In February 2013, musician-dancer Bhavana Reddy made it to the headlines for her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of performing at the Grammy Awards after-party. Before the event, she said that the one person she was looking forward to meeting was Fiona Apple. Now, 10 months later, Bhavana is celebrating her collaboration with John Would, the engineer of Apple’s Grammy-nominated album Idler Wheel.
“The Grammy after-party was a turning point in my profession as a singer-songwriter. It gave me a lot of exposure and a great experience of what was expected of me. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose too much about the party and I wasn’t allowed to click photos. But I met a lot of producers and engineers in the room where I performed tracks from my upcoming EP Tangled in Emotion,” the artiste recounts excitedly.
On meeting and collaborating with John Would, she says, “I met John in May 2013, at his studio called Stanley Recordings which is in Echo Park. We hit it off instantly and he loved my music. The vibe at his studio, with the mood lighting, incense and cool instruments, is just awesome. He is a very calm, quiet, non-interfering person. He let me be myself and I felt at ease while working with him.”
Currently based in Los Angeles, after training at the Musicians Institute there, Bhavana is a well-known name in the live music scene. Although simply defined as indie-rock, her music is a complex confluence of Indian Carnatic aesthetics with the cathartic effects of rock and jazz. Kuchipudi is also a significant part of the life of the daughter and principal disciple of world-renowned dancing couple Dr S. Raja and Radha Reddy. She proudly dons this persona, which is an embodiment of grace and strength, in the pictures for her latest album.
Her self-produced EP Tangled In Emotion is set to release in February 2014, and Bhavana chose the path that most musicians and artistes take today – crowdfunding – to bring out her album.
“I launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.com much like other big and small artistes across the world, such as Zack Brath, Amanda Palmer and various indie artists out there. My goal was $7,000 for recording, studio, musician fees, mixing and mastering of the songs, pressing the CDs and legal fees. Within a month of the campaign, I had raised $8,000, which was higher than my goal itself. It was a wonderful experience and I was happy to see the kind of support out there,” she shares.
With the CDs pressed and ready for release, the grateful singer is busy sending out all the goodies that she had promised to her crowdfunding contributors.
