 Welcome back to the E-Circuit, the only way to turn up your weekend. I hope you're sending in those requests to Y244channel or the E-Circuit on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Our first interview is not a guest to the E-Circuit. It's Anushka. She's here again with a new song, Shine. How have you been since last time? Oh, I've been awesome. It's so much exciting things have been happening. I've dropped Shine now. And Shine, as you know, is one of my Kenyan songs. It's inspired by Kenya and being in Kenya. And now I'll be traveling with it to France to perform it as part of my showcase at Midam, which is the largest music industry event in the world. So I'm very excited. Things have been rolling, rolling, rolling. In terms of the way you create your music, is it always the same way? Because like you said that this is inspired by Kenya and not the Kenyan influences. Because you travel a lot, you've been everywhere. Yes. So is it the same way with every piece of music that you create? Like it's inspired by the people and the culture there? Absolutely. I just believe I'm a song catcher and I'm a very sensitive person. I think most artists are probably, we're a little bit hypersensitive. So we just feel the vibes of every place we are. And as a traveler, I'm just naturally curious about learning about other people's cultures, how they speak. Language is always a reflection of culture as well. So I'm always fascinated to try to learn a little bit wherever I travel of the language. And then since I'm a songwriter, the way I use it is I apply it in a song. You apply it in a song. Yeah, somehow. It just happens. But I work hard. Is there like a plan? Okay, yes, there is the culture that influences your music as a songwriter. But like, you know, more personal influences. Can we expect that from you very soon? There are many personal... Okay, a lot of my songs are about broken hearts. Yeah, because I can imagine like when you start... Those are sort of like personal things. I'm sort of hinting here. Yes, I have a lot of songs about, I have a whole album called My Kind of Heartbreak. It's all about being broken hearted. Broken hearted by having people reject you as an artist, broken hearted as a lover, broken hearted as a friend, betrayals. The whole album is about that. Trust me, a lot of my personal experiences go into my song. Even a song like Shine. Okay, I did not grow up in a ghetto. But I have struggled as an artist. There was a time when I was a music student at Berkeley College on loans, and all I could afford to buy was noodles to eat every day. You know, I mean, I know what it's like to be nervous. So you follow it to make it relate to you? Yes, I always... Look, it's always coming from some authentic place. But then you're always as a writer, you always shape something around it to make it more universal, right? But there's nothing fake about the origin of the vibe. It also comes from me, otherwise it wouldn't carry. Yeah, because you can't just carry someone's story unless you relate with it in some way. They always say, write what you know. Write what you know. If you're not doing that, it's not going to work. Because people sense if it's fake. I think even as singers, like Bob Dylan used to say, sing what you know as well. Because otherwise you can't give out the inflections and someone can feel like the audience can feel whatever it is you're singing. Yeah, and then if you have a little bit more content that's a bit more mature, it might sound a bit silly to have like some upcoming 16-year-old pop star try to interpret that. Like, you know what the blues, you say the blues, you have to live long to do the blues, right? Speaking of teenage years and music, you were in a rock band when you were younger, you're the lead singer. Then and now, is it easier? Is it harder? What have you learned? What are you incorporating right now? Right now, I'm claiming my space on the world stage as an artist after hustling and kicking ass for 23 years. I'm way overdue for my recognition, so I'm enjoying that. But I'm still pushing, you push harder the more rewards you get. The better, the more people are watching you, the harder you have to work and step up, you see. So you can get away with having a small gig in a town where people are mostly drunk and going, yeah, cool, yeah, man, it's so good, I love how you play guitar, you know, cute girls, you know, but as you get older and you're really starting to get taken more seriously by people in the industry, you have to be extremely competent, you have to be very ready, always prepared. Does that mean now you have to be selective with the kind of gigs you go to? Me, I'm the kind of person, I've always been selective, but I'm also very open, like, I'll play, you know, a charity gig for free, somebody, like, right after this show I've been asked to perform at the Swan Festival, I'm going to try to make it over there. If they want, they want me on stage, it's a, it's a support women artists network, I believe. And so something like that, they asked me, Anushka, can you show up? Yeah, I'll go, if I can, I'll get there and I'll do it. Because it's for a good cause. Of course, and because artists, you know, we need money, but it's not just about money. The day it's just about money, you're not an artist, you sold out. Sold out. Yeah, you can't sell out, because then you're nothing left to share. You see, you have to keep it real, but you also have to be smart about it. So you get more selective, or at least you try to make sure that you're earning enough to cover your lifestyle. Because it's expensive to be an artist. You have to pay for the studio, you have to pay for your guitar strings, you know, you have to pay for your plugs, your batteries, you have to pay to copyright your songs. Vocal lessons. I've spent a ton of money on lessons. Yes, definitely. How was your time at Buckley? And do you think, without it, you could have been where you are now? No way, no way. I would say an exemplative, but I'm not allowed to say it on TV. I would say no, there's no way I would have been where I am now. Because Berkeley, you see, I