Dabbling with genres

Nadisha Sagar can be called a ‘child of music’. It seems like this young artiste was given notes to play with, rather than toys, when she was a kid.

Music, she recalls, has always resonated around her. Her father played the bass guitar in a rock band called ‘Future Shock’ when he was in college and met her mother at one of his gigs. “So, I have always been surrounded by music. I would learn to play classical piano at school and hear my dad blasting ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ by ‘Rainbow’ at home.”

Nadisha was only in the 10th standard when she composed her first album as part of her school project.

Though it had only six songs, she got a peek into the hard work and passion it took to make music.

She went on to pursue her Bachelors in Hotel Management from Christ University and came across the opportunity to teach the piano “just to make a little money on the side”. Post this stint, she realised that she wanted to turn her passion into her career.

She adds, “As mainstream as it may sound, the genre of pop music on the whole excites me — Indie pop and RnB in particular. Artistes such as Norah Jones, Ella Eyre, Bon Iver, ‘The Staves’ and ‘Scorpions’ have been a few major influences for me. I also sing the surfaces of jazz and RnB and try not to limit myself to one genre.” 

Nadisha was also a student of Kodaikanal International School where she completed her eight grades of ABRSM in piano and has been teaching piano and vocals at ‘Taaqademy’ for over two years now.

She has also received a great response for her recordings on her Soundcloud page. An active artiste in the industry, she says that the current music scene in Bengaluru is diverse and vibrant as “tremendously talented local musicians” have taken the stage by storm
although many international acts also perform in the City.

“The local venues offer a platform not only for aspiring new artistes but also for those who are more established in the industry. These places also expose the City to different genres.” 

She has performed at many places around town but considers her first performance at a flea market as one of her most memorable ones as it made her realise that there was nothing that made her as happy as performing in front of an audience.

Currently, she is collaborating on a few projects and has some original compositions that she is perfecting and will record soon. Ask her what she would do if she wasn’t a musician and she quips, “I would be at home in Kodaikanal, drinking coffee and singing to my cat.”