MUMBAI: Her adorable smile can win any heart in no time, but her melodies voice will claim it in a fraction of seconds. Well, we are referring to YouTube sensation from Auckland, Shirley Setia. This young woman recently mesmerised the audiences with her Disco Disco track from A Gentleman. This song is just the beginning of her career but the future for Setia does seem bright.
In a candid conversation with Radioandmusic.com Setia takes us through her roller coaster ride from Auckland to Mumbai. On the way, you realise that she was born to be a musician and all that hard work does need a silver lining or more.
Narrating her journey from her YouTube days, the singer states, “I never thought of taking up singing as my career. I started doing videos of cover songs just for fun and it started getting viral. Also, the first video was not planned and seeing me in pajamas sitting on the floor proves it.”
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Setia was giving her 100 per cent to studies at the University of Auckland as a Marketing and Information student when her first YouTube video Tum Hi Ho went viral. Her YouTube success gave her the courage to move to another country. “If I was in Auckland today, singing would just be my hobby and Digital Marketing my career because space for music in Auckland is very niche,” says Setia.
The singer maybe brought up in Auckland, but she is very desi. She was born in Daman and her father belongs to Hisar and mother to Goa. She was seven when she moved to Auckland with her family. In spite of being a bright student, Setia always had a soft corner for music as her house always sounded of Kishor Da, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle songs. This kept her attached to Indian Film music and the melodies of the golden era.
Her interest in Indian music helped her create a short span career as a Radio Jockey in Auckland with Radio Tarana; the one radio station to play Hindi content there. Setia served the radio station as an RJ for two years. Interestingly, radio was not something that she had planned for herself. It was her summer internship that turned out to be a full-time job. She would have continued with it had it not been her commitment to music and her YouTube viewers.
During her stay at Radio Tarana, Setia did have some Bollywood playback singer encounter that ignited her wish to be a full-time singer. During her early Radio Jockey days, Shreya Ghoshal visited the studio. “I am one of her biggest fan of Shreya Ghoshal. So, my nervousness level was way too high on the day she visited the studio. I was lucky to end up singing Raabta in T-Series MixTape with her later. She really motivated me to keep my singing going. She said that I should keep doing my riyaz and that everybody will tell me this. But because I stay so far and I want to reach out to the people in India, I should choose a platform where I can reach out to people in a better way,” shares the singer.
The advice was a wise one, but it took Setia a while to implement it. She met Ghoshal in 2012 and released her first YouTube video in 2013.
In the initial few months of starting her YouTube channel, Setia tried doing it all. Full-time University course, RJing and handling her YouTube channel. This also, included her editing her own music videos. Things started getting difficult with the sleepless night. Thus, she quit radio. “When you start something socially and people love it, it is your responsibility to keep it active as people are demanding for it,” explains Setia who shifted her focus to YouTube soon after.
It’s been a year since Setia has moved to Mumbai to look up for a bright career in music.
After working on her first original single with composer Ravi Singal on Koi Shor, Setia realised single to be the best way of expressing herself. Bollywood is growing on Setia, but she is not yet letting go the independent side of her. “I want my fans to see me sing romantic songs too,” ends the singer.
Check out her first Bollywood track here –
