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We love writing articles about many upcoming artist who are not yet signed and we came across one artist that made us pause and listen to a track they did which we fell in love with! That’s a great thing! Well who is she and where is she from? Urban Asian gives you the inside look of Dixi Patel’s life and her musical career.Dixi Patel’s inspiration to pursue music was instilled by her parents at a young age. Growing up hearing her parents listen to the Indian greats such as Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar to name a few, planted the seed of music. As a religious family being brought up as a BAPS Swaminarayan. She is a multi-talented singer, dancer and piano player! With years of practice and passion for singing, Dixi has come up with many of her own tracks and tunes in her free time and finally is ready to start sharing these tracks with the world. Check out her interview below and be sure to check out her first video as well!
Urban Asian: Thanks for taking the time out to do this interview! UA Team!
Dixi: You are very welcome!
Urban Asian: Hello Dixi, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where you are from and your background?
Dixi: I’m originally from a small town called Midland, Texas and will be graduating from Texas A&M University in May. I have many passions and there’s a lot I want to accomplish throughout my life. Whether it be helping those in need, curing those in suffering, or even simply enjoying every aspect of music, I would like to pursue it all and believe that I can. As I set on a path towards medical school, I am also taking my music with me. After all, I do believe music is also a medicine for the soul. I know that regardless of what setting I’m in whether it is a hospital or at my studio set, I want to make a difference in the world, and that’s all that matters to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv45sbBMr6U
Urban Asian: What kind of music do you enjoy singing?
Dixi: I enjoy most mainstream music sung by Chris Brown, Ne-yo, Usher, Rihanna, etc. I enjoy singing their style as well as Bollywood music. My voice seems to be more suited for Hindi songs and I really enjoy singing classical songs.
Urban Asian: Were you inspired by a musical artist that got you to start singing? Did you take any lessons before?
Dixi: My passion for music was instilled at a young age and has been influenced by a few family members. My dad has always been passionate about singing and still currently sings religious hymns at our temple every Sunday. Every time I see my uncle, we jam out on his keyboard and play famous Bollywood classics. My mother actually used to playfully sing nursery rhymes to my brother and I when we were toddlers. She also taught us many prayers and religious songs. We used to sing in religious events at the temple as well at a very young age. Slowly I developed my passion for Indian classical music, and after being exposed to pop, rap and r&b in middle school, I began to enjoy it as well. I admire many singers and strived to be like them. I gained a lot of my confidence and motivation in college when I joined Swaram A Cappella, the first South-Asian a cappella group at Texas A&M University.
My passion for singing further grew over the years while being part of this team. I mainly got into singing through family influences and religious events but I wouldn’t say I’m quite formally trained. When I was younger, a teacher from Houston, Chandrakantha Courtney, came to Midland for about two weeks in the summer and taught us scales and prayer songs. But I only had a few weeks with her, which simply wasn’t enough. I do however wish to receive further training in Indian Classical and Bollywood music, and perhaps even American music. Most of my musicality today is through my self-interest in learning music and constantly singing and playing music during my childhood.
Urban Asian: We read that you performed with Shreya Ghoshal and opened up with her! Congrats on that! How was that experience like and how did that get initiated?
Dixi: When I first heard about the opportunity to enter in a contest to sing at the Shreya Ghoshal concert, I was ecstatic. I had been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time, especially because she is my singing idol. I entered it right away and after sending my audition in, I was a bit nervous. I started to doubt that my audition sample would be good enough. But a few days later I received an e-mail that I had won the contest and would be performing at her concert. As soon as I received my backstage pass I couldn’t contain my excitement to finally meet her. I got one glance of her smiling before it was time for me to get on stage and that made me feel so calm, however, as soon as I got on stage, I started to get real nervous!
