ZOYA MOHAN: A DIASPORIC DREAMER PG
Despite being hailed as pop’s next princess, Indian-born Zoya is keeping her feet on the ground
The pivotal moments in singer-songwriter Zoya Mohan’s (she goes by ‘Zoya’) career were set in motion by unusual, even outlandish, decisions. At the Berklee College of Music, she chose a degree programme in music business over the more popular songwriting and performance courses. “That was mainly because of this inherent nature of being an Indian kid and wanting to have a job after college,” says the 27-year-old, laughing. “But it was the best decision ever as it taught me how the industry works and how to manage my career.”
After graduating in 2014, she got on a plane from LA to Mumbai with a one-way ticket in 2015. She stayed for nearly four years, gave a dream performance at the NH7 weekender, taught classes on songwriting and the music business and hung out with Shah Rule and Karsh Kale. She even fine-tuned her music, moving from fusion (her early influencers were Susheela Raman, Kale, Anoushka Shankar) and folk to electronic-pop and then pop.
Zoya is now out with her third album, Bad Girls Dream, in the middle of a pandemic. Three of the songs in the album have been produced by Mark Nilan Jr. of A Star is Born soundtrack fame. Explaining the title, she says, “I was rebellious, but also chasing a dream. Growing up, no one looked like me in pop music. I realised I could be an example to
Indian kids with their own dreams.” All proceeds from Bad Girls Dream will go to charity, says Zoya, who once collaborated with nine music producers for the electronic remix album
Zoya: Plugged In to raise money for electricity in schools in Udaipur.
Raised in California, Zoya used to sing as a four-year-old for guests at her parents’ parties. She listened to Britney Spears, Norah Jones and
‘Chhaiyya Chhaiyya’ and performed at local coffee shops. At 13, she visited India and went on to record two albums here. In 2015, she was releasing her first full-length album when A.R. Rahman posted about her work on social media. “It opened many doors. I learnt about India’s independent music scene.”
On returning to the US in 2018,
Zoya signed up with a management label, along with hosting creative and marketing events. Now, besides working on her clothing label, she hopes to write for other singers. “Maybe the next time we speak,
I may have written a song for Rihanna,” she says, laughing.