Indian Artist Izora on Sowing Seeds in Los Angeles: ‘You Need to Hustle the Hardest’

Even before she went to study at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, singer-songwriter Izora aka Shreya Jaswal was collaborating with artists from around the world, except it was remote. With her recent single “Goodbye,” she worked in a studio in L.A. for the first time, with producer Jorge Blanco Leal. “Having that experience of my opinions being heard within those [studio] walls, it’s been amazing,” she says over a video call.

Starting out at the age of 16 with songs like “Midnight” and “Feel Better,” Izora went on to release dark pop songs like “Die Inside” and put out “Goodbye” – a confident farewell to a toxic relationship – in August 2023. While she’s presently back in India, the artist intends to make her way back to Los Angeles soon. After all, it was her home for two years when she was pursuing an associate’s degree in vocal performance, scoring gigs and just generally enjoying the music community in one of the world’s best-known music hubs. “Everyone is a musician. So you’re surrounded by musicians constantly and that’s your circle. Those are mostly the people you hang out with,” she says.

Connections are pretty much key in L.A., as Izora learned as soon as she landed in the U.S. and while she warmed up slowly to be more enterprising, she was also “trying not to overthink anything.” She adds, “Obviously in L.A., the market is absolutely saturated. That’s horrible in some ways, but it’s also amazing in ways that you can get more attention for being yourself.” Was she expected to have an Indianness to her sound because of where she was from? Izora says, “I would say no. It depends on how you present yourself. Of course, people do sometimes tell me to do it [use Indian music influences], because it would be better for marketing. But I’ll do it if I feel passionate about it. I don’t want to exploit my own culture.”

More than anything, Izora found like-minded friends like never before during her time there. She says, “For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged somewhere.” As someone who moved around India very often in her years growing up in India, Izora says she never had a core friend group and found it hard to relate to those around her. “Every time I told someone that I wanted to be a musician, even if it was kids my age, they will be like, ‘What does that even mean? Are you kidding?’ I was kind of made fun of, at certain points. And it was unrealistic. This is the first time that I went somewhere, and everyone else was like me in some ways,” the artist adds.

Beyond the sense of community and of course, the glamorous stereotypes of L.A., Izora says one “needs to hustle the hardest” to make it as a musician. “There are a lot more people struggling than there are successful ones,” she adds. It’s a challenge she’s more than ready to take on. “It gives me so much more opportunity to be better and make myself better,” Izora says.