Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Isn’t this thought so amazing? Well, this is what came to my mind when I met this multi-talented singer, lyricist, performer Tanya Nambiar at the TaBlu Music Festival yesterday.

Tanya who quit her job to pursue her passion has been making music for the last 6 years. Though her journey has been full of ups and downs, she says it’s what makes her feel alive! I caught up with Tanya in a candid chat before she went on to perform at the festival.

Me: Being a Karaoke queen what is that one karaoke song that you can’t say no to?

Tanya: I have been doing karaoke for about 6-7 years and there are these clichéd songs like ‘ Summer of 69’  and ‘ Sweet child o’ mine’  that now I have grown allergic to. But out of all these repeated numbers, one song that I still enjoy is Roadhouse Blues because I am a big Doors fan.

Me: What does the ambiance have to be like when you are composing music?

Tanya: Ah, my kind of space has to be chaotic. I can’t work in isolation. Half of my ideas come from the traffic jam and when I am in the middle of a huge crowd by observing people. I generally reach airports early just to observe people. I like to be in the middle of something chaotic and that is what makes it feel real. Most people like to cut themselves off while writing or making music but if I do the same I feel really alone and depressed.

The more the noise, the more it makes me feel alive. Every night whether through a show or karaoke, I meet over 300 people and I am in the habit of being surrounded by people all the time and that’s how I like to be even when I am composing songs.

Me: What are your jamming sessions like?

Tanya: I feel my jamming sessions are a little too organized as compared to what I have seen for others. I have come across a lot of people who just randomly sit, jam and come up with brilliant ideas and compose songs. But no matter how indecisive I am, I like to be fully prepared for my jam sessions. So I like to come up with an idea a night before so that the next morning it gets easy for everybody to compose music. But since my entire band members are inspired by different genres of music, there is again a lot of chaos (in the good sense) when we sit and work on compositions.

Me: Being the only female musician, is there a feminine quality that you have transferred to your band?

Tanya: Hah! I have been the only girl in both my previous and current band. So for that matter, I like to get dressed up a little more than the guys, for my show. I feel that it’s my performance and so when we are on stage we have to own it. We have to look the party. And this I think I have got in these guys. I keep telling them we can’t just go in jeans and t-shirts and all that casual dressing so we need to make that little bit of effort to look like performers, she laughs.

Also, I keep influencing these guys about eating healthy and talk a lot about my workouts too. So eating healthy and working out is another thing I have gotten into the boys.

Me: What do you like to do apart from composing music in your free time (wondering if you get any)?

Tanya: Free time… Yes, I do some important things! As an independent freelancer, I am always chasing payments. So when I am not jamming, I become a debt collector.

Me: How are family and relatives treating you with just a month left for your wedding?

Tanya: With the wedding coming up in next 15 days, I have people constantly telling me that I’ll get tanned and I should stop performing and concentrate on my functions, but I am like what crap!

You won’t believe I am still calculating that on the day of my wedding I will lose 4 shows and literally people in my family think I am crazy! I even told my fiancé if we could shorten the honeymoon because there’s a really big show I want to perform at during that time.

Me: Okay! After hearing how workaholic she is, I asked her if she has her ‘I don’t want to do anything days’ like everybody does?

Tanya: Of course I do! And on these days my dog occupies my entire time. When I go home and I have nothing to do, I spend all my time with my dog. She is called ‘Laila’. So I keep telling my fiancé that why you can’t become a ghar jamai since I don’t want to leave my dog, to which he reminds me that he has three dogs. But then MY Dog is MY Dog!

So yes, leaving my dog is the biggest anxiety I have before my wedding, and I was like awww, I agree!

Me: One dream city you want to perform in?

Tanya: There are a lot of cities on my list but yes, for now, I would say I haven’t performed in Pune and I am really looking forward to performing there because of that young and vibrant vibe one gets from that city…

I have performed with Su real on his album Twirkistan. I got to sing in Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium and being from Delhi, it was my personal favorite moment.

Me: If given a choice who would be that one singer you dream to dine with?

Tanya: If given a chance I would love to sit and dine with Usha Uthup. I love her style and for me, she clearly stands out of the crowd every time I hear her singing.

Me: One singer/musician you wish to perform with?

Tanya: I love Vishal Dadlani and his band pentagram. His voice is crazy and I am so impressed by the versatility he shows through his music. He tops my wish list among Indian singers.

From singing with a hairbrush in her hands as a kid, this young musician has come a long way. Wanting to make music that is relatable, we couldn’t resist asking her that one song she relates her life with.

Here’s what she replied:

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