was self-taught before. And I was in an era when women were still not really that prominent in, it was always guys around me, always guys. And I'm not saying they were bad, but some of them were. A lot of them were really supportive. And they're like, hey, cool, wow, you know, hey, let me help you here. And some of them were just like, hey, you want to come over and I'll teach you some chords. They are volunteer motives, you know, what? They are volunteer motives. Well, they just want to teach you some chords at like two in the morning with a bottle of wine. What do you think that means? Of course they do. I do. You know. But that's interesting. You were self-taught. She got her first, you got your first guitar from your grandmother. I did, yeah. Then you taught yourself how to play the guitar. Yes, because, you see, I was lonely and I was bullied a lot in school. So I had nothing. So that was like your outlet, the music. That's when you started songwriting. Absolutely. I was just playing chords like a, you know, learning how to play. You know, that's what you do at 13. You think you sound great. It's a big, you know. Then you go to a place like Berkeley and it elevates you. Because now you're in the big game. You're in the big leagues. You're competing with people who are going to beat you. Was it intimidating the first time you were there? Oh my gosh. Because I can only imagine it's even hard to get into Berkeley. It was. I actually came in on probation because I didn't have the musical education behind me because I was self-taught. So they gave me probation for one year and they said, look, if you can hack it for one year and you do okay, we'll let you stay. But if you know you fall behind, we're going to have to drop you and give the place to someone else. So of course I went on to push hard as I could and then I got awards and I got scholarship and I ended up being able to graduate cum laude. And I was the only girl in my guitar lessons at the four years I was there. And you ask if it was intimidating. It was terrifying because I'll remember the first time I walked into a guitar class. You know, I came in with this, like this, it wasn't this acoustic. It was another one that has sadly been stolen. But I walked into my first guitar class and I walk into this room and they have all these chairs set up and there's like all these guys sitting there with these electric guitars and I was carrying an acoustic. Yes, it was acoustic. Yeah, I mean, and they were all singing this, like, you know, doing all these scales, like... Oh, I did it, yeah. Trying to look impressive, you know. And I was like, and I'm thinking, what are they doing? You know, I'm like, I can play like, you know. So I was in there and then one of the guys looked at me and go, yo, babe, I think you're in the wrong room. And I was like, is this guitar, guitar 12B with John McCullen? And like, uh-huh. The guys are just staring at me. I was so, I was like, okay. And then I'm, you know, they're all so cool. They're just, you know, they're just pretending to be so cool. Hey, I was very scared. But I think that that's nice because you're also like diving into different genres of music. I do. When you started out, it was rock. Then you dove into blues. So can I define you with a specific genre? No. Oh, you're still exploring at the moment. I will always explore because a good artist is constantly leaving the comfort zone. You see, you may not become the biggest artist out there by leaving the comfort zone. It depends on how true you are as an artist and where your priorities lie. If you just want to be a star, you can do a hit single. There's a common formula for writing hit music. A lot of people don't know this, but they've done studies, hit music nowadays. It's, it's the denomination of the common denominator of chord functions and harmony, ethereal and melody writing. You can do that easily. If you know the formula, you can write songs like that and push them out. And that's why we have hit factories. And there's nothing wrong. I'm not dissing it. That's part of the dialogue. It's totally cool. But I just feel like sometimes we also need to broaden the perspective a little bit and make more room for artists who are maybe more interested in exploration than being a commercial commodity. Maybe that's not their priority. Like in terms of Kenyan music, you've been here a while. You've experienced Kenyan music. And by now I'm sure you've noticed most of it is Afro pop. Yes, a lot of it is. Most of it, unfortunately. I don't think it's unfortunate. I think it is because this is what I'm saying. You like to dive into different genres. I do. If you go to any other country, they dive into different genres. There are artists who are exploring blues, jazz, R&B, then Afro pop and pop and rock. And, you know, you get a sense of different tastes. And everything is covered. But when you come to different other countries, it's like their focus is on dance music. Actually, I'm not sure I agree with you, Mike, on that. Because in my circle of artists that I've been exposed to, very few of them are like me and actually interested in doing like something with like jazz chords. And they're going into... You know, a lot of them are still in. They find a place they belong that they find they're being successful and they stay because they're like, if I do something else, maybe I'll lose my footing here. But isn't that normally like selling out? Because it's like when you, like you said, finding something that will bring the cash, then you settle for it. Look, if it's true to you and that's what you want with your music, then you're not selling out. You get. Like if you just go, I just want to be a hit writer and have my hits and the money rolling in and I'm cool with that. I'm happy there. I don't feel I need to express myself more as an artist. Then you haven't sold out because that's actually who you are. Would you ever do that? Probably not because I look, I've done this for 23 years and people have tried to shape me with contracts in the past and the minute they start, you know, wanting to take away your creative vision a