Rivita

Hailing from the colorful escapades of India, Rivita has been writing music since she was a little kid. Making a name for herself as a one woman machine with the release of her single “Silent Nights” in 2016, she creates electro-acoustic landscapes with her music.

After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree in Music from BIMM London, she proceeded to study Composing for Film and TV at the prestigious Kingston University, London.

During her time in London she performed as a Sambasista with Bloco LCM Samba Band & Paraiso School of Samba at events such as Pride London & Notting Hill Carnival and performed her original music at prestigious venues such as the Islington O2, Proud Camden, Troubadour and many more with her band.

After completing her education, Rivita moved back to India where she taught music and proceeded to work on her EP “Tribal Love“. She soon picked up the camera and started making music videos and won the Indian Music Video Award 2017 for her music video “Listen“.

Her desire to make beautiful music videos and to capture the world around her with Soundscapes led her to Syracuse University where she pursued an MA in Audio Arts. During her one year at Syracuse, she received 2 scholarships and was sent to South Africa to work on a Journalistic Project as an Audio Engineer. Here, she developed her project “The Traveling Studio“, which focused on capturing the music of artists without access to a studio. This project went on to win an Outstanding nomination at the Creative Conscience Awards 2018.

Her song “Someone Else’s Arms” was syndicated by Rolling Stone, India & BBC London and her new music continues to capture audiences from around the world. In 2020 Rivita authored her very first book titled “The Composer Cave Challenge” which is available on Amazon and made it to the best seller list under the “Music Composition” section. She is currently based in LA and is focused on writing and releasing new music, performing and teaching. 

Ever since I was a kid I would get lyrics and melodies randomly as intuitive hits, I get these ideas on days when I am chilling. For the longest time I had no idea how to put music to the melodies inside my head and I would record these ideas or quickly jot them down somewhere. When I was 12, I started playing the guitar and at some point I put a chord to one of the songs that I was writing. Usually, the first thing I come up with is the lyrics and melody, so a part of the song and then I start building up the song and arranging it from there. These are often the best songs I write. 

Over the years my process has evolved and expanded in different dimensions and I love challenging myself, especially with areas that I struggle with. Having said that, each song is special and each song has its own story to tell – both artistically and technically. I had the idea for my song “Silent Nights” while walking along the Thames in London where as I wrote “Lonely with Someone” to an instrumental track I was working on and it built up from there. 

It also helps to have a lot of different methods and techniques up your sleeve for the days when inspiration doesn’t quite hit. Like giving yourself a specific key or a tempo to write in or limiting yourself to certain chords. I wrote the book, “The Composer Cave Challenge” which contains 21 challenges to write music to. 

Once I am done writing the song, I usually start creating a skeleton track around it – this is when I put the chords in logic and start playing with sounds and recording scratch vocals. At some point, when I feel ready to share it with someone, I would send it to other musicians and add additional live instruments. Once I am happy with the instrumentation and arrangement, I start mixing the track – it is important to note here that I’ve been mixing alongside my production and recording process a little bit too but the final mix takes a lot of patience and concentration. When I’m truly happy with the mix and I feel like I’ve captured the essence of the song, I’d send the song for mastering. 

All this while, I am also thinking about the artwork and the release date. It’s a little bit of a confusing process at times but when I’m in the midst of it, everything makes sense and falls into place! 

Understand the business 

Over the years of building myself as an artist and finding my voice, I’ve gained some insightful lessons, one of which is that music is like any other business while having it’s own limitations and expansions. As a songwriter, it is important to understand different rights that go with written and recorded music and anyone who is getting into the game of songwriting do two things, understand music copyright and join a PRO such as ASCAP, BMI or Sesac in the US, PRS in the UK, SOCAN in Canada, etc. 

The more songs you will write and the more people you work with, the more you will learn. It is good to be open about different opportunities but if something doesn’t go right, learn from it and move on. 

Indulge in Research: 

I’ve found reading books on different subjects, may it be books on music business or music theory has helped me understand the industry I’m in quite well. I am an avid reader, and I love researching and learning about music which has actually made life in music a lot of fun! I’ve visited museums from The Beatles Museum in Liverpool to frequenting the Grammy Museum in LA. It always inspires me to learn from past bands and from historic events. Another very interesting way to learn is to watch movies about other musicians and music industry veterans. 

Budget your expenses: 

I’ve found that being judicious about expenses and budgeting is very helpful when the time comes to make decisions. Sometimes, it is good to eliminate options based on the fact that they’re too expensive and sometimes it’s good to pay more for a service if it promises a better service.

Work-life balance: 

When it comes down to actually making music, it is time consuming and it requires commitment. Having good habits and a healthy environment to work in has actually made life easier for me. Instead of following the work non-stop philosophy, I take a lot of breaks and I think at the end of the day being kind to yourself and following the path of least resistance leads to better results over all. 

Connect: 

It is important to have healthy work-relationships. I encourage artists to meet people they can really enjoy working with. I think making friends with other artists is quite a good idea, you get to collaborate and grow with each other. You might also barter skills, for example, helping each other with music videos or production. But apart from that, it is good to have friends who will seriously listen to your work. Even if you do not end up working together, you will always learn a thing or two from one another. 

While I am talking about connection, I regularly attend industry events whether they are in-person or virtual and they are a great way to meet like minded people. Some of the organizations that put together such events as Women In Music, ASCAP, Women Crush Music, etc. 

Make art for the love of it 

It is really easy to lose sight of why you first got into writing songs or making music in the first place on some days. At the end of the day, the music that really goes far is the music that was made out of love. If you ever find yourself losing sight of why you started in the first place or thinking too much about the financial and contractual side of music, then remember that at the end of the day songwriting is healthy for you and if not for anything else, then keep doing it for your heart and for your mind 

Last but not the least, stay woke!