NITA CHAWLA

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Nita Chawla
_{Musician/Singer-Songwriter}

Content by Nita

How to Get Great Photos on a Budget for Musicians
New Single: Cross The Line

You have every right to be yourself and live out your dreams, don’t let anything stop you!

Hi Nita, welcome to VQS, tell us how you got started in Music?

Thanks for inviting me to chat with you. So the first time I fell in love with writing music was after my first break-up. I know that sounds so typical, but at the time I had been learning classical piano and had only ever written instrumental songs. I honestly didn’t think I could even write a song with lyrics!

It was the first time I finally had something to say. I even recorded it on cassette tape! (It was a LONG time ago lol). The song was just alright, but I knew it in that moment that the floodgates to songwriting had been opened for me. I finally found a way to express myself that I’d never had before.

What new projects are you working on now?

My next release is a song called “Cross The Line”. I wrote this song with my dear friend Sirsa Shekim who I met in 2019 through a songwriting course. It turns out that she lived down the street from me so we were excited to meet up and write!

At our first meeting, we honestly had so much in common that we just chatted for hours before even getting to writing the song. But it was so great that we bonded like that because I think we energetically got on the same page and created something really beautiful that neither of us knew we had within us.

The song is about putting down our armor and the walls we build up to protect ourselves. It’s about considering the idea that maybe we could make it through life more easily if we came together instead of living life in isolation and separation.

Sirsa and I wrote this from our hearts in 2019 and had no idea that a world-wide pandemic was headed our way, but the song really does apply to what we’ve all been through this past year.

nita chawla indian singer-songwriter — _{^{photo by TNR photography}}

For me personally, I realized in 2020 how much I needed to rely on other and community. I realized that I couldn’t do everything alone anymore. I actually got sick right at the beginning of the pandemic and my neighbors totally kept me alive! It was scary indeed, but 2020 taught me a lot of life lessons that I’ll never forget, and this song was like foreshadowing to shifting the way we think about each other and our lifestyles.

What core values do you believe are necessary for success?

I believe that persistence, determination, belief in self, adaptability and having a vision are core values needed for success! Self-belief and confidence are really so important to begin with because at the end of the day, no one’s going to love, support you and cheer you on the way that you can for yourself! It’s not easy to build that up and many times I’ve felt doubtful. But I also just refuse to give up on myself and the things that have meaning to me.

Vision is also important because if your vision is meaningful and powerful, that is what will keep you holding on when you feel like nothing’s “working”.

My vision is to inspire others (especially those who feel like they don’t fit in or have maybe felt repressed in any way) to go and live their dreams and hearts desires without guilt or shame.

I may not have had that support or encouragement initially, but I want to be the voice for others like me that says “you have every right to be yourself and live out your dreams, don’t let anything stop you!”

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Who have been some of your favorite people/projects to work with?

I loved working with Sirsa on “Cross the Line” for sure! Also in 2019 I sang a song for this movie called “Free Trip to Egypt” which was such a cool opportunity and the movie had an amazing message. It showed real people opening up their minds to a new way of thinking and seeing the humanity in others who were different than them.

I also love working with my producer Mateo Sol (producer/guitarist). That’s why we’ve released so many songs together, because I think we have the missing pieces that the other person doesn’t have. It’s great to find that synergy with someone! We still have a few new songs we wrote together that aren’t out yet, so I’m excited to release those soon as well.

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What future opportunities would you like to be involved with?

I would love to keep collaborating with new artists, doing more livestreams (and also live shows when that opens up), creating better music videos, and I’d love to get my songs into film and TV!

There are probably other cool things I could be doing that I’m not even aware of! I also want to just generally improve my craft and be more open as a person. Even after all these years of sharing music and performing, I still feel shy at times!
Send Nita a message here.