Checking in with Kayan: Ambika Nayak talks about going solo, DJing and fashion

Like sourdough bread Dalgona coffee or more recently Wordle singersongwriter Ambika Nayak too was a lockdown discovery for many Bursting onto social media feeds across the country with her pastelhued mellowsounding Be alright during the throes of the first lockdown in 2021 she caught viewersrsquo attention with her aesthetic social media feed and her feelgood headbopping songwriting Akin to most of her online audience at first we too found it difficult to take our eyes off from the slick streetwear looks the Gen Zapproved photo dumps and the snippets of her raucous DJ sets like most contemporary artistes Nayak too is a multihyphenate dotting her Instagram feed to uncover Kayan the artist But when we did we were in for a treatThe singer is partial to vintage fitsAs a solo act the 24yearold is one of 2021rsquos most listened to female indie artistes on Spotify has a number of residencies under her belt and was handpicked with Ritviz for Levirsquos Indian edition of its music enablement project ldquoMusic has always been a part of my life My mother is a Hindustani classical musician my grandmother was a Kathak dancer and so my family always and naturally encouraged the arts I attended The True School of Music where I met a lot of likeminded people was introduced to new music and began performing at live gigs That was roughly four or five years ago Therersquos been no looking back sincerdquo she tells usGoing soloBefore Kayan Nayak was a member of two bands Nothing Anonymous and Kimochi Youkai ldquoUnfortunately both bands became a tad inactive in the pandemic With the lockdown we moved to different cities and it was tough to collaborate But it also gave me time and space to focus and make my own music as Kayan her surname flipped Irsquove put out about five or six singles and like many other artistes the pandemic has influenced my musicwriting While Heavy headed and So good were about going through and coming out of hard times in my life Be Alright was inspired by what I saw around me mdash things were really bad with cases rising people losing their loved ones and being terrified about the uncertainty I wanted to share something that felt like a ray of sunshine reminding people that things will be okayrdquo she shares Also like a ray of sunshine is her effervescent presence during her DJ sets Which leads us to question when did Ambika the artiste evolve into Ambika the DJAn unlikely happenstanceldquoDJing actually came from listening to a lot of music and electronica artiste Sandunes Sanaya Ardeshir another Mumbai native offering to teach me the ropes while she was doing her residency at Bonobo Of course learning to mix and play sets is a long process but to her credit she let me open her set for her It was terrible but I also had a lot of fun I took it up as a challenge and kept practising to get better My friends and I would chip in to rent a DJ console and kept at it Then I started playing gigs and thatrsquos where my real learning happened as I played before a live audiencerdquo Nayak says As a singer and a DJ the kinds of music she plays are completely different mdash while her singing has elements of RampB soul and pop her DJ sets have a lot of electronic music like techno ldquoMy sets are a mix of different genres I believe that if a song can make you dance the genre doesnrsquot matter However there are also certain similarities between the two mdash when you create a set list for a live performance therersquos an element of storytelling to it Thatrsquos what draws people in Itrsquos the same with DJingrdquo she clarifiesKeeping it socialCommanding influencerlike numbers on social media brings a fair share of detractors As naysayers often do there are those that ascribe her soaring popularity to her online persona rather than her music career Nayak however shrugs it off ldquoFor me social media is a means to express myself and stay connected with my audience I donrsquot care about the haters mdash no matter what you do as a woman especially some people will try to bring you down I also model and act and use my online presence for influencer opportunities However what people donrsquot see is that my Instagram following grew with my music mdash it is the most prominent way for people to engage with my musicrdquo she signs offIndie loveldquoMy clothes are quite mooddriven I donrsquot believe in genres But I love fashion follow many fashion pages online and am surrounded by people who are passionate about fashionrdquo Nayak says Much of her wardrobe is inspired by indie designers and thrift stores She had thrifted her own clothes too ldquoKayanrsquos Closet Sale was a hit I hope to take it forward on a larger scale Irsquom currently working on a website to encourage thrifting and also sell my own stuffrdquogtgt Days For Clothing for denimgtgt Jaywalking gtgt Old Times Sake tee shirtsAmbikarsquos essentialsgtgt Baguette bagsgtgt Oversized teeshirtgtgt Tiedye denimsgtgt Basic crop tanks with joggersgtgt Jewellery especially rings and necklaces