New Delhi's Sijya: 'I Was Coming From a Place of Being Frustrated with Gatekeeping

Following the release of the singer-producer's debut EP Young Hate' last year, a remixes EP called 'Young Love' is out now via London's Accidental Records

- ANURAG TAGAT

SIJYA GUPTA HAS HAD TO DEAL WITH mother nature quite a bit when she's been booked for outdoor stages in the recent months following her late 2022 debut EP Young Hate. The same month as the release of her spectral, shapeshifting electronic, experimental six-track EP, Sijya performed live at Magnetic Fields Festival in Rajasthan and that was fine.

It was however at the New Delhi leg of SAUCE festival in March that rain jinxed her soundcheck and led to an indoor performance. Ironically, Sijya went into that gig asking for cooling on stage for her laptop since soundcheck was at noon. And then it rained. At the Mumbai edition, the singer-producer was right next to the sea. "There was so much wind blowing, I literally felt like I was going to be blown away. I was completely overtaken by that." Later on, at the next gig on home ground in the capital, Sijya was supporting U.K. electronic-jazz act The Cinematic Orchestra. "During my soundcheck, I set up and there was a sandstorm. I had to pack everything. It's been actually quite stressful," she says over a video chat.