MUMBAI: Delhi-based singer/songwriter Aditi Veena Gupta, aka Aditi Veena, wants to bring together music and performing arts and couple it with landscape architecture. Post her graduation from School of Planning and Architecture this May, Veena plans to take it forward full swing. For her live performances, Veena incorporates the space around her while singing.

“The impact of a bar or a cafe performance is not the same for solo singer/songwriters as it is for bands. If it is just you, you are restricted to one small area and are expected to just sing. To remedy that, I have designed different concepts for different gigs. I evaluate the space of the area and before performing at any venue, I practise reiki there,” said the architecture student.

Veena’s performances follow the release of her debut EP ‘Mumblings’, which is a concept EP that links four stories about four special men in her life. “After things with my previous band ‘Ditty & Mark’ were not working out, I decided to go solo. Around the time, that was last January, I lost my father. That led me to go back to my poetry roots and write ‘Daddy’s Girl’, which eventually became the first track on the EP. After that, I wrote a song about my current boyfriend, and then observed a pattern. I thought, perhaps I could write about the men in my life. After that, I wrote about my brother, and that is how ‘Mumblings’ happened,” said Veena. She further added, “Because of the recent news, as a woman, I wanted to show the world my relationship with four important men in my life.”

Veena has steered clear of releasing ‘Mumblings’ as physical compact discs stating, “No one listens to CDs anymore, no one buys CDs anymore. Nowadays, even the car stereos do not have CD players.” Instead, she has released ‘Mumblings’ in a physical storybook format, which rolls out into a poster with each story describing each song. As for listening to the songs- each story has a unique code which gives the reader a download link to the track. Of the storybook format, Veena elaborated, “The storybook features illustrations of animals, with my dad as a bear and my boyfriend as a rabbit. It is very quirky that way.”

She started her singing career at the age of 14, and was also a part of the Delhi foundation choir- Artistes Unlimited. Veena has also guest-fronted bands like The Jass B’Stards, and has even sung in a production of the TONY Award nominated musical ‘Hair’.

With her architecture contacts, Veena is now trying to score gigs in Maldives and around Sri Lanka. She plans to perform there in a few months’ time.

 ‘Mumblings’ is available for streaming on Soundcloud and for purchase on OKListen.