'5 Questions With': Seeva

We caught up with the British-Asian star on the rise to discuss music, heritage, the queer community & everything in between.

When you think of an electronic, pop, queer superstar your mind should immediately fall on Seeva, the incredible British-Asian artist leaving his mark on the industry once delectable track at a time. Marked by his hard-hitting singles such as the ethereal synth-pop of “Clouds”, the bouncy, effervescent “Young” and atmospheric electronic guitar sounds of “Princess” (where Seeva explores fetishization in the queer community), his new album We Need to Talk hears the budding artist dive into love, loss, mental health, sexuality and heartbreak across eleven sharply crafted pop bops; his moving vocals and intricate, thoughtful and deeply personal songwriting at the heart of every song. Already achieving critical tastemaker support for his electropop creations and working with some of the best-known names in the industry right now (see: Lily Moore), Seeva is taking over our soundwaves, and we caught up with the artist in 5 Questions to discuss his music, his heritage, his plans for 2021 and everything in between.

Read the feature below…

EQ: Hi Seeva, can you tell us and our followers how you first got into music?

S: I can’t really pinpoint the moment I got into music exactly, it was just kind of something I always did. I played the piano at school and sang, and when I was thirteen I decided that music was something I wanted to seriously pursue as a career. It was then that I started writing purely so that I’d have songs to sing, and then producing those songs out of necessity too. From fifteen or so I started doing music more seriously in and out of studios until I found my sound and my tribe.

EQ: Has your Asian background inspired you musically in any way?

S: From a really young age, I was surrounded by music from the temple. I’d go with my grandparents and from the age of around five, I’d know all the words and melodies to the bhajans (Hindu hymns) and try to emulate that when we’d pray at home. As I grew up I lost touch with that side of my heritage, but my early experiences with my culture and watching the occasional Bollywood film definitely informed the soundscapes I create now. On quite a few of the songs from my album there are Indian instruments like the sitar and tabla.

EQ: You’re speaking up about fetishization within the queer community, can you explain further for those who are not familiar with the community?

S: I can only speak from my experiences, but I’m very aware that the fetishisation of different races is bigger than just in the queer community. On some gay dating apps you can actually filter out people based on their race, and that can function with very racist undertones or with a more orientalist view of what an Asian man is. As a community, whether that be queer or any other, we can all do so much better than to objectify or stereotype a person based on the colour of their skin.

“…as a community, whether that be queer or any other, we can all do so much better than to objectify or stereotype a person based on the colour of their skin.”

- SEEVA

EQ: Who do you take inspiration from when creating new songs? Are there any artists whose sounds have influenced you heavily?

S: I’m a massive pop head - I listened to all the divas growing up like Britney, Beyonce, Rihanna…you name it. I think there is something so clever in the way that the producers behind those big names can mathematically come up with a hit that stays in your head for days. Nowadays I tend to listen to more left-leaning pop and R&B like Troye Sivan, Frank Ocean, BANKS and Nao.

EQ:…and what else can we expect from you this year?

This year I’m riding out the album. There’ll be another video and some more bits and bobs with some gigs next year, but otherwise, I’m just letting the universe do its thing and enjoying the fact that it’s finally out in the world.

YouTube/Seeva

Stream ‘We Need To Talk’ HERE

Keep up with Seeava on socials:

Instagram: @seevamusic