WHAT'S NEW ON THE BLOCK

Avanti Nagral, a Bombay-based artist, recently released her debut EP, Double Standards. The EP addresses issues like body image, gender equality, consent, stereotypes and self-love. In conversation with Jason Joshi, she shares about the beginning of her musical career, her creative process and how these experiences have enabled her to identify herself as a global artist.

- Jason Joshi

Q: What is your creative process? Considering your music talks about dismantling societal dogma, has your musical journey had a deliberate direction?

A: My creative process is ironically quite methodical, in the sense that I carve out time for working on creative projects, specific times for craftwork, ideation, editing, storyboarding, writing and the like. I do allow for moments of spontaneity as well, but if an idea strikes I’m always writing it down or recording a voice note and logging it in an organized manner so I can always fall back on it. I believe that much of creativity comes from doing and learning, so it’s about keeping an open mind but also constantly creating. I also believe that collaboration plays a huge role, and love collaborating with different folks on different projects. I’ve always cared about social impact, health and education ever since I was a young child. I recognized pretty early on that I had access to healthcare and education infrastructure in a way that many people in this world did not, and really took on the “with-privilege-comes-responsibility” mantle. And I always knew I wanted to use my voice in its multiple forms - metaphorical and literal.

Q: What sets your music apart? Does it revel in this rebellious, unconventional or unusual nature? Are you not worried about getting type-casted or labelled for choosing such a specific direction?