Actor-singer-songwriter Kavya Trehan better known as Kavya, is a multi-hyphenate star who pursues everything that inspires her. The talented Delhiite gets a kick out of playing singer, songwriter, model and actor. Kavya creates an unprecedented sound that is a mix of R&B, indie pop and electronic music, experimental, lo fi.

After releasing an EP with her band Mosko, Kavya  started working on her solo project and released two singles ‘Golden’ and ‘Underscore’ Anyone that has seen her perform can say that  her artistic expressions go way beyond singing. Her lyrics are based on real-life events and deep emotions accompanied by a handful of fun and imagination. Case in point would be her music video for ‘Underscore’.

Ahead of her Lollapalooza India debut, performing for the third time at Vh1 Supersonic this year, singer Kavya talks about her new album, collaboration and sharing stage space with Indian artists like Divine, Imagine Dragons, to CKay and Anna Marie.

Can you just tell us something about yourself?

I think and I truly believe in the fact that you grow into the name that you have. We're so lucky in India to have these names that mean something. So Kavya means poetry. So I write poetry and my music is electronic, it's emotional. It's core is in singer-songwriter, acoustic. But it has a lot of synthesis, live looping and I think it's more about experiencing my music versus what I can say. I'm so bad at describing my music.

Tell us something about your musical background and how did you start singing?

Unfortunately, I don't come from a long lineage of musical family, but I have a I have a very gifted mother and singer. So I guess when I was very young like when I was 14 I started singing. My lullabies were ABBA and George Michael and my sister would sing songs to me. I went to a school that really encouraged the extracurricular and the beauty of being creative. And so there was no looking back when I said yes on my first open mic. I just started playing. I allowed the collaborators to teach me things from production of how to behave in a studio, what does DTS mean? And I'm just a self-taught musician. I don't want to stop.

So what were your school days like?

I was fortunate enough to go to a school called Mirambika, where we were given the freedom to explore what we really like doing. So I picked up music early on. When I turned fourteen, I went for an open mic gig. When the floor was open for anyone to perform, I went up and played the guitar. Back then I only knew four or five chords on the guitar. But that’s when I realised that this is what I want to do. I got a call to play at  Ragasthan Music Festival in 2013, and made last minute decisions to collaborate with a brilliant guitarist whom I’d never met, Moses Koul and there’s been no looking back since. That’s how it started, it was never a big dream of mine. Things just fell into place organically, and I was inspired by the musicians around me. And they were kind enough to join the band. 

So you had a band called Mosko. Can you share something on the band?

So I was about 17 years when I started Mosko with Moses Koul and the music was really based on exerting your youth energy and collaborating with people. The idea of Mosko came up with our initials, the feel of the word and of course the logo. It was Moses and Kavya, so Mosko. We played  garage, hip hop, rap music with Japanese anime influences. Unfortunately right now Mosko is not currently functioning. It's in a hiatus because all of the members of Mosko are doing some phenomenal things with their own solo projects. You never know Mosko will come back and do something together as a reunion performance. Now I perform as a soloist.

Did you continue with your academics?

Yes I did continue. I am a psychologist. There's nothing in music about that. I just don't practice because I need to study further, but that's my background.

So until which level?

I did my Bachelors in Psychology from Lady Shiram College Delhi. I was going to do my Masters PhD, but I decided to pursue music.

So now you perform as a soloist. So you had played in London sometime back, a few years ago. So could you just tell us something about the experience and how is it different from India?

Sure. I actually got invited to play at South by Southwest Festival, which is in Austin and then London. I've always wanted to see an Indian name on a roster in an international lineup and just feel so lucky that I got to be that person and I got to share my music beyond the geographical boundaries of India and travel with what I love the most.

Do you play any musical instrument?

I play the drums, the Carnatic violin, the guitar, the keys. I synthesize too and I do live looping.

What do you think of Indian Independent artists in India?

I think independent artists of India are one of the most courageous, brave, outstanding, overly talented people. It's been a very difficult time during the pandemic to come back. We've all had to start again. We've all had to face financial cuts in our performances because, you know, even festivals were a little scared. Where will people come? Will they not come? What is the comfort level but very ruthless bunch of people? We have no mercy for our thirst to make music our luster of continuing, being creative. I hope that tomorrow brands will start investing in us more. I hope tomorrow there will be more labels interested in us and I hope that tomorrow's India is about forming an infrastructural industry for musicians, independent musicians, because we stand our ground and we're amazing.

So what are the projects you're working on presently?

So the current projects that I'm working on are developing an audio visual project of mine because I'm collaborating with my sister and her partner Sanchit. So visuals, designing lights, because I want to have my music to be experienced versus just heard or watched. I love cinema and I have a lot of storytelling in my music and I want to see how I can imbibe that in my performances and I'm writing a big body of work and hopefully be able to release a few this year and a few next year. I have a single coming out with a visualiser that I did with Collective Unconscious and directed by Taha Ismail in London.

So have you released an album by any chance?

I've released an EP. It's called ‘Know me Better’. I've released a lot of singles, a lot of collaborations. ‘Know me Better’ was with a collaboration, a visual collaboration with my sister Khyati and her partner Sanchit. They are a power duo and they were able to teach me that there could be a visual leg to my audio performance. Now it's going to be a few collaborations with both domestic and international artists, and I'm currently working on my debut album, so that's a lot.

Talking of international artists, which artists have you decided to collaborate with?

There's Gabriel Gifford, Kushy, ediT and a lot more collaborations too. I have also done collaborations with Indian artists like Dualist Inquiry (Zero Hour, Opaque), ediT (Bleedin’ Out).

You also did a film in 2015 ‘Kaash’ (If Only). Tell us something about it?

I am a theatre baby, so before pursuing music I was part of National School of Drama when I was eight years old. Through that and the grapevine and always doing plays in school and college, I started auditioning for projects in 2014 and then I got a call from Ishaan Nair, he sounded like one of kind human beings I’ve spoken to. I was the last person to audition for the role of Khushali and I got it. Krushali is a Gujarati sweet girl. I think it was the bug that bit me and then I realised that I love acting, I love playing out and imagining experiences that are not my own, because there is so much learning from that. Since that first time I have done various other projects for Amazon Prime, Lions gate Play and a few more projects that are releasing soon as my acting side of things.

So you're sort of model, actor, musician…

I'm a very confusing person. I like to do everything.

What's the best you like about all these things?

What I like about all these things is that they all contribute to one another. Being an actor helps me create a character on stage when I'm performing my music, Being a model helps me understand how I want to represent myself visually, how I want to enhance the characters that I'm playing on stage. Because I'm not trying to look pretty, I'm trying to feel strong and a lot of that comes from fashion, a lot of that comes from the various things that I indulge.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira