Coming on 6th of May is pop rock musician Indya’s newest album, Leather n Lace. But who is Indya and what can you expect from this album?
Before we get into the upcoming album, who is Indya and how did she start her musical journey? Indya is the stage name of glam rock artist, Laudez Rose who established Indya in 2015 with a heart full of dreams, “I so desperately wanted to become a Rockstar.” And now, her dreams are coming true! That’s why I wanted to know;
How did you get involved in music itself?
Indya started with a more traditional route, studying music at “the Brit School for Performing Arts & Technology in Selhurst, Croydon” before heading to “Colins Performing Arts College in Romford Essex”. Indya’s musical experience at this time included involvement in Musical theatre and some other general performances, alongside her professional qualifications. It was whilst working on her Music Diploma that she discovered her skill and passion for writing and producing music, “as part of my Music Diploma I had to produce and write my own records. I wrote and produced songs which are on my Spotify ‘Chemical Reaction’ and ‘Rich Boy’.”
And, Where do you get your overall inspiration from?
As you’ll see reflected in her music, Indya is “heavily inspired by Madonna, Pat Bennatar, No Doubt and Bring me The Horizon.” alongside plenty of others!
Now onto the album: Leather n Lace
First up on Leather n Lace is the song, ‘Too Goth To Handle’. With a punk sound meeting a soft electronic beat, ‘Too Goth to Handle’ is the perfect opener to the album. The track has a fun edge to it, immediately shows off her electronic, glam rock vibes, reflecting the unlikely mix of musical influences; Madonna and Bring Me The Horizon. The story and the inspiration throughout this song tend to differ a bit, with two main inspirations that you’ll find are both applicable when listening to the track. The first story behind for ‘Too Goth to Handle’ is from Indya’s personal experiences; “Too Goth To Handle was written about a psycho man in my life who jumped a wall of a church to break into the recording studio to try to catch me out as he was obsessed with me. He was a nightmare.” And what a way to deal with a situation like that! That being said, ‘Too Goth to Handle’ is also a song “about Goths and the misfits of life.” It’s a song for us, the listeners, the fans, us misfits.
The next track is called ‘Leather n Lace’, the album’s namesake. The song is immediately heavier with stunning hazy vocals, ‘Leather n Lace’ is the perfect mix of glamorous meets heavy rock. ‘Leather n Lace’ is notable for the different textures throughout the song, from echoing cymbals to the strong snares.
Following ‘Leather n Lace’ is ‘Little Crush’ with a tension building intro we hear the head banging worthy beat and bass. The vocals seem to work perfectly as part of the instrumentals giving a polished sound whilst still keeping the authentic scruffy punk underlayers presenting a glamorous goth Madonna esque aura to the song. This timbre continues with the general theme of the song, full of badassery, “Little Crush was written about me as a whole.” something we love to hear! It’s a glamorous rock song, well, it’s “Leather n Lace!”
‘Fill me with Ya love’ is the next song on ‘Leather n Lace’, beginning with throaty, whispering vocals, like Indya is sharing secrets with us. It’s a sound that fills you whole, with a personal element. The backing vocals add a further texture to the vocal melody, giving it an extra layer. ‘Fill me with Ya love’ is full of Indya’s rock elements. It feels glitchy and dramatic in the best way.
The next song, ‘I Wanna Be The One’ has a more gothic feel with prominent drums working in tandem with the vocals. This track stands out on the album for its guitar solos and what feels like buzzing instrumentals. Indya describes that “I Wanna Be The One was inspired by my help with the homeless. This song resonates a message from their point of view.” full of heart and full of love, what a way to influence a song!
‘Raise Ya Vibration’ featuring Israelite is the next track on the album. This song holds a different sound to the previous songs, with far more Reggae influence, with Israelite featuring; “Raise Ya Vibration is inspired by the Law of Attraction and the powers of the universe. sending out positive affirmations to bring your own abundance.”
