Aakash is an eighteen year old singer-songwriter, pianist, and composer with a musical mind that allows him to craft intricate pieces that portray the complexities of living, loving, and experiencing emotion. Aakash collaborates with Californian artist and singer, Audrey Gillispie, releasing an exceedingly beautiful track, close to you (duet demo). It explores the agony of being left behind in love.
The track is delivered with rich vocal flourishes against a backdrop of ruminative piano sparkles. Audrey’s heartbreaking soprano and Aakash’s melancholic baritones recreate the excruciating fears of the mind and the yearnings of the heart. Listeners of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Zayn Malik, and Camilla Cabelo are sure to enjoy the vocal and narrative driven soundscape of this track.
Each wavering line of vocal is replete with seemingly real emotion and experience that evokes an unadulterated empathy and sentiment in the listener. The potent vocals are matched with an absorbing melody canvas that undulates with mellow hums and ethereal synths.
1. You’ve been creating and performing music for three years now! Please tell us a little about your journey with music.
I began my musical journey at a young age by playing the piano, and as time passed, I developed a keen interest in songwriting. In 2019, I took a more serious approach to my writing skills and started collaborating with fellow artists. The pandemic presented me with an incredible opportunity to work with major labels worldwide, which allowed me to refine my musicianship further.
During this time, I began singing demos of the songs I was working on, but my lack of confidence in my vocal ability quickly became apparent. Determined to improve, I started vocal coaching lessons in 2020, which became a pivotal moment for me, inspiring me to start creating my music.
My debut single as an independent artist was released in December of 2021, and I’m eager to pursue my passion for music and share my creativity with the world.
2. How would you describe yourself as an artist? And how do you think it shows up in your work?
As an artist, I am constantly seeking to push boundaries, bend genres and explore new avenues of creativity within myself.
I feel as though my music speaks for itself. Each song I have released so far ventures out into a different genre and talks about different topics ranging from love and addiction to the intimidation that adulthood presents itself with.
My creative process is heavily centered around crafting meaningful and thought-provoking lyrics as I strongly believe that that is the most essential and important part of my art.
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3. What was the inspiration and story behind your latest release, Close To You? And how did working with Audrey Gillispie shape the artistic vision for the track?
In 2020, Audrey and a collaborator originally released “Close to You,” but due to some issues, the song was taken down. Fast forward to 2022, Audrey and I connected on social media and exchanged some music files. While going through these files, I stumbled upon a demo of the solo version of “Close to You,” and was instantly enamored. I began working on it further, but was initially hesitant to show Audrey my changes. Eventually I mustered up the courage to send it to her during in Instagram live stream, where she reacted to it in the most positive way imaginable. We both knew the song had to be re-released.
Working with Audrey was truly such a fun experience as we share the same love and passion for our art. Her exceptional talent and soulful yet soothing vocals never fail to amaze me. However, collaborating with her was not without its challenges, as I am from Switzerland and she is based in LA. Despite this, we managed to overcome the logistical difficulties and successfully record and produce the song. Audrey is definitely an artist to keep an eye on, as her potential is truly outstanding.
4. Who (artists/people) or what (motivations/passions/encounters/emotions) are some of the factors that influence or have influenced your sense of style and sound?
As an artist I draw inspiration from a wide range of sources, but I would say my biggest musical inspirations are artists like Troye Sivan, Amelia Moore and Lana Del Rey. Each of them inspire different elements of my music. Troye’s exceptional production choices, Amelia’s incredible vocal abilities and unique inflections and of course Lana’s masterful writing have led me to put a lot more thought into the details of my music. Recently I’ve found writing inspiration in numerous spontaneous encounters with strangers or even friends. These experiences have provided me with a seemingly endless source of creative material.
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5. What would you like your listeners to take away from Close To You?
In my opinion music and especially the meaning of a song lies in the ear of the listener. Still, the song is well summed up in the first few seconds of the track where Audrey says: “You know when you’re with someone and things just aren’t right, but you’re afraid to ask because the answer might be worse than the feeling right now”. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. In my words, stop bullshitting – just be honest with the people you love at least!
6. What projects/ releases do you have lined up for the near future?
Recently, I have been dedicating a significant amount of time to the creative process in the studio, collaborating with some of the most talented and innovative individuals in the industry to develop my debut project. It goes without saying that I’m ecstatic about this upcoming release and can not wait to share it with the world!
The track is available for streaming on popular sites like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music!
You can listen to close to you (duet demo) by Aakash and Audrey Gillispie here –
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