“This is just the appetizer”: Naisha is one of India’s hottest new artists and her debut EP 911, is the proof
Indian artist Naisha is starting as she means to go on with her bold, bright and beautiful debut EP, 911 featuring Skrillex and Ty Dolla $ign.
If you aren’t already familiar with Indian artist Naisha, chances are you’re about to be. The songwriter, producer and former student at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute is bursting onto the scene with her debut EP 911.
Her upbringing was inherently musical, with her father and mother, who was a singer, filling her home with the sounds of Pakistani artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Bob Marley alike. Following a string of single releases since 2024, Naisha is culminating her musical dexterity and influences in her new project.
After a chance encounter with DJ and producer Skrillex in London, a creative partnership was born, most recently coming to fruition on the EP’s production and track CONTRABAND, the hero release from 911.
The drama synonymous with the “chaos around her” not-so-subtly informs Naisha’s sound and visuals elsewhere on the EP, including track so then featuring Ty Dolla $ign. “My family is dramatic. My friends are dramatic. My country is dramatic in the best way possible,” she says. The colors are vivid and theatrics are unapologetic, reminiscent of a Bollywood epic, making Naisha’s world truly immersive. With the artist confirming this EP is “just the appetizer”, you can expect even bigger and better from her next act.
Ahead of her debut project, the artist joined EE72 to detail her early musical influences and the urgency around releasing the EP…
[I’m inspired by] the chaos around me. My family is dramatic. My friends are dramatic. My country is dramatic in the best way possible.
NAISHA
Talk us through your journey into music. When did you know this is what you wanted to do?
Music has always been part of my life. My mama used to sing on the radio in India when she was younger, and my grandmother made sure I learned about Hindustani classical music. When I was a little kid, someone put this crazy interview on my iPod with R. D. Burman, Gulzar and Asha Bhosle, who are legends in the music industry. They were talking about how they made their songs. To this day, I don’t know who put it there, but I was so obsessed. I listened to it over and over, so intrigued by the writing, production and the thought and sound behind every song. Looking back, I think that was the moment I fell in love with making music, and not just listening to it. Even when I took detours into modelling and film school, I always found my way back to music. One night during Covid, I downloaded Logic because I just wanted to create. I taught myself to produce, and everything since then has happened pretty organically.
Who were some of your earliest musical influences?
Most of my early musical taste literally came from my parents. My mom was always playing Whitney Houston, Fantasia Barrino, Asha Bhosle, Grace Jones, Bob Marley and the Wailers, ABBA and so much more around the house. My dad loved Qawwali, so I grew up hearing Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Guru Dutt and Geeta Dutt all the time. That was just normal life for me… Even if I didn’t love a song, there was always something I connected with: a melody, a drum pattern, a lyric, a production choice. I’m influenced more by curiosity and life than by any one artist or genre. I just genuinely love music, wherever it’s from.
If you could describe your sound in three words, what would they be?
I’d probably say curious, shapeshifting and honest. And if you’ll let me sneak in a fourth, cinematic. Even before I make music, I see it. I think very visually, so that always finds its way into any song I make. I never want to be confined to one genre or one emotion. Some of my songs are playful, some are heartbreaking, some barely fit into a category at all. Every record starts with my curiosity and ends up wherever it’s supposed to go. The only thing I hope stays the same is that it always feels honest.
Congratulations on your debut EP! How are you feeling about the world hearing the project for the first time?
I’m really excited, but more than anything I’m excited for it to finally exist outside of me. I have lived with these songs for so long that I almost don’t hear them the way everyone else will anymore. It took a while to find my real vision and the right people who believed in it with me. There was a lot of trial and error to get here. Every melody, every snare, every little detail was something I obsessed over. It’s all honest and intentional from start to finish. Now it finally belongs to everyone else too.
Can you explain the inspiration behind the EP’s title, 911?
For me, 911 is more of a feeling than an emergency number. It took me a long time to get here. Like many people, I have been through a lot to finally get to a place where I can release music that feels like me. By the time this project was finished, getting it out felt like a matter of life or death. I couldn’t keep it inside anymore. Even though 911 is American, it has become a symbol that people everywhere understand. I have always felt like a child of the world, so it felt right to take something so globally recognised and make it personal.
@naishabhargabi
It took me a long time to get here. Like many people, I have been through a lot to finally get to a place where I can release music that feels like me. By the time this project was finished, getting it out felt like a matter of life or death. I couldn’t keep it inside anymore.
NAISHA
Skrillex is your long-time collaborator and features on the EP. Ty Dolla $ign also features on a track. Talk to us about the EP’s collaborative nature and how those tracks came to life.
Skrillex is one of the executive producers on the EP alongside Dilip Venkatesh and me. More than that, they are family to me. They also happen to be some of the most talented people I know, and we’re constantly learning from each other. Then we all go out into the world, sometimes alone or together, and come back with something new to share. Sonny and Dilip and I are always making music, hanging out and experimenting. It never feels like work. We genuinely love creating together. I have been on a lot of Sonny’s music, and he has been part of almost everything I have made too. Ty Dolla $ign was the same. He came by the studio with Poo Bear to hang. It was maybe 2 AM, and I was working on so then. He jumped on it because the energy felt right and we were having fun. That’s honestly how I make music. It’s not about releases or features. It’s creating something first.
Bollywood has had an influence on your visuals. Which Bollywood films, in particular, influenced this EP, and why?
I love a lot of Bollywood films, but to be honest, the biggest visual influence is just the people around me and the way I grew up. I grew up around celebration, big emotions and a ridiculous amount of people because; you know the tea about our population. My family is dramatic. My friends are dramatic. My country is dramatic in the best way possible. We thrive in chaos. Every single person is the main character. We fight and make up in the same breath. We are completely unhinged, and I say that with so much love.
What’s the biggest lesson this EP has taught you?
That it’s never too late for anything creative, not to rush things that matter and being chalant and deep about every little detail is forever hot.
What do you want listeners to feel after listening to the EP?
Hungry. This project is just the beginning. I want them to know more is coming, and this is just the appetizer from my side. So, they should get their plates ready for what I’m about to serve next.
You pushed your EP’s release back by two weeks out of respect for India’s recent protests. Talk us through that decision.
It came from my heart, and it was spontaneous. I’m only able to do what I do because I had the privilege of an education. Watching young people peacefully stand up for what they believed in and seeing the pain and violence around that really affected me. Releasing music didn’t feel important at that moment. I just wanted to be present with my people, even if I was physically far away. I know what it feels like for opportunities to be harder to access depending on where you’re from. Everyone deserves to have their voice heard and their rights protected. India will always be a democracy because that’s written into the very first words of our Constitution. Young people asking for change and a better future isn’t going against the country. They’re doing it because they love it, and I am them.
Just throw the EP on with your people because I made it with mine
NAISHA
What’s something everyone should know about Naisha?
Just throw the EP on with your people because I made it with mine. Dance a little. Laugh a little. Call someone you love. Life moves way too fast, so I’m not expecting anyone to know me. But if there’s one thing I hope you take away from the project, I hope it makes you feel a little dreamy, a little unhinged, a little intergalactic, and reminds you that life’s supposed to be fun.
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