lot, you start wondering who would I be? Why would I work so hard for something that's not even my own vision? So it's no longer your vision. You know, I was just born with this journey and I've come to accept that. I may not have that huge world hit. It's okay. I'm cool with that. But I like that I'm able to travel, inspire and explore and express myself. That's my truth. How much money is going to make? Who knows? If the song moves one person out there and inspires them not to commit suicide one day or to believe that love can come around again or one day they can make some money or there's God or whatever they want to believe in and they need at that moment, if I reach one person, I think that's worth millions. As long as they feel something from your music. Yeah. If you move, if you stir a soul, I feel that's a very important part of writing, being an artist. So dance music, back to your point about the afro pop thing, there's so much creativity here, but I feel like the only thing I miss about being in Kenya is the lack of instrument based songwriting. I really feel that- Everything is synth based. Just sitting with a guitar and doing, you know, or with a keyboard and composing off of that, it will add to the musical dialogue and broaden the spectrum so much more. So it could be just afro pop, but now put more analog instruments in the production. If you use acoustic, analog would be more the sound, digital versus analog, how you record it. Analog is warmer, they say through tube mics and blah, blah, blah. But if you're looking more at instrument based songwriting, the people who are currently writing off of loops, they'll get a whole other perspective. It'll just add more flavor. And then the other thing that may be interesting is I believe fusion is a future. We're a global society. So I think eventually and more we exchange, I come to Kenya, Kenyans travel abroad, and we work with different kinds of styles. We will come up with a fusion language that will just broaden the margins of culture. And then you can be doing whatever is your thing. I really have no problem with people who are just writing hit songs. They are rich, they can buy nice cars, they're happy with that. That's great. That's what they wanted. But that's not where your heart is. Look, you can only have one car to drive at a time. I have friends who have like five. You know I used to live in LA. You know there are people who have 20 to 100 cars and they love it. And I'm thinking why would you have so many cars? You can only drive one at a time. What are you going to do with all those cars? Do you see? I feel like the more things you own, the more they own you. The more houses you own, the more they own you because you have to worry about taking care of them. Maintenance, if you want to be free and really flow, you have to be low maintenance. I could have 100 guitars though. That would be okay. But I don't need a lot of jewelry and a lot of cars. I'm okay with one car, as long as it works. Before you play Shine, Shine is actually a really dope song. I wanted to ask you, you have this insight and this experience not only from writing your own music, but from Berkeley and chord progressions and all and what it takes to create a hit song. Do you think you're going to dive into production? I have already started. I've always co-produced all my productions. I'm a producer in that sense. I financed my own albums. I've released about five albums by now, I think. One in Sweden, two in Berlin, one in America, one in Kenya. So I think that was it. Yes. And so I have always produced and I've always been a co-producer actively in the arrangements, the audio, how the result ends up being. But I have also started producing with urban styles and with loops, which is why I say, you know, that gives me as an instrument based songwriter. To become more creative. It just gives me a new... When will you be based when you're doing this? Because I'm sure there are a lot of artists who are watching you right now in Kenya. They're like, I need to work with Anishka. I really want... Okay, here's... I'm scared to say it because I don't know how I'm going to make this work, but I'm hoping to start something called... I have song queen music. I'm hoping to start a branch so that when I'm in Kenya, let's say I come to Kenya four or five months a year, I let that I can, you know, do it in a legal way that I can help upcoming artists with coaching, production, songwriting, and also get some pay for that to help me with my expenses here, but also which will allow me then to also do free things for young people in areas where they don't have any means. In terms of production? In terms of songwriting, production, arrangement, lyric writing, how do... You know, a good producer, somebody like Quincy John, a good producer also should know music. He should know... He, she, excuse me, we need to include the women nowadays which is great. She or he... What's the word you guys use nowadays? Is there like a one word for both? Raya. You say... What? You're saying raya for men and women? Yeah. Raya. Okay, raya. So, raya. Okay. He or she, a good producer, is actually someone who should be able to play an instrument, who should understand the creative process, because how are you going to inspire and take out the best of an artist in front of you? If you don't know those elements. Yeah. And you need to know how to build a song for the listener's ear, how to travel with the music through the changes. There's a lot of craft behind a good producer. You know, it's not just slapping up some beats and slicing and dicing and going yo, yo, yo. You know, it's a bit more to it if you want to be really good. And then whoever is in front of you has something really unique. So, it's up to the artist to find what's unique about them and also to ask for help from the producer and the team behind them. So, the artist needs to come a little bit more prepared. A little? They need to do their homework basically. They need to be ready. Ready, ready, ready. Artist, the biggest struggle for an artist is not learning how to play guitar. It's not learning how to write a