Saturday

Artists, Model of the Month

Marvelous Miss Meghna

The life of a singer can be very demanding. In between writing, going over beats, recording, re-recording, tweaking, and mastering tracks, you seem to ask yourself, how does one have time to breathe? The same question comes to mind when I chatted with Miss Meghna! She’s one of the hottest female singers in today’s South Asian music industry and a voice that everyone should keep their ears open for!

She has hot looks and an even hotter voice to go along with it – in short, she’s a complete package! I can think of five words to describe Miss Meghna: passionate, determined, talented, amazing, and creative! Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, Miss Meghna  has been passionately working towards her career in the music industry. She’s filled with all the qualities a singer needs to succeed. Not only has she opened up for Jay Sean, but she’s also working with an amazing music production team by the name Music without Borders. Coming from a family of musicians, she has a strong drive to continue with her path as an artist in the music industry. Her unique style allows just about everyone to enjoy her music.

The first thing people always wonder about is how someone gets involved in music. “It’s funny when people ask me when I started singing because it’s not the kind of thing you just wake up and decide you want to do one day,” Miss Meghna stated, “It’s just something you’re born with, it’s deep inside you and you do it instinctively. You find yourself not just listening to songs on a surface level but dissecting every inch of them, from the way a singer bends a melody to the way her voice cracks to the way she enunciates words. It’s just this insatiable hunger to master the art.”

The first thing I wanted to learn about Meghna was her experience as a singer. “Growing up, I sang at all kinds of talent shows, cultural events, coffee shops, comedy clubs, etc., but I never thought any of this would happen,” she continued, “I was under the impression that no one actively pursues a career in music, you just get discovered if you’re lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time with the right ears listening.”

But it wasn’t until almost four years ago when Meghna was in college when, “a mutual friend introduced me to some producers – I didn’t even know what a “producer” was at the time – they liked my voice, I liked their music, and the rest is history!”

The second thing I found when you’re interviewing an artist, is that everyone has role models. Take me for example, Miss T is my role model (yes, I scored brownie points, haha, just kidding!) So when talking to Meghna, that’s another thing I had on my lists of questions to ask her. She was surely on point when it came to talking about her ‘role models’ when she said, “I have lots of favorites, but I don’t necessarily see them as role models. Take Mariah for example – brilliant in the studio, a total nut in real life.  But Mariah, Brandy, Sia, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Boys II Men, Sarah McLachlan, John Mayer, Justin Nozuka…they all greatly influenced me musically.”

Now, I have a request for you! After reading this article, go check out Miss Meghna’s website and listen to her tracks and then you’ll see why I’m so ga-ga over her! She’s definitely versatile and has a totally different flavor. There’s a little mirchi to her music, but she’s in a league all of her own; she admits it herself. “I’m definitely a product of Eastern music fused into Western style,” she said, “but I don’t really consider myself a fusion artist. To me, “fusion” kind of implies a very obvious, overt blend of two cultural styles, whereas my album is laced with a more subtle eastern flavor that enhances it, but does not overpower it. I think we blend world sounds with R&B in a tasteful way that keeps it mainstream enough so anyone and everyone can listen to and enjoy it.”

Besides the awesome tunes on her site, you’ll also see some music videos by Miss Meghna. “My first video was for my first single, “In Control (Bhangra & B Remix)”. We’re in the process of planning and preparing to shoot a couple more videos, including my next single, “December”. Naturally, there’s an autobiographical thread throughout all of my songs, some more than others.”

She went onto explain, “Music is a creative expression of self. Who wants to write about fake things when there are so many authentic good (and bad) experiences to draw from? Some of my songs like “That Girl” and “Imperfect” are totally nonfiction. But then other songs like “Light Me Up” and “No He Didn’t” are a sassy, fun, slightly embellished representation of me.”

Miss Meghna’s “self-representation” is a very good quality. She’s able to make herself more understandable to her audience and each song has a very personal meaning in them. I’ve come to learn that there are many artists out there who just do a song because they need to put something out. However, Meghna doesn’t do that – she allows her listeners to know the real Miss Meghna, and that’s what makes her more popular!

