Sahirah Oshidar spends her time between Bombay and London, stirring up the music scene with her raw emotions, diverse influences, and distinctive sound. There are two sides to her music, one that has a good old pop hook, and other is more hip-hop/grime focused. Sahirah explores the former through her singing and the latter takes stage as Toshiba, her alter ego. Exploring her music further below.
BLENDING GENRES AND PERSONAL INFLUENCES
My sound is very real to who I am as a person. I’ve got a lot of sides to my personality, as we all do. Sound wise, my influences range from a lot of hip-hop, RnB and my newly found love for grime. Essentially if Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Jorja Smith and Stromzy had a collaboration, that’s the sort of music I’d be making.
RANDOM THOUGHTS, HOOKS, AND LATE-NIGHT INSPIRATIONS
It usually starts from a random thought/idea. I then have a hook or line in mind and try to find a beat or chords that emote what I’m trying to say. It’s also a one-go process for me. Once I start writing I need to finish it then and there. Of course there are times I re-write, but I think the best songs I’ve written have come from a late night inspiration and recording in the corner of my bedroom!
BEHIND THE MUSIC
There’s a lot of pain that comes from loving someone when you don’t love yourself fully. Rather Be stems from the idea that you can’t give someone everything you want to give if you can’t give it to yourself first. So the track is about finding that happiness within yourself first, to then
be able to give that best version of yourself to someone else.
BREAKFAST, CRUSHES, AND UNEXPECTED SONG PROGRESSIONS
Juicy is one of my favourite stories. I had a crush on this boy, and I was in Goa at my best friend’s house. She’d made me this amazing french toast for breakfast and I just had this sudden burst of creativity that ended up with the song Juicy – loosely based on an amazing breakfast and a crush. I think with the progression of the track, it’s just something that came with the writing process. It wasn’t planned, all I knew was I wanted to write a pop banger.
COMPARING MUSIC SCENES
I think both London and Mumbai are great in their own ways. The Indian music scene is obviously more Bollywood focused, but I’ve seen such an amazing English indie community growing there so it’s very exciting! London is just so incredibly diverse! Everyone has a place, no matter what your sound is, which I absolutely love. As an independent artist, the challenges are simply to keep going — the hustle is real and you just have to keep moving forward and keep writing. The music will be heard, you just need to put in the effort.
INTRODUCING TOSHIBA
Toshiba was definitely a bit of a statement track. Like I said, the music I listen to is a lot of hip-hop and I’ve always said I want to create music I would sit in the car and listen to. As artists, yes of course you need to identify your sound, but I’d be lying if I said that’s the only music I enjoy and like to write. It was really important to me to show my love for rap and it’s given me a lot of confidence to just keep writing the way that I’m feeling in the moment. Growing up, and even today, everyone tells me that I have a great singing voice and that I should sing more like Adele and slow sad songs. And don’t get me wrong, I definitely will, and do (Not Tonight being the example) because that’s definitely a side to my personality that exists. But I also have another side where I rage to Kanye in my car and Giggs in the shower, so it was important for me to show that side as well. Music is all about being vulnerable, which is what I’m trying to do!
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 08.23