Gita Buhari’s debut EP Queen of Nothing earned her critical acclaim across a range of outlets. Now she has dropped her sophomore EP Blood Lily we caught up with her to see what has changed between the releases and how she views her journey so far.

Where are you from and how has this influenced your music?

I am from Rotterdam and like with many people, my parents and friends really influenced my music taste. Rotterdam is quite multicultural and I myself am biracial so I would say I grew up with many different genres that of course influenced the music we make today. Next to that, I always see Rotterdam as a city with many contradictions. It has modern and historic parts, very industrial parts and nice idyllic places, the mentality of many people can be kind of tough but warm at the same time. I think many of these dualities also live through us and inspired us to make music that includes these different themes.  So within our music we always look to combine more organic forms of music with electronic things or a hip-hop beat with a shoe gaze guitar sound. We like to play with different elements and see how they come together. 

What does Blood Lily say about you as an artist and as a person? 

Many things, but if I have to name one or two things; it is that Arjuna and I grew as artist. I would say that in this EP we have shown a lot more of us and of what we intended to do in the first place. But also, as I grew as a person, I have a lot more confidence than I used to, which really influences the way we make and present our music as well. I used to be so afraid to show myself on stage, but also while working together with the band. Arjuna and I have been working together for many years now and we feel very comfortable with each other, which makes the creative part a lot more honest and easier. 

Does releasing music scare you in any way? 

Yes, sometimes it does, but not that much. The moment you release your music, it has been made for quite some time and it is shared with just a few people and eventually molded into what you want it to be. But it’s always a bit scary to see how the music you send into the world is received, if people like it, if people listen to it and if it is picked up. I would like to say that the number of streams doesn’t matter at all to me and in a sense they don’t, but I have to admit that it does. Sometimes I get the sense with releasing new work that it has to bring you somewhere, but to where is always quite vague. This feeling of unknowing is sometimes a bit scary. 

How does releasing music now compare with your debut drop in 2018?

Mostly the process changed. We dropped one single at that time with no clear plan whatsoever. This EP was a lot more thought through. 

How would you say you have changed as an artist? 

I’ve grown to be more confident and therefore I know more of what I want and I am less afraid to share this. I used to be super afraid to make mistakes or to show personal thoughts in writing. For many years (and sometimes still) I had the feeling that I did not always know what I was doing. Now that feeling faded into the background and I can also find more peace in the fact that I have flaws and people might see them. Arjuna and I have worked together for about 8 years now and  grew comfortable with each other on a personal and on a creative level. These things really influenced the way we make music. And I think when we made 'Queen of Nothing’ we were still figuring a lot of things out musically/technically. 

How does it feel seeing your music so well received? 

A little unreal; I can hardly grasp sometimes that there are people out there that listen to us. But now that I think about it, it makes me feel good.

Being a woman in the music industry is tough; can you share any positive or negative experiences? 

I would say that, like in any industry that is dominated by men (in this world in general), there is the amount of sexism you have to deal with. Remarks and micro-aggressions unfortunately play a role. Luckily I have a team around me where there is room to talk about these things and where people are quite aware of gender inequality and