song. It's not learning how to slice loops. It's to figure out why am I unique? What's special about me? That is the biggest challenge. Like, is that a unique sound or something? In any way, what makes me unique? Why do people want to listen to me? What do I have that's going to separate me from the herd? Because if you're not coming out with something that's original, you're not going to catch people's interest that much. You might sound good and fall into, like, oh, everybody sounds the same. But why are you doing it if you're not there to say something new in a fresh way? You don't have to be new because you can't create always something new. You know, we will always have music that's been done before. But you have to figure out what is your selling point? Creatively and financially. So, an artist would come to me. I would say, where do you see yourself? What is unique about you? And if they say, oh, I can play guitar. Millions of people can play guitar. Did you invent a new style? Do you have a specific sound? I mean, so you have to go and find out what is really unique about the person. Doesn't that make sense to you? It does. Yeah. It does. Thank you so much for coming again to the East Circuit. We appreciate you. Oh, it's awesome. You're always very insightful. I think we always learn something from you. Actually, I need to put something to the test. Sure. How Russian you are. You know, she's called DJ Lil Russian. She's been boasting that. I need to know how Russian you are before we conclude. Boast anything to begin with? Uh, you know, a little Russian? Yes. That was it. Okonabahati. Yes. Okonabahati. At least you're getting off easy this time. But we had a question today. We were asking people back at home. What would you do with 100 million shillings if you won right now? Well, okay. You know what I would do? I would do a lot of workshops for you guys. Workshops? Yeah, I would do some kind of project where we could invest it now and do some workshops with artists here and exporting them. Well, I get a sense that you would buy a hundred guitars for someone. I would also Kulipa Kodi. I would pay my rent. Kulipa Kodi. Yeah. That's why I don't have a guitar. I don't have a guitar. So then you buy like a hundred guitars. No, no, no. We would actually create something because creation is more interesting than just a material possession. Creation leaves a legacy. You don't leave a legacy owning a hundred guitars. You know what I mean? Unless maybe you create a museum with them and I don't know, you do something unique. But I think everybody who's a true artist always wants to leave their mark on some way, you know? Yeah. No, I would definitely. Then I would go, okay guys, let's do something now. Let's create the workshops. Let's do workshops for one month and let's find some upcoming artists and let's send them over to some local producers. Let's get some stuff happening and let's export it. It would be fun. I would love that. It's actually creative, you know? Yeah. It sounds like it would be fun. Tell them to give me the money. You're about to play a shine. Tell us about it before you start. So shine is a rewrite because another part of being a serious artist is you learn you have to rewrite a lot. You can't just accept the first version necessarily of what you create. So shine is a rewrite from one of the songs I did with Teddy Bee in 2013 and it's a rewrite because I just felt it wasn't, it could get better. It could be improved for a crossover market. So I rewrote it completely and the way I rewrote it was I wanted it to be dedicated to the unseen heroes in society. What I mean by that is the people who are invisible to us because we've become numb. After a while there's just too much sad stuff going on in the world and you just can't deal with it anymore. But you know these people who are less fortunate who are brought up through hardship they have these resilient souls and they still smile. They still get up in the morning and I think to myself like I friends overseas who complain about losing a shoe and I think please have you been to, you know you should see some people I've seen. But don't even have any shoes. Thank you dear. Exactly. That's what I mean. So this song I felt like everybody has a light and those people, let's say there's a beggar outside you know on the street begging he's on his knees because he doesn't have proper legs. I saw somebody like that and yet he was smiling and I felt so ashamed. I thought my god how can I ever complain about anything in my life? And I thought When there's things like that's happening right now. And then I thought and I'll bet you that guy had a dream and I'm wondering what that dream was. He has a light if you gave him a platform like you're giving me today he'd probably have many stories to tell you. You see everyone has something inside of them. So this song is just to encourage people to just realize that and maybe become a bit more compassionate along the way because when you feel your light you become very generous to other people. When you're still searching and you're feeling stingy like I've got a hold on to it I've got a hold on to it this is mine, mine. You don't give anything out. You know? Yeah. So that's what this song is about. Okay. That was deep, huh? That was so deep. Like I just said. For a moment you were just like you were just like no, no, no, no. I was like, okay. Now I'm learning something again. Thank you so much for coming through. You guys, thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure and it's an honor to come. Thank you for coming. It's an honor to have you. Yeah. This is Shine by Nushka. I can carry. Everything will be all right. The sun will rise. Nina Jua. Dry tears from your eyes and you will. We'll see our song. Chase shadows away. You could find love even in a matatu. On an ordinary day. So shine. Shine. Everything will be all right. Just shine. So much more in me. Colors to be set free. So much I could be. I enjoy life. Everything will be stay true. Yeah, you. You just to keep on doing and shine. Be stay true. Yeah, you. You just to be you just to keep on just shine.