New Delhi Artist Viepsa: ‘I’m Like an Unstable Atom Right Now’

At the time of our interview, Viepsa Arora is just a few days away from her university exams. “I just got done with a lot of work and I’m chilling today,” the New Delhi artist (who goes by her first name) says over the phone.

A psychology major at Delhi University, the singer-producer has been going steady with music the whole time. “It’s been totally hectic but I enjoy it, to be honest. Not just doing college is helping me do college better,” she adds.

It’s only been two years since the release of her debut single “Careless Creature,” but Viepsa has crossed the proving ground as a pop artist, inspired by everyone from Lorde to Frank Ocean to Atoms For Peace. “You know how on TikTok all the stuff that goes viral, like you don’t let them know your next move. A girl is trying to put makeup on her face but she eats it instead. That kind of stuff drives my music,” the artist says with a laugh.

She switched from calming English pop to Hindi, and her cover of “Jashn-E-Bahara” in 2021 (composed by A.R. Rahman for 2008 Bollywood film Jodhaa Akbar) sparkled and garnered hundreds of thousands of streams across platforms. Keeping up the pace and always creating at home and away while on the move, Viepsa kept the covers coming but also offered up singles like “Gayaab,” “Growing Up (Nashe Mein)” and most recently, “Aane Do.”

As it turns out, the songwriting and production process is spontaneous for her. While listening to a song called “Valsa Brasileira” by veteran Brazilian artist Chico Buarque, a melody came to mind. “I randomly put some words to it and it started making sense, and I made this whole song. I let it sit for two months, because I didn’t know what to do with it,” Viepsa says. Looking over the track on digital audio workstation Logic, she added beats as well later on. “It was kind of like a Frankenstein experiment,” she adds.

Viepsa doesn’t think of her latest track, or any of her other releases for that matter, as a benchmark for evolution, necessarily. “I wouldn’t say my music has evolved to sound like ‘Aane Do.’ I think I’m like an unstable atom right now – just going crazy and doing whatever,” the artist says. Fully in control of her music process now, she adds that she previously worked with producers and often found a “communication barrier.” That changed when she collaborated with producer Arjun Sadana (her then boyfriend) but after self-producing “Growing Up (Nashe Mein),” she says things are now exactly how she wants them to be. “It takes longer, but it’s so fulfilling,” she adds.

For “Aane Do,” Viepsa made two versions after speaking with rapper-creator Dev Raiyani, who contributes a crisp verse. The two first began talking when their releases coincided last year – “Growing Up (Nashe Mein)” and Raiyani’s “Wait For Me” – and sent each other their unreleased music late last year. It led to collaborating, something that Raiyani turned around in four days of Viepsa sending him the track. Starting out in Hindi, the rapper’s verse is an impassioned yet confused plea to a partner when they’re on the verge of breaking up.

Viepsa says she really enjoys collaborating with people now. “I have a song coming up with another friend. We’ll hopefully be shooting the music video in June,” the artist adds. It sounds nothing like “Aane Do,” according to her. “It’s like these are different people making songs,” she adds with a laugh.

With more singles and music videos in the works, Viepsa is wrapping things up in time for her to begin a Master’s degree in psychology of music at Sheffield. “I’ll be going there this fall and I’m super excited. I’m trying to finish an EP and we’re probably going to go on tour before that,” she says.

Watch the video for “Aane Do” below. Stream the song here.