Onto collaborations! Now that’s always a big thing on an artists mind and Miss Meghna wasn’t shy about sharing her thoughts on that! “In terms of Desi artists, I’d love to collaborate with talents like Lomaticc, Ash King, Mumzy, Bobby Moon, and girls like Deesha, Hard Kaur, or Tina Sugandh.” But who does Miss Meghna really want to work with? “I’d especially love to do a song with Raghav,” she asserted, “he was the first desi artist I listened to and loved in college.”

Ahh…Mr. Angel Eyes himself…well if Meghna does a track with him, you know I’ll be right there to see it happen! If you ask me, I think Raghav should look into work him Miss Meghna really soon…after all she has opened up for Jay Sean! Meghna laughed and said, “I opened for a few Jay Sean shows last year. I was already a fan, but I really fell in love with his new album. I hope to tour with him again in the near future, he’s incredibly talented and a great inspiration. I’ve also done a show with Pree Mayall, the International Dhol Champion. It was kind of an impromptu performance, but we became friends after that and he ended up producing one of the tracks on my album, “Light Me Up”.”

But life as a singer isn’t always as glamorous as we think. “The music business is intimidating and overwhelming and I wouldn’t have known the first thing about breaking into the industry,” Meghna said. “But this whole thing kind of just fell into my lap and good things just keep happening. I work with a talented production team, Music Without Borders, and I’m signed to their independent label, Crescent Productions. I have the freedom and creative control to write my own music, create my own image, and decide the direction of my career. I love what I do and I love my partners, and the rewards of pursuing my dream far outweigh whatever minor obstacles I face from time to time.”

And keeping all this in mind, she still has the support of her family from day one of her career as a singer. “My parents are also very talented singers and musicians so they understand my passion and support my dream whole-heartedly. They are thrilled that I’ve been offered the opportunity to actually pursue it professionally, and they want me to do it as long as it makes me happy. It’s so nice having parents who understand every aspect of singing and songwriting and performing, because they can genuinely celebrate my successes or sympathize when things don’t go my way. Once again, I’m very lucky.”

And of course, you know me, I have to get into the deep secrets of everyone I interview and I did just that with Miss Meghna! After much trial and tribulation, she finally spilled the beans…“I am a big Britney fan! Not so much her earlier stuff, but “I’m a Slave 4 U” is my favorite, and I love everything since then. Everyone wants to hate on her but you know all the girls go wild when her song comes on! I respect her, her producers and her songwriters because they’re clearly doing something right. And on a personal level, I know she kind of went bonkers for a minute, but I just don’t think any of us are in a position to judge because we’ve never been in her shoes. When you get that famous and have that much money and live your life that publicly, it’s a lot of pressure! Who are we to blame her for losing it? It could happen to any of us.”

Before we wrapped up this interview, Miss Meghna reminded me that her debut album, “My Little Tape Recorder” is out now! “Check out the video album teaser on missmeghna.com to hear some of the tracks and watch video clips from live performances, interviews, and photo-shoots,” she said, “I’m so proud of it and feel like it’s a solid reflection of me as an artist and a person.”

I’ve got to admit, after seeing her credentials and hearing her music, I was a little nervous at first. But Miss Meghna is a down-to-Earth artist, and that’s what makes her even more approachable and her music more appreciated. She was sweet enough to leave all her fans and our readers with a few last words:

“Check out my Facebook and MySpace pages, and add me as a friend! I’d love to meet anyone who loves music as much as me. And definitely buy the album – I promise you’ll be hooked. I realize I’m the singer so I’m obviously going to love my own music, but I’m very critical and set high standards for myself.  I always step back and try to look at my songs objectively, and I only write music that I would want to hear on the radio myself. I’m still that average girl who listens to top 40’s, so you can trust my opinion when I say you will love my music. It’s fun, catchy, good stuff. Thanks in advance for your support! And of course, thanks Monica and Bravura Artist Magazine!”