“The Only Constant Is Change” – Heraclitus is what Sahana Naresh strongly believes. The Chennai-born artist who now travels between Chennai, Bangalore, and Seattle lives in a constant state of change. Music has always been a big part of Sahana’s life as she comes from a family of musicians. Her father being a singer and a Veena player, who practices every day was her first introduction to music as a child. She owes her interest in music to be nourished by her cousin Keshavara who has been a big influence in her life. IT was him who introduced her to musicians like the Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, and Feist back when Sahana was a teenager, which shaped her musical tastes.
Sahana picked up guitaring from her uncle Suresh who was a part of the pioneering Indian Rock band in the 70′ called Human Bondage along with his brother Ramesh who was the drummer. She moved to Seattle for work but never stopped playing the guitar. It was after working for 5 years that she looked at herself in the mirror and gathered the courage to become a full-time musician. Initially, she juggled working full time and started giving backing vocals for local bands; she also performed at open mics and formed a band called ‘Treble City’ while training in Indian Classical Vocals. She met her Guju Aditiji at a workshop in Seattle and fell in love with her music. Sahana soon took the leap of faith and now devotes all her time to making music.
Sahana’s musical journey led her to finally releasing her first single called ‘Milky Hands’ which is a part of her debut album called ‘Shore Out of Reach’ which is produced by her cousin Keshavara in Koln, Germany. When we asked her about the track, Sahana said “I wanted to capture the duality of newly found parenthood – the unwavering bond of love and the disquiet moments brought on by the worry I have for my daughter to feel safe and loved in this world. I used my ukulele to tell this story and hopefully guide my listeners through a labyrinth of emotions and sensory experiences between my daughter and me.” The track is a dulcet combination of her ukelele and her melodious voice; there is also has her daughter’s debut performance which was recorded by accident when she burst into the room babbling while Sahana was recording.
