22-years old Nathan Joseph Mendes who goes by the stage name Tsumyoki is making big strides in the Independent music industry. The musical artist who hails from Goa dons not one but many creative hats such as that of a producer, singer, and sound engineer. Tsumyoki is not your usual run-of-the-mill artist who limit themselves to one particular genre. While one might majorly notice the influence of trap and Hip-Hop in his sound, especially in the 2021 album Daboij, the melodies that he has churned out recently with the brand new album titled ‘A Message From The Moon’ is a motley of tunes that doesn’t follow any one genre.
In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Tsumyoki discussed his latest album and shared his thoughts on the current Indie music scene in India.
Here are the excerpts:
What’s the story behind your stage name Tsumyoki? When did you first come up with it and in what way does it represent your music?
So there’s no real big story behind the name Tsumyoki. I just looked in the mirror and that’s the first thing that popped up, and it’s a word now that I made, which means vision, productivity, and a positive mindset. That’s basically the story behind Tsumyoki.
Let’s talk about your most recent album ‘A Message From The Moon’. One thing that I noticed right off the bat was how collaborative the entire album is. How did you choose these collaborations? And in the larger context, how important are collaborations for an artist?
So the way I chose these collaborations was these were really close friends of mines that I chose to work with. I wanted the album to really represent Goa. So all of these boys who I’ve worked with are all Goan boys, you know, representing Goa and that’s basically the collaborative process.
Delving deeper into this album, I feel each song emanates from a different genre. There is a good mix of Pop, Hip-Hop, Tropical, Punk Rock, R&B, electronic etc. What went behind creating such an intricate album? What was your entire journey with it? Some of the influences and inspirations and how did you weave all of it in this album?
It just comes from the fact that I want to create so many different kinds of sounds and explore so many different genres with my vocals. And all of that comes from all of the stuff that I’ve gone through, all the trauma, all the depression. I really channeled that energy into my music.
I was also browsing through your earlier stuff, primarily on Spotify. And it’s obvious that you share a very soft spot towards trap music. Can you recall when this affinity towards this genre started and how that still forms a good crux of your music?
I’ve always loved making trap music and I still make trap music, but, definitely my pop music is what stands out the most. Trap music has just always been a great way to release my fun, my energetic energy, you know, and pop has been my more feelings, music, you know, where I go into my feelings. So sometimes it’s nice to keep a good balance so that you get, get to put out some kind of, you know, the rap kind of energy out there.
Between 2018-2023, how will you describe your journey of creating music and then finding listeners for the same and then finally curating a dedicated and loyal listeners fan base? Did you feel people(especially the Indian listeners) have become more audibly inquisitive to explore and discover new artists and new genres?
It started off as a hobby and then I realized that I actually am pretty good at this music stuff and writing and all of that. So, I actually wrote, started off with rap music, wrote some rap songs, and, after that went into, started discovering my vocal range. And I think that listeners in India are definitely very diverse. You know, we have so many different kinds of listeners and it’s constantly evolving.
The Indie music scene has significantly prospered at a breakneck speed during the Covid-19 pandemic. More and more people are switching to music as a part-time or full time career. It’s also a great time for newer and up and coming artists to get discovered on music streaming platform like Spotify and Bandcamp. Do you ever feel the pressure of getting lost in that clutter of content?
Not really. I really don’t feel like I’m gonna get lost in the clutter of content. I think that i have a good way of managing my content because my content is like my emotions. So I treat it almost like it’s my own mental health, and, that’s how it is, I don’t get lost.
How can an independent artist organically grow in India? From your experiences, how probable and enriching the music career is? What are some do’s and don’ts that new artists should follow?
You just have to make good music. Good music will market itself. You can have an amazing marketing team and everything like that, but you need to have a good catalog and good music, and then it’ll really retain a lot of fans.
Finally, what should one look forward to in terms of music as far as Tsumyoki is concerned? What more is stored in for us? And how do you plan to take your music a notch higher?
Definitely one thing that I’m waiting for and I’m very excited about is my album Deluxe, and mainly just, just learning more about music and, and, and, and branching out into many different genres. It’s very exciting part that I can’t wait to follow.