It was a year that Gouri had been on a break from work. She had joined the musical theatre show of Aladdin in Mumbai, as singer and actor. Aksha was also part of the show. They met and spoke of music. Both of them liked harmonies, and both played the piano. When the musical went from Mumbai to Delhi, they became roommates in a hotel, and wrote a song together, Seven, after which they did their first performance at an open mic show in a Delhi jazz club. A few days later, they quit the musical and went to Aksha’s place in Bengaluru to make more songs together, and soon after a band was formed.
The two young women from two different corners of the country found each other in the city of dreams and now they are making beautiful music together. Soon, they will release their first EP (Extended Play – a mini album with a few tracks).
“Last year we got to perform on many stages in Japan, and in the beginning of this year we performed in a few cities in the US,” says Gouri.
Gouri is from Kerala, hopping to Swarnabhoomi Academy in Chennai to major in Vocals and then deciding to settle in Mumbai to teach, write and sing songs. “It was after a while of teaching and singing that I took a break to join the sets of Aladdin The Musical, and that’s how I met Aksha,” she says.
Aksha is from Jalandhar in Punjab, and reached Bengaluru as part of working in a corporate company. But after two seasons with the musical, she realised she wanted to leave her corporate job and plunge into music.
Aksha (sitting) and Gouri (standing)
The two women began jamming together in Mumbai, and most of their songs appear on their Facebook and Instagram pages. One or the other is on the keyboard and both singing in turns or else together. “Our voice textures are such that they blend well when we sing in harmony,” Gouri says.
In September 2019, they released their first single, Look Inside. “We now have enough original material to perform for an hour – about 15 to 20 songs. And we also sing a few covers,” Gouri says.
They perform mostly in venues of Sofar Sounds – a music event company that organises secret gigs and small performances across several countries. It is for a Sofar event that they once opened for Damien Rice, Irish singer songwriter. The Japan and US tours happened after that.
“In our page we call ourselves a soul and pop duo. But it is more like a singer songwriter harmony duo,” Gouri says.
Check out Gouri and Aksha’s music and songs here.