She states that her stint with music began right from the time her father got her a guitar when she was 11. “I began writing lyrics and singing songs and as I grew I began getting the basic understanding of melodies.” By the time she had finished high school, she had recorded 2 albums, reaffirming her call towards a career in music. She went on to get her degree from Berklee College of Music and became a professional musician.

Coming to the topic of her music, we asked her what inspires her to make the music she does. For which she stated, “There are so many reasons why I want to do this with my life. Song writing is my passion and at the end of the day music is the most important thing in my life, second I tasted life with touring, playing music and setting up my own band and being able to be in different cities all the time and witnessing different people and different environment and experiencing different cultures gives me more to write about.”

But all the travel and busy schedule does take a toll on her sometimes. Being a multitasker, she does everything herself, right from scheduling performances to writing songs and composing them. But she is always up for challenges, “It’s definitely a challenge to handle the business side of things and also being creative at the same time, but it’s also fun. I get to experience new people and new kind of work.”

She says managing work and social life comes quite easily to her as they happen to intertwine a lot. Attending social events, parties, meeting new people all form as a source of inspiration for her music. Managing to tour parts of US and India has exposed her to a varied range of audience, she revealed, “India has so much more value to your art than in US. There aren’t many people doing what I do in India. I recently played in Bangalore and musicians from mid-UK came out to play and it was incredible. Huge step forward for the singers/songwriter scene. The whole independent scene is growing so I think it’s just been more rewarding coming here and playing.” She feels the system is falling into place here in India, now is the best time to enter the industry. So, if you are looking to release a record, do it now.

For her, she states, the hardest part was admitting that she cannot live without her dreams. “When I told myself I couldn’t live without pursuing my dream, it was really scary at first, but if I wouldn’t have admitted it to myself, I wouldn’t have worked so hard for it. Do not take a no for an answer, even from yourself. You say no to yourself more than anyone.” Getting over the fear of being unsuccessful is the biggest hurdle Zoya feels women need to overcome in order to achieve their dreams.

So, if you are an aspiring musician, now will be the time to live your dreams, the organised music sector has never looked better. After such an inspiring conversation all that was left for us to do was listen to her tracks and allow her music to do its job.