NEW DELHI: Indian-American singer Vidya Vox, who has already gained fame on YouTube for her songs, says she has composed some original songs in Hindi and other languages especially for her current concert tour of India.
Vidya (whose real name is Vidya Iyer) has already held three concerts at Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata, and is now going to Bangalore and then to Delhi and Ahmedabad for three more concerts. Vox will be performing in Delhi on 25 November at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
She told Radioandmusic.com that the fusion of Indian-American music was a ‘mashup’ specially for her Indian fans.
She said that as a child she had learnt Carnatic music from the age of five and had been learning Hindustani music for the past few years. She was reacting to the question about the importance of learning classical music for singing. She had also been singing classical western music.
She said in reply to another question that music is very subjective and some may like it and others may be drawn to other art forms.
Her 'Vidya Vox Kuthu Fire Tour' has been sponsored by the Forever 21 fashion brand which is the title sponsor. Though originally from Los Angeles where Vidya also lives, the Indian chain is part of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.
The singer inaugurated the new look of Forever 21 at Forum DLF Mall today.
Popular for her ingenious mashups, Vox has been creating successful hybrids by mixing the music of leading global artists and has nearly 300 million views on YouTube with more than 3.5 million subscribers on her Vidya Vox channel which began in April 2015.
Vidya was born in Chennai and raised in Virginia, United States. Vidya regularly sings in a band organized by Shankar Tucker. she staged her performance in various parts of the world like White House, National Centre for the Performing Arts (India), Webster Hall and her performance are staged at Festivals Des Artes in Reunion Island, INK Women, Suriname, Dubai and Meru Concert Series in Netherlands.
Her most popular mashup was Closer / Kabira, which clocked in over 55 million views in 7 months. One of her mashups include, Lean On and Jind Mahi for which she had a collaboration with several other musicians, including Ricky Jatt, Raashi Kulkarni, and Roginder ‘Violinder’ Momi. She released Kuttanadan Punjayile, a famous Kerala boat song, as a fusion along with an English song written by Shankar Tucker and herself, which was shot in Kerala with Mohiniyattam performed by Sreenidhi and Sreedevi. She just released her EP, Kuthu Fire, which is produced by Shankar Tucker, and co-written by Shankar Tucker and Vidya Iyer.
Forever 21 hosted an exclusive Meet and Greet with Vidya Vox for the top 10 best dressed customers as well as its digital amplification contest ‘Scream Kuthu Fire’, while the first 200 customers received gift cards worth Rs 500 each. Forever 21 also created a special section called the 'Happy Queue' where consumers were entertained with exciting giveaways and games.
Forever 21 Brand Head Rahul Jhamb said: "We are proud to partner with Vidya Vox and Radio Mirchi for 'Vidya Vox Kuthu Fire Tour'. The brand has brought new collections in association with budding music stars like Justin Skye, Khaled etc. and music events like Coachella. This association helps us take our consumer engagement a notch higher. Forever 21 is loved worldwide by the young fashionistas, and through this event we provide our consumers with this fantastic opportunity of meeting Vidya Vox in person."
Vidya Vox added, "I am super excited to be touring with Forever 21 Mirchi Live. A big shout out to my fans in Delhi, I look forward meeting you at Forever 21 store in Bangalore. I do hope you enjoy my concert. I love you all and thank you for all your love and support so far, I'm truly grateful."