Rasika Shekar: My video features only women and is made by an all-women team

Indo-American flautist and

singer Rasika Shekar

’s latest track is special. Rasika explains why. “’Yavum’s video features women from different professions across the globe. The song, its theme and message resonated powerfully with them and they all happily agreed to be part of the video. Another interesting fact is that the makers of Yavum’s video are all women."

The musician created the entire song and video during the pandemic and lockdown. She says, " We met over Zoom calls during the lockdown and had many conversations building on the ideas for the video. It was a collaborative effort that brought in each person’s diverse set of experiences, adding depth to the concept. The overseas footage was directed via video conferencing. On the audio production side of things, ideas and recordings were exchanged through Zoom and Skype calls and audio sharing softwares between Mumbai and New York. Amongst numerous enriching moments, the one that is personally special to me is the contemporary style dance I had to perform in the video. I love dancing and this was an opportunity to do something new in front of the camera for the first time.”

Talkinga about the

music

she says, “It’s written to a 5/8 time signature and it served as a medium for me to express my various facets as a composer, vocalist and flautist. Visuals of someone running towards the clouds came to mind as I composed the first verse. However, the flute riff that you hear was the genesis of the track. It formed serendipitously while I was casually practicing in my studio. I took out my phone and recorded it. Something about the spirit of that phone recording felt apt and the same phone recording has been retained in the final track.”

The word, ‘Yavum’ in

Tamil

means ‘all’ or ‘complete’ and it is inspired by the folk rhythms of

South India

. Rasika says, “It’s a new original song that I’ve composed and sung in Tamil, my mother tongue. My roots in Carnatic music and influences of electronic music and jazz, it conveys and celebrates the idea of finding one’s personal freedom, breaking the layers that confine us.”

The song is a story of a girl who’s on a journey of finding herself, unraveling layers and layers of barriers she has stacked up against herself. When she reaches that point of freedom, she embraces her true self, with a sense of fulfillment and inner joy.