Shriya Rao makes her debut with “Tell Me”, Zarir’s Artist X makes foray as a “one-stop-shop” boutique creative management company

Mumbai, 15^th October 2021: Zarir has been donning many hats for years, he has recently announced his new project Artist X. Artist X had released debut single by Shriya Rao titled ‘Tell me’ about 6 weeks ago. She’s fifteen years old & going full speed ahead & I can’t wait for you to listen to her work. The next few artists that they are looking to get on board range from 13 years old to 25 years old.

We took some time out from Zarir and Shriya to know more about Artist X and the work of Shriya, here are the excerpts:

What is Artist X and what does it look achieve?

Zarir: Those of you who know me, know just how passionate I am about all things music-related. I am lucky enough to be the front-man of ONEmpire which is something I work hard at and cherish everyday! In addition to that, through this lockdown, I started a solo project under the artist name WARDEN, which has gathered momentum more than I expected & is something I am enjoying so much! That’s me as an artist.

It was time to launch a new project that I have spent a couple of years trying to put together called “Artist X”. Being a relatively unknown artist in India, barring a few wonderful people who are always ready to stand by you & support you, it’s extremely difficult let alone to get yourself out there. It’s even harder to get the right guidance and assistance from a creative point of view to work with good people and create a good product to put out into the world. We all know how difficult it is to be anybody in the music industry today with no guarantees of anything ever clicking, but what we can do, is work hard to create a good product & give ourselves every opportunity to be heard & to be successful.

Artist X is aiming to do exactly that with today’s younger generation. Artist X can best be defined as a “one-stop-shop” boutique creative management company dealing with everything to help you create that right end product as an artist. From hand-picked producers based on various parts of the world to an in-house social media team to videographers, to artists for branding and artwork to photographers and everything else related to this process. The idea is to help today’s younger generation save some time & energy in going out & looking for the right team to work with themselves & to support & guide them through this entire experience & process whilst ensuring that they themselves are the final decision makers on everything related to their music!

Who is Shriya Rao? Tell us a bit about yourself

Shriya: Hi! I am a 15-year-old who eats, sleeps and breathes music. I have been singing ever since I was 7 years old, and started performing on stage by the age of 11. I have performed at various venues based in Mumbai, India such as The NCPA, The Royal Opera House, and St. Andrews auditorium.

When did you realize that music is your calling? Tell us a bit about your work so far

Shriya: On my seventh birthday, the movie frozen was released and I became obsessed with the song “let it go” from that movie itself. I would sing it day in and day out. That was when I knew I loved singing. More recently, I have been composing original songs. I have released one of them called, “Tell Me”, which is available on all streaming platforms, and I am working on several others!

Watch the video song here:

What’s your theory on music and musicians in general, for them to be successful, from your own journey?

Zarir: As a growing musician, the hustle involves cold-calling, cold-emailing, planned “coincidental” bumping into people just to get something you have created heard by them. It’s exciting and nerve-wracking all at once. I have always said that I don’t believe (and have never claimed to be) I am the best at what I do, but what I also always say is “a good song is a good song”. It doesn’t matter who writes it, which part of the world they come from, and most importantly, “what sound or trend it follows”. Why? Because a good song is a good song. For the hundreds and thousands of “music industry” people out there who claim that for your song to be “good” and “work” and be “given a chance” and even just be heard, it needs to be “current” and not sound “old school” from a production point of view. Apparently, no matter how good or bad the song might make you feel as a listener, that’s just not what people are looking for. I feel Adele has said a big f*** you in that regard by creating one of the most beautiful songs I have heard off late, with a beautiful melody and minimal instrumentation and overall production. After all, a good song is a good song because it’s just a good song. And hey, this is my personal opinion, no one has to agree, so don’t get too worked up if you don’t! This is something I believe in and I like to propagate as my own personal theory for being successful musician.

What is that you are looking to create in the world of music? The sonic identity, the message, the reach

Shriya: I am looking to find my identity. Music has always been my way of expressing myself and how I feel. I am finding myself through music.

What do you think makes a successful musician?

Shriya: I think talent makes a successful musician. You could be ridiculously wealthy, and not have any talent and not make it anywhere. However, it’s the talent that gets you to a certain level of popularity. All the musicians I literally WORSHIP are incredibly talented, and unique such as Ariana Grande, Charlie Puth, and Jacob Collier.  In my opinion, that’s what made them so successful.

Tell us about your association with Artist X and Zarir

Zarir Warden, with Artist X, has helped me achieve all my goals. He encouraged me to start writing my original songs, rather than just sing covers, as he recognized my potential. He helped me get my song and music video produced too! He’s been incredibly approachable and supportive throughout this journey.

Its interesting to see how Zarir’s experience as a musician himself is coming at fore to help budding musicians’ grow. At the same time, its even more interesting to discover artists like Shriya Rao. Shriya is definitely one of the artists to look forward to and we will surely keep a tab on her work coming in the future! Check out her latest song “Tell Me”, available on all streaming platforms!