Surrounded by nature and the ones I love. In temples, meditating, and in eating mangos I’m reminded of India.
Instagram: @neelamusic
Single Artwork: Purusha Anokhei