Press Pass: Diaspoura

Cool, distant, angsty -- the makings of Diaspoura’s latest single, GTF. But a contrast to the polite, soft spoken, well-articulated artist who we met at WoodChuck headquarters. (Yup, still our living room.)

Anjali Naik’s persona (Diaspoura, duh) is an edgy, emotional presence, probably because Naik is primarily inspired to write when she is upset or angry. Diaspoura is fueled by Anjali’s frustrations at injustices in the world and embodies self-discovery. Writing has always been a coping mechanism for her; a way to process emotions and direct them into clever lyrics.

It’s hard to describe the music of Diaspoura. (We’d venture to say it’s like you’re floating in space, but also underwater… while inside of a seashell.) And though the lyrics are inspired by angst and unrest with social injustice, Diaspoura’s music provides a womb-like comfort to her listener. As she sings the lyrics “get the fuck away from me,” rather than feeling a disconnection from the artist, we feel camaraderie.

Diaspoura is influenced by chillwave artists (like Washed Out and Toro Y Moi). A DIY artist, she produces, mixes, and masters all of her music herself using Ableton Live, recording with a live bass and guitar and using a midi for sampling and synths.

Though she describes her music as “messy and a lot and kind of overwhelming,” Naik’s creative intent is to comfort people and make them feel assured, whether or not they understand her lyrics. “I want to make people think, make people reflect, make people feel good.”

Anjali's experience back home frequently inspires her songwriting. She grew up in a small, rural, conservative South Carolina town. She put on a front for many years, saying she was a Christian, though she is culturally Hindu, so she wouldn’t be judged or hurt. “People were just shocked to see my person in general so I didn’t want to say anything that would make me even more of an Other.” Once leaving her home town, Naik “realised so many other parts of [herself] that [she] never was able to explore in that bubble.”

Naik cherishes the internet, as it was fundamental in forming her identity; enabling her to look at things in a sociopolitical context. The internet allowed her to connect with people and analyze her own isolating experience as a first-generation kid living in the South.

“Computers have really made a lot of things accessible for me...like learning about social issues, educating myself. As a person that grew up in a low income school, the internet was my way of finding community.” Diaspoura strongly believes in the power of the internet because, for one thing, Tumblr got her, and a lot of people, “woke for sure.”

The internet helped Anjali find out a lot about herself. “I had been really confused about where I was from, who I pay homage to, what my roots were. I started reading a couple feminist South Asian writers and I was obsessed with looking up more. I didn’t even know that those people were out there, people that thought like me.”

One of the keywords she used in searches most frequently was “diaspora” (meaning migration), which she connected with more than any identifier up to that point. “I was never made to feel legitimate as an American or Indian person, and would always end up explaining my parents' immigrant story."

Especially given our current social and political climate, Diaspoura is an important public figure - helping those in our community be more cognizant of the word and more understanding of the meaning behind it. In addition, she is relatable to us all because, as Naik explains, “immigration is all of our history.”

Anjali’s love for technology prompted her to share her music digitally. Diaspoura's album, Demonstrations, was released on USB so people could pass it around. She hopes listeners will share her music with their friends and then support her as an artist by coming out to see a show.

The USBs contain the full-length digital album, album artwork, unreleased tracks, music videos, a zine, and more. (They are limited and Anjali sends super cute mail, so you should probably cop one soon.)

In addition to online activism, Naik also strongly believes in “physically doing work in the community.” Truly living by this philosophy, Anjali is an active leader and participant in civil organizations throughout Charleston, such as Girls Rock, where she worked as a leader for four years and helped start the organization’s first after school program. Originally intended as an alternative to incarceration program, Girls Rock uses music and art to teach kids about social equality, leadership, and collaboration.

Diaspoura was also a primary whistleblower in the Hearts and Plugs “Slave Baby” controversy. When the record label infamously Instagrammed a tasteless picture of a racist chalkboard drawing (promoting a Brave Baby show), Diaspoura, via Twitter, was the first to voice her outrage at the blatant racism.

After her tweet “started the beef… shit started popping everywhere.” However, she tried to center the conversation around creating an accountability process, helping the originator of the drawing realize what they'd done, and preventing others from acting similarly in the future.

In response to the incident, Diaspoura and several other local artists and art promoters joined together and formed Southern Discomfort, a community forum designed to fight racism within Charleston’s arts community.

“McKenzie and Elliot [of Very Hypnotic Soul Band] brought out some influential people and venue owners that really needed to listen to that stuff, and had listened to it for the first time probably ever. I think it got them thinking about booking new people.” The forum was also an opportunity for artists to realize the “stake they have in the community” and their potential to be community leaders.

While there is no doubt still progress to be made, there has been positive movement forward. Anjali notes that she has seen different artists being booked at venues that they previously had never been. Hopefully, the community can keep this momentum going.

Diaspoura’s activism reaches beyond the bounds of the Charleston community, however. After the Orlando Pulse massacre happened (the week before Diaspoura’s album was released) she was seeing “devastating posts from a lot of [her] queer friends feeling really scared, and sad, and enraged,” and she wanted to do something right then.

After quickly developing a concept, Diaspoura and friends created a music video to serve as an artist’s response to media coverage of Pulse and to show that there are queer people in the South “that are not scared or that refuse to be scared… refuse to hide from people just because they’re threatening.” The video, featuring several friends' beautiful choreography, was shot in one week in South Carolina, edited by Naik, and released with her album.

More recently, Diaspoura donated all proceeds of her holiday sales to Syria Relief & Development in the wake of the tragedy in Aleppo. “I thought it would be a little motivation for people who wanted to donate... I wanted to help in some way, I was desperate to do something.”

Despite how it may seem, Diaspoura doesn’t necessarily write music with the intent to do social justice. However, because of how strongly she believes in and is involved in it, it naturally comes out in her work. “It’s always going to be a part of my life, so it’s always going to be a part of my work.”

In performances, Diaspoura does talk explicitly about her song meanings and why she wrote them, especially the ones with political connotations, because she recognizes her platform and voice as an artist and performer. “When I play shows I get to have this connection with different people and we get to talk about our experiences and have these relationships instantly.”

Her latest song, GTF, completed in collaboration with Contour (pictured below), was released on Donald Trump’s inauguration day. She describes it as really intense and hopes people really pay attention while listening to it because "it’s loaded.”

She began writing it the day after the election - you remember, when “nobody could do anything.” Khari (Contour) and Naik worked together slowly on the song and decided to finish it by the inauguration day deadline in an effort to provide some comfort to those disheartened by the altering political climate.

To those who wish to become more involved in social work in the community, Naik encourages you to start by helping combat issues which directly oppress you. She encourages the relatively unoppressed to tap into and access their privilege. Anjali says that both avenues take a tremendous amount of courage.

As for Diaspoura’s future, things are looking good! There are a few things we can already look forward to. Though Anjali had really wanted to work on her first LP (Demonstrations) by herself and get it out there, she is finally open to collaborating with people and has plans to work with multiple local musicians in the near future. (We can't tell, but you're gonnnna love 'em).

Diaspoura often plays around Savannah, North Carolina, and Georgia but hopes to tour a lot more soon. For now, you can catch her next at Countour’s album release party, hosted at Redux on February 11th. (SEE U THERE).

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