Conversations with Reewa Rathod

Today we’d like to introduce you to Reewa Rathod.

Hi Reewa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Music has always been such a beautiful part of the world, an almost untouched sanctuary for people to escape to, an ever ready and ever present force in so many lives; and I feel incredibly grateful that I grew up listening to such amazing music because of my parents. Music was like an extra language in our family, one we all spoke. There were more instruments in our house than people. I have always wanted to sing and tell stories through my music. I have been obsessed with music for as long as I can remember and my first human memory was putting my hands on a piano which my dad bought for me when I was three years old. I started learning classical piano at the age of four and I passed all eight grades from the Associated Board Of The Royal Schools Of Music in London with distinction. I have been singing Pop and R&B ever since I remember and have trained in Carnatic and Hindustani Classical music as well. Right from childhood success to me meant waking up and being able to do the things I love, which is sing, play the piano and create music for the soul.

Both my parents are famous singers in India.

As I grew up, I started discovering ways of self-improvement and wrote songs that made me feel good.

I realized more and more that music is what makes me happy. and I’m on a different trip when I create music… There’s nothing like that ‘eureka’ moment of knocking off a song that didn’t exist before!

Currently, I have finished writing my first symphony ‘I BELONG’ and can’t wait to perform it with the philharmonic orchestra.

I’ve worked extremely hard and I always strive for self-improvement. I have always wanted to create my own footprints in the sands of time and not follow the crowd. I feel that genetic & environmental influences do play a role but to reach exceptional levels of ability, deliberate practice is indispensable. Having said that music is a gift, just Like an ocean, like a river the music within me keeps flowing and thats what I’ll keep doing.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The struggle is with myself. I love challenging my limits and want to create anthems for big moments in people’s lives. I don’t want my music to play for a few months and then go away forever and not only that, I want to do incredible things that make a difference too. I think it’s not only about the music you release, it’s about the things you do while you’re making the music. The road to success is never easy. There is a lot of pressure and so many expectations as I come from a musical family. I think I’ve set a very high benchmark for myself so I have to work twice as hard. Just doing as well as you did last time is not good enough!

I am trying to create a new trend through my music and it’s so hard to put yourself out there and make people believe in what you do.

When I first moved to LA, I didn’t know a soul. Had nobody I could depend on and I just had to figure it all out myself. I literally stayed up all night sending mails to music producers and artist managers. There are times when I’ve been depressed and nothing ever worked out, it all seemed so scary. But the drive within me was too strong and I believed in my music. One fine day I received a few mails in my inbox and here I am working on a bunch of cool stuff with top-notch producers, lyricists and recording engineers like Humberto Gatica, Nicholas Neidhardt, Satnam Ramgotra, Roxanne Seeman to name a few.

I do all my work single-handedly and it gets pretty tough sometimes. But all I can do is stay true to my art and keep pushing, keep hoping. There’s still a long way to go but at least I know I came this far on my own merit.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I feel that music is the silence between two notes. At the risk of sounding hopelessly romantic, love is the key element. I really love to experiment with different musical cultures and blend them into one! Having said that.

Breaking down the expectations of each genre isn’t easy… It requires one to be aware and to focus on the FINER nuances of each piece.

My first public performance was when I opened for Bryan Adams where I sang ‘Crossing Limits’.

I wrote this song when I was listening to a lot of afro music and got inspired by a cool backing vocal plugin that I found in logic pro. When I got an opportunity to open for Bryan’s concert, I was ecstatic and overwhelmed. It was indeed a moment of pride.

I’ve recorded several tracks with Dj Ravin for the world-renowned lounge music label – “Buddha Bar’ in Paris.

Their music is an aural pleasure that defies your senses and provides the essential backdrop to today’s lifestyle and culture. Last year my song ‘Love and Desire’ from the Buddha Bar album by Sahale and Ravin got selected in the BUDDHA BAR GREATEST HITS. of all time.

One of my favourite songs that I wrote in 2020 is called ‘Intimity’ from the Buddha Bar album by Rey & Kjavik & Ravin.

My latest track ‘Es Vedra Sunset – Justine Sainte feat Reewa’ is releasing soon. (mid-2021)

Apart from that, I’ve composed a song for a Spanish movie called ‘Rastres De Sandal’ which won the Audience Award at the Montreal World Film Festival.

My debut song ‘Maula – One Above’ from the album Saaya Tere Ishq Ka (STIK) got the Pepsi Music Award for ‘The Best Independent Song of The Year’ in 2019.

The title track of STIK is me being completely vulnerable, a unique mix of English and Hindi and it’s got quite a happy- joyous vibe to it! It has been mixed by Brian Malouf who mixed Michael Jackson’s album ‘BAD’. So that was super exciting for me!

I have recorded an Indo-Spanish single called ‘Saanwal’ which is produced by the maestro Ustaad Zakir Hussain featuring the world-renowned saxophonist Chris Potter.

Recently, I featured in a music video alongside Kenny G where I sang in Chinese. The song is called JASMINE FLOWER which is a traditional Chinese folk song. This was a huge and a very prestigious project ONE WORLD IN BEAUTY presented by YUE SAI KAN -the international fashion icon.

The hour-long event featured some of the biggest names in music, beauty, fashion and entertainment, honoring Estée Lauder, Wendy Yu, Phillip Lim & Lucy Liu. The music video featured artists from all across the globe like Kenny G from USA, Lang Lang who is a world-renowned pianist – China, Eldbjorg Hemsing who is one of the finest and the leading violinists of Norway, the cello-playing prodigy Anna hu – France and Rosey chan -a virtuoso musician from London were all a part of it. I was the only vocalist. I guess that’s something to be proud of, eh?!

Lately, I recorded a song for a Hollywood movie called ‘A 2nd CHANCE’ releasing on 23rd July 2021. The song is called Heart Of Love and is beautifully written by one of the finest lyricists in LA, Roxanne Seeman.

In fact, I am currently working on an album with her in Los Angeles.

My style of music is beyond the limitations of technique in order to create a gestalt of personalized-yet-universal expression. One moves beyond self to the spaciousness of self. One moves beyond singing for the sake of art to singing for the sake of truth. I specialize in complex vocal riffs and runs. I love singing songs that are extremely difficult and challenging. My knowledge about Western and Indian music sets me apart and helps me collaborate with different artists on a deeper level.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
To support, please follow me on: Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.

For collaborations please email me on – reewarathod@gmail.com.

Contact Info:

• Email: reewarathod@gmail.com
• Instagram: reewarathod
• Facebook: @RathodReewa
• Twitter: @RathodReewa
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/8YJGAWaRucY
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CGYAIYmJy9W/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link