The thought of me opening for Shreya, knowing that the audience only was eager to see Shreya, not some amateur that they had never heard of, was intimidating. I couldn’t really hear myself on stage as the volumes weren’t loud enough, but I just sang freely, almost deafly, hoping that it sounded good. Once the performance was over, I met with Shreya. I brought her my mic and she signed it saying, “May the power of music keep you inspired, love Shreya.” My life was complete. I had met the one singer I idolized the most, and was even more inspired than I had ever been before. With this new inspiration and confidence I got from Shreya, I immediately got together with my team and started working on my first single.
Urban Asian: If you were not pursuing music, what career would you choose in place of that?
Dixi: Since I have only recently started to share some of my music with the world, I haven’t gained much exposure at least enough to pursue a career in music. I will always make music, but currently as my career I’m still pursuing medicine.
Urban Asian: If you had to choose any artist that you would like to collaborate with, who would it and why?
Dixi: It would be a dream to collaborate with Shreya Ghoshal. It would be amazing to not only be able to sing with her but maybe even just learn a few things from her. I have idolized her ever since people told me my voice sounded similar to hers. I strive to sing like her to this day.
Urban Asian: What’s currently playing in your iPod?
Dixi: “Heer” Jab Tak Hain Jaan
Urban Asian: Is there any collaboration in the works at the moment?
Dixi: I have a few ideas set up with some people, but am currently working on a mix idea on my own that I will release soon. I do hope to get collaborations though. I always see music on Youtube of musicians such as Shankar Tucker and Aakash Gandhi and wish to collaborate with them one day.
Urban Asian: What is Dixi up to this year and what can we expect from you in 2013?
Dixi: I’m currently working on an American/Hindi mashup which will be released hopefully in the next month. I have a few other ideas that I have ready to do and will try pursuing those as well. I’ll be singing in Philly at Raasadelphia on Feb 2nd and will be competing with my acappella group in a national competition, Gathe Raho, in Iowa on February 9th.
Urban Asian: We saw you dancing in your first Youtube video, have you been dancing for a long time and where did you learn to dance?
Dixi: I am actually as equally passionate about dancing as I am with singing. I have been a dancer since I was 3 years old and have learned different forms of dance including Bharatnatyam, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, and Modern. I learned these through local dance studios. I did Bollywood dances leisurely and performed in cultural shows or wedding performances. I really enjoy doing Hip-Hop in my own time and was a member of a hip-hop crew, Fade 2 Black, at Texas A&M my freshman year. I am also part of the Garba/Raas team at Texas A&M, Wreckin’ Raas.
Urban Asian: Being South Asian, we are always known to be doctors, lawyers or accountants. Are your parents supportive of your singing and do you ever get any feedback from your music from them after you have done a song? As they say parents know best.
Dixi: My parents do want me to pursue a career amongst those fields, but they know I enjoy my music and are okay with that. They are supportive of me doing what makes me happy in my own time while trying to achieve my goal of becoming a doctor. They always give me feedback and are my harshest critics! But because of this, I personally have grown as a singer. I am really glad that they let me pursue my music while I’m still in school. After all it is what keeps me sane 🙂
Urban Asian: So we at UA enjoy Rapid Rounds and we call it the Urban Fire Round – are you ready? Here are some fun questions to answer.
Urban Fire Round – Ready, Set, Go!
– Favorite Actor: Robert Downey Jr./ Hrithik Roshan
– Favorite Singer: Shreya Ghoshal
– Favorite Vacation Spot: Anywhere in Europe
– Favorite Cuisine : Tex Mex!
– Favorite Designer: Burberry
– Favorite Instrument: Piano
– Dosa or Dhokla: Cheese Dosa
– Mexican or Chinese: Mexican
– Favorite Color: Blue
Urban Asian: Are there any last words for your fans and readers? Where can they find you on social media?
I hope y’all enjoy my music and give me song suggestions! I love to hear what ideas people have. I’ll be releasing alot more music soon so stay updated! You can find me on facebook, youtube and Twitter
Thanks for talking with us on Urban Asian!
We look forward to your work and more music in 2013!
