Songwriter Frizzell D'Souza Opens Up About Her Artistry, Her Latest EP & Her 9-City-Tour

When the world changed during the pandemic, something we didn’t count for, was how it would fundamentally change how we discover music. While many artists started to do covers to keep the momentum going, and others went live every night to combat the growing loneliness we all felt. Some artists dived into creating original music in a way they had never before: by recording from bedrooms and collaborating virtually. Most musicians I knew, did a little bit of all three. I talk about the pandemic because that is when Frizzell D'Souza’s music entered my life. My brother shared her music with me saying, "I think her music is very much up your alley.” And boy was he right. It is also befitting to talk about the pandemic because that was a pivotal moment in the journey of Frizzell D’Souza, as an artist. 

When I discovered her back then, I started listening to her covers and soon chanced on her original track ‘Drown Away’.  And while my taste in music changes on what seems like a weekly basis, this track remains on repeat, almost five years since my discovery of her music. Brought up in Mangalore, and often driving to the coast in her family’s car, the song was a wistful track that drew from what seemed like personal memories and spoke to childhood fears we're all familiar with.

Two years later, she wrote and released the beautiful, torment-filed track ‘Just As Easily’, which soon became one of my go-to songs when I knew I needed a good cry. The song was raw, and spoke to the human condition of love and the bittersweet way in which hope refuses to leave, even when we know it should.

The first time I saw her live was when she was finishing up her 9-City tour with a live set at Sofar Sounds Kochi, for her recently launched EP ‘In My Asymmetry’. The track ‘Paintbrushes On The Ground’ that spoke to the trials of the creative process and the title track ‘Symmetries’ is a beautiful ballad that talks about accepting one’s self in all their asymmetry, in a world that expects us to fit into neat little boxes. Perhaps it is her sheer relatability that has contributed to her success as an Independent Indian singer-songwriter. To learn more about Frizzell’s artistry, I had a chat with her where we talked about everything from from her beginnings to her journey with her latest EP. 

Give us a little background of yourself, in your own words.

Though I currently live in Bangalore now, I’m originally a coastal Mangalorean kid born and raised. I was a rather curious child growing up. I had one foot in every door across arts, sports, music, and academics. So having tried my hand at multiple things in school, I realised I had an aptitude for an area where science and art merged. So I picked architecture as my undergrad course, and frankly enjoyed every bit of it! At the heart of design and music, it was witty storytelling that always piqued my interest.

Tell me about your journey with music on a personal note, and how you started to write your originals.

My shenanigans with music, in hindsight, came from a mix of being in a convent school and from my dad’s love for collecting music. Having been in the Indian Navy, he travelled often and collected CDs and cassettes of international music from foreign countries the ship would dock at and bring them home. Music seeped into my daily life very organically before I realized my dependency on it.

Studying architecture was something I was certain of. I absolutely loved studying it throughout college. Music stayed a hobby. I posted videos online and somewhere during the pandemic I started writing my own music, until one day it was too big to be just a hobby.

Since 2020, your presence and listeners have grown a lot. I’d love to know your thoughts on the songs that you think struck a chord with your fans and how it has further led you on your musical journey.

It’s hard to form one solid answer here. But at the core of it, you realise it is this: the songs that do the best, are the ones most honestly and authentically written. When you’re not trying to be someone else; when what you’re trying to say, be it the lyric, melody, or rhythm, comes from a sincere place of authenticity, I believe that’s when it strikes a chord.

Could you tell us more about your latest album and about the 9-city tour that you just recently concluded?

My latest record, 'In My Asymmetry', is largely an autobiographical narrative of the way I’ve experienced certain things in life. At the core of it is the universal theme of love, but in the context of friendship, family, and death.

It was the most fun dabbling in new sonic scapes while producing it with Aadarsh Subramaniam. You’ll hear subtle layers of electronica on top of the more familiar acoustic sounds.

I had the absolute joy of going on the road with this record across 9 cities including Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysore, Pune, Goa, and Kochi. It’s an inexplicable thrill to meet fans because they are pretty much the reason I get to do what I do. Most touring is frankly just getting from one place to the other while being sleepless and exhausted. But the one hour on stage, with people singing your lyrics back to you, makes every single moment worth it.

You’re one of a cohort of up-and-coming female singer-songwriters in India with English originals to have broken through. What are someof the responses from your listeners that you can recall, that you think have contributed to your growth?

I owe my initial growth to the consistency with which I posted cover videos online. That’s where a large chuck of my listeners found me and crossed over with me to my original music. A lot of the tour attendees didn’t miss the chance to tell me which cover video they discovered me from, or how they’d religiously watch my Instagram live every night during the pandemic.

Of late, it’s been nice to have young girls tell me that they’re motivated to play more guitar after watching me play, instead of performing to a track. Admittedly, I’m no great guitarist but if what little I play of the instrument has inspired someone else to pick it up, I’m thoroughly fulfilled.

Could you tell us more about how your identity has driven your music, both sonically and thematically?

Studying architecture gave me a hold on how to translate an abstract idea into a tangible form. So articulating an idea into a song came easy. Having had no significant training in the technical side of being a musician keeps me busy with practice now. I learned the guitar by exploring my way around the fretboard on a trial-and-error basis, and it’s the most fun!

What does it mean for you to be a homegrown Indian musician?

I’m proud to be a tiny part of the giant tapestry that is the Homegrown Indian artist community. There is always so much to learn and appreciate. I hope to stick around and grow and be a support for emerging artists.

Follow Frizzell here and listen to the EP below

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