Behind The Scenes Of Our March Cover

At the shoot for our seventh anniversary issue to celebrate some of the best female artists in the Indian alternative music scene, we spoke to our cover artists Monica Dogra, Tipriti Kharbangar, Vasuda Sharma and Anushka Manchanda, and found out some details about their life and music that they’ve never discussed before. Here are a few things that they talked about:

Anushka Manchanda
Mumbai-based vocalist

Manchanda’s first acquaintance with electronic music was when she heard English electronic act Apollo 440’s track “Ain’t Talkin’ ”˜Bout Dub.” The singer is also a big fan of American alt-rock band Mutemath and English electronic band Prodigy. When asked who she would like to work with from the scene in India, she names Delhi-based electronic producer Frame/Frame and Noida-based rock band Hoirong. “And Big City Harmonics. I love them. I am going to call him [Rohan Hastak] and ask him to send me something to record on. Or I could just lift the songs of SoundCloud, record over it and send it back saying “This is the kind of stuff I want to do!””.

Monica Dogra
Singer/songwriter of Mumbai electro rock band Shaa’ir+Func

The powerhouse performer has had quite a few marriage proposals being yelled at her during shows. Dogra says, “I like the whole “Marry me!” vibe.” This is how she usually responds to these proposals she tells us: “But let’s be real: Do you really want to marry me? What if I said yes? And then what are we going to do? I am not easy to live with.”

Dogra is quite particular about her pre-gig rituals. “I have a lot of nimbu [lemons], like 12! I never drink or smoke before gigs. And I stretch and do yoga to warm up. People walk in and see me doing lunges and making weird sounds,” she says.

Tipriti Kharbangar
Vocalist of Shillong blues band Soulmate

Growing up, Tipriti always found her family members listening to or dancing to American singer Aretha Franklin during gatherings. But as she was drawn deeper into the blues, Kharbangar found a soulmate in the late American singer Etta James. “I wish I was there, back when she performed. She just knows me.”

Vasuda Sharma
Mumbai-based vocalist

Vasuda Sharma confesses that she has trouble remembering lyrics when they are written by someone else and has had a few embarrassing moments on stage. “When I do covers, sometimes I just go blank. At times, people in front of me know the lyrics and are listening to what I am singing, and I just jumble up words and say something that doesn’t mean anything!” laughs Sharma, adding, “Then I look at people’s reactions to see if someone noticed.”