Ro Maiti, aka Rohini, grew up on jazz evenings and a self-directed relationship with art that never settled on one medium. That restlessness eventually found its anchor in music, where fifteen-odd years of teaching herself have shaped a sound she now calls her own: pop’s simplicity colliding with jazz scales and alternative treatment, ethereal and modern at once. Her new single, Daytime, released under Nyima Records, marks the start of that next chapter, an early experiment in the digitized sound she’s now building toward. It also marks her first time on a label, after years of making music purely for herself. With Femme Music’s Nyima imprint behind her, an album is on the way, and Ro describes the mood as moody, sad and ready to scream and shout. Here, she talks about her beginnings, the slow bleed of her visual practice into her songwriting and what comes next.
Growing Up With Music
I grew up around a lot of art, performance and music in the house. A lot of jazz was played in the evenings. From a young age, I discovered the joy of creating stuff through exploration and tinkering. I remember early on, I used to get teased for not being able to stick with one medium. I think every new art form was like a magical new toy for my overstimulated child brain. Eventually, when I unlocked this relationship with music and composition, I tried exploring structured learning but to no avail. I’ve always been a self-directed learner, and after 15-odd years, my music has been a champion of that method.
On Finding Her Own Voice
For a long time, I was very selfish with my music. I used to only do it to make me feel good. My journey revealed to me how my art is in a constant dialogue with the world. Each artist I would be drawn to reveal an unlocked part of my voice and music. As I’ve started conversing more with that world, I increasingly find parts of myself lurking in every corner.
Ethereal With The Modern
As a pre-teen and teen, I was listening to a diverse range of music, but I used to mostly enjoy pop in my free time. I eventually found a deeper connection with jazz, RnB, soul and alternative sounds, but I think the foundation of my music still calls to a lot of simplicity and pop song structures which create an interesting friction, but with the more alternative treatment of jazz scales.
On The Making Of Daytime
Daytime feels like the start of a debut chapter! I am excited to grow in this next stage of my practice with the sound I am currently exploring. Daytime definitely was one of my first experiments in how I want my digitized tracks to sound.
On The Headspace Behind The Upcoming Album
I’m so excited to share the album that’s being cooked up right now. Ro Maiti is definitely in the mood to scream and shout [but in a slightly moody and sad way].
Life After Nyima Records
As I shared before, I was very reluctant to give attention to my music beyond the personal agenda it used to serve me. Being with a label has opened up this relationship to the next level. I’m actually able to navigate being a musician with other artists and communally learn and grow together. Femme Music is also doing something extraordinary by trying to set a great precedent for independent artists.
The Feeling She Keeps Returning To
I am an existentialist at heart, so I hope to keep making and performing music that aids people in traversing the world of unnecessary contemplation...
This is an excerpt from the July EZ. For more such stories, read the EZ here.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 21.7.2026
