Vasuda Sharma Launches New Label Song Nest: ‘It’s a Baby That Needs to Be Nurtured’

In what seems like a lifetime ago – 20 years ago – Vasuda Sharma was initiated into the music industry via pop group Aasma, who won the televised music competition Channel [V] Popstars in 2003 and began releasing creative renditions of popular Indian songs. “It was a different kind of stardom… We were actually spoon-fed because it was a pop band, you know? So just creating our own songs was not really in the picture at that point in time,” Sharma recalls over the phone.

From promoting cassettes and CD sales to seeing Bollywood remixes edge out Indian pop and then entering the streaming era, there’s another move that the singer-songwriter has made in the digital age – launch her own label, Song Nest. With two singles out so far – “Sach Hai Na” with singer Nikhil Shetty and “Manwa Bhaagey” – the initial momentum for Song Nest is coming from her own releases, but Sharma says there’s so much more she wants to do. There’s also a collaboration coming up with singer-songwriter Akanksha Sethi. “I want to get individual artists into the picture and releasing their songs. I want to keep that whole sanctity of things when you create music the way you want, in the way you imagine it. I want to keep that very secure in this space,” she adds.

While the idea of launching a label has been on her mind for a while now, Sharma did wonder about the viability of it all. “I feel like a lot of connections that I’ve developed over the years are all going to come in handy,” the artist says. With different personnel all contributing to the running of the label – from marketing to studio engineering and distribution – Sharma says Song Nest is still starting off as a “pure passion project.” One of the focuses that she wants to give new artists working with Song Nest is to make them hone their songwriting skills more than ever. She acknowledges that covers might be here to stay and a key method for emerging artists to build an audience, but feels that new talent gets lost in the mix. Sharma ardently believes that a signature sound doesn’t just arrive overnight and that space to nurture and explore must be given to artists. “I feel when they’re exploring their own sound, it’s good to have that confidence in believing in themselves,” she says.

Watch the video for “Sach Hai Na” ft Nikhil Shetty

Sharma went from being in a pop band that performed all over the country to then getting into indie music with a USP of employing a live-looping set at her performances. It was a “hard phase to get through” in terms of starting solo, but the artist says the pandemic set things back a bit further in terms of putting the onus on musicians to serve just digital audiences whether they liked it or not. “The pressure is always on things like how many numbers you have on Instagram and it’s changed completely. I feel like being a content creator is a more viable career option, than anything else,” she says. Still, the idea of building a community through things like a label is part of the movement that retains the subculture of independent music, according to Sharma. It’s a long road, but she’s there for it, likening it to a baby that has to be nurtured.

While “Sach Hai Na” took its time with vocalist Nikhil Shetty being part of the song, the fusion-leaning, nostalgic tune “Manwa Bhaagey” was intended to be launched via Song Nest all along. The music video sees Sharma reconnect with her childhood home and some of the people who were part of her growing up years, presented with an innocent charm set in the monsoons. Sharma likens the song to be “soothing and calming” in the way some of the songs off her 2013 debut solo album Attuned Spirits were. The artist says, “I feel like I’m coming back to this music after really long. In between, I’ve done a lot of popular songs, singer-songwriter stuff and guitar-based music but also [her band] Sharma & The Besharams, which is more quirky with rock and roll and a bit of metal.”

She’s talking about this because the next song out via Song Nest is “Kataar Mein,” a humorous song from Sharma & The Besharams. It draws from the “never-ending experience” of humans always standing and waiting in queues for different purposes at several points in their lives – from punishments in school to buying tickets to a movie or train travel as an adult, opening bank accounts and even in death. “I feel like even when we die and we go to heaven, or hell, if there is something that exists, I think there’ll be long queues there,” Sharma says with a laugh.

Watch the video for “Manwa Bhaagey” below.