Fusing the 70’s with South Asian music, Annika has found her unique sound. Pioneering a new type of music, she sings of being satisfied with her life and brings in her heritage to help convey her certainties. Her visuals, filled with bold colors and beautiful embroidery, draw you into her music as well. We got to sit down with the New Zealand-based artist to discuss her new solo project and the exciting future it holds!
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity purposes
Interviewed by Chloe Gonzales
Chloe Gonzales: Tell me about yourself!
Annika Rani: My name is Annika and I’m from New Zealand. I’ve been making music for a while now. I just love incorporating my culture in my art and I’m also heavily inspired by nostalgia. I’m excited to spread more of that.
Chloe: I want to say that your Instagram reel caught my attention, where it said that you were inspired by South Asian culture and 70s music. I loved your song that played, called “Satisfied.” It’s your first single and I just wanted to ask some questions about it. First of all, what inspired it?
Annika: Thank you! That song was just a feel-good song. I was inspired by music that makes you feel happy and good, like Prince and Stevie Wonder. I was like, “I want to make a song like that,” so that song [“Satisfied”] is about falling in love with life after a hard time and just being like “I’m satisfied.”
Chloe: Oooh that’s beautiful. And I noticed with a lot of the promotion, such as the music video, that there’s a lot of–I don’t know what flower it is–but it’s very floral and very pink. Is there a reasoning behind those?
Annika: It’s the lotus! It’s my favorite flower and an Indian flower. It’s just very beautiful.
Chloe: Lovely. So you mentioned earlier that you’ve been making music for a while now. Is this [project] like a reset? Did you have previous projects?
Annika: This is a reset. I feel like I didn’t really know my style of what I wanted to make. And so I took a lot of time off creating stuff, and had a reset where I found new inspiration, I feel like I’m making something that speaks to my heart, which is really special.
Chloe: I wanted to know, since you mentioned you were inspired by South Asian culture and 70’s music, if you had a favorite artist of those influences?
Annika: With the South Asian influence, I can’t really pinpoint it because it’s more of the overall sound of the instruments used. I think currently my favorite South Asian artists are M.I.A. and Raveena. I think for the 70’s, definitely Stevie Wonder at the top and then Prince.
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Chloe: Getting more into your overall artistry, what’s something that no one told you about when getting into music and becoming an artist?
Annika: I didn’t grow up in a super creative family, I grew up in an immigrant family where everyone is working on the right side of their brain. Like my brother is studying to be a doctor, and my parents are business people. So I feel like I had to learn everything myself.
Chloe: I get it. I mean, did that almost disconnect you from your family or make you stand out?
Annika: Yeah, it felt like I was the black sheep of my family. I think also because of where I live, there’s not a lot of South Asian creators either. I think the really special thing about it is just growing and growing, and being able to have a community on the internet where you see so much beautiful art. It’s just really special and being a part of this [community] is really cool.
Chloe: I feel like with the internet, you’re able to have all of these different influences now, it’s not just a box anymore because you have so much access to music while also gaining community from that. You’re able to easily connect with people and be like, “Oh, I fuck with this.”
Annika: Like everything is connected.
Chloe: Exactly.
Chloe: I also wanted to talk about New Zealand, since you’re from there. What’s the music scene like there? Has it influenced you or propelled you to be like, “Oh, I want to do this.”
Annika: Honestly, it’s pretty small, like super communal. I think the community aspect is really nice, but I feel like it can only reach a certain point in a lot of ways. So that’s why I try to market myself overseas and go hard on social media.
Chloe: And dealing with that [social media], is it stressful for you?
Annika: It can be, but I also see it as an opportunity to have fun and express myself.
Chloe: Have you done any shows?
Annika: I actually haven’t! I really want to do shows and it’ll be so cool because I can have some South Asian instruments live.
Chloe: No, that would be so sick! You’d be pioneering that.
Do you have an idea of what your stage setup would be like if you could do anything?
Annika: I think I would drape it all in Indian fabric, like everywhere–around the stage, the floor, it would be like a cove.
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Chloe: Have you felt the pressure to be more like “advertise-ing” on Instagram, doing more reels and such to get an audience? I see artists promoting constantly, and they’ll have everything geared towards their audience, but your Instagram seems more of a personal account, a mixture between music and personal.
Annika: I think it’s important to find and have that balance because for me, I feel like it’s too much of one thing. It feels too robotic for me, and I need to kind of have that balance.
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Chloe: I wanted to talk about the new single that you just posted about on your Instagram. Can I hear anything about it?
Annika: Of course! It’s coming out in a little bit over a week [interview conducted on July 1st, 2024] and it’s inspired by more 90’s hip-hop. There are still elements of South Asian culture in there too.
Chloe: Again, I love the color choice you have going on with the bold blue for the single!
I also wanted to ask what is in your summer–or I guess winter for y’all– rotation?
Annika: Chappell Roan, just obsessed, so obsessed, could not be less obsessed. She’s everything. I have been listening to a lot of Wham! as well.
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Chloe: Who has been your biggest supporter thus far in your music career? Has it been your partner [who is also your producer]?
Annika: Yeah, they’ve [Thorington] been making music with me and it’s been really cool. They also make incredible music as well!
Chloe: Is the partnership always good since you guys already have that relationship or does it ever cause conflict?
Annika: Not really, because it doesn’t feel like work!
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Chloe: I’m also curious as to what your day-to-day looks like as an artist. Are you consistently working on it or is it more of a side project for you?
Annika: I’m doing as much as I can. I feel like when you’re an artist, it kind of consumes your life, just making art all the time. Honestly, I just feel like creating all the time because it feels good-it’s cathartic.
Chloe: Yeah, it’s a nice outlet! And with your artistry, do you ever get writer’s block or anything like that?
Annika: All the time. I feel like creativity can be like a well where you just have to wait for it to come back.
Check out Annika’s new single below!