Next up is ‘Ignite it’ Featuring MC Neat with its vaguely electronic intro, slow beginning beats, and echoing build-up. With a 2000s-esque feel, ‘Ignite it’ stands out with its rap verse and Pink Floyd echoey beat between verses. It’s a unique song on the album without feeling out of place; you can find this track as a single on Spotify as well.
The penultimate song is ‘Wasted’ and this one begins with what feels like a glamorous grunge opening- not something that successfully mixes often, but Indya certainly pulls it off! Almost immediately entering with the vocals, Indya gives us both high and soft, once again reflecting Madonna’s influence on her music. The strength both in vocals and instrumentals builds up brilliantly, giving time for intricate guitar solos and a stunning reminiscent break. Outside of the musical elements, “wasted was inspired by a drunken disorderly night reminiscing about an ex”. ‘Wasted’ is also the song for Indya’s most recent music video, which “was filmed in an old derelict police station. We used fireworks and special effects lighting to create stunning scenery. We filmed more scenes at Mill Hill recording studio in London giving it that dark ambience.”
The final song of Leather n Lace, ‘Finish Her’ is full of heavy drums, electric guitars and vocals that are simultaneously fuzzy and polished. It’s fast, fun and heavy, the perfect finish to the album. It’s distinctively unique, so, I wasn’t surprised to hear that Indya “never had any musical inspiration for this” rather opting to go with her gut, “i just did my thing”.
With each song having individual inspirations and influences I was intrigued to know, Does your music on the whole have a specific message?
“Yes you’ve got to put the work in and have a persistent attitude. if the music is what you want, there should be no other choice. You must make sacrifices and put your whole heart and soul into it. This is what I did with my album. Everything stopped as I put my life on hold to make the album and get it out there. You’ve got to build your brand, fan base, social stats, be prepared for knock backs. You’ve got to be strong and fierce. A lot of my songs are about events throughout my life. Out of mad moments, disappointment, broken relationships, anger and despair resulted in my album. You’re allowed to be a psycho in this rock industry lol. A lot of my songs contain screams and psycho moments unleashing the anger in me from past events.” It couldn’t be said better!
Has your creative process changed over time?
Leather n Lace is original for its wide range of genres playing into the music in one way or another, which is why Indya’s musical journey encompasses these genres, developing them as she went. The simple answer is, “Yes”. The longer answer though, is that Indya “originally started out as pop and then I incorporated Guitars to make it More Rock. I’ve experimented with metal, Rap, Rock and punk which has enabled me to make my new album leather n Lace as I have integrated all my diverse styles into one collection. I have gambled with a Rock Rap song which features MC Neat.” And as Indya rightly says, “It was a daring move but we did it and smashed it.”
“It’s the authentic fashion for Indya but I just love trial and error. We are only human after all.”
What’s the process behind your music videos?
Indya’s music videos are the perfect representation of her as a musician, and that’s no mistake! “The recipe for Indya is Glam, sexy, classy and fun rock n roll. Image is a key aspect to get the imagery for the music videos.” “Sparkly jumpsuits, heels, big wild hair, guitars and sparkles.” is perhaps the perfect way to sum them up. But on a deeper level, Indya states, “I always want to connect my music videos with the listener. Integrating my songs with my image and making my music videos fun, complete wowza and glam to capture people’s eye is so important to me.”
For those of you, I’m hoping all of you, who are interested in experiencing Indya’s music, I made sure to ask; Do you have any upcoming gigs?
And we are in luck, as the answer is yes, all of which have been listed below:
6th may HMV IN store gig at HMV Tunbridge Wells.3pm The album goes on sale in HMV
8TH MAY Portobello festival 20:15 in Bar Love Notting Hill
26th may Call of the Wild fest
3rd June RAH Fest
4th June Preston Tattoo Convention
5th aug The Priory Live ON THE Main Stage.
So, from strong beats to electronic echoes, Indya creates an edgy rock whilst still keeping her influence from more glamorous pop punk strong.Indya’s second album, Leather n Lace, comes out 6th of May, so keep an eye out!
Words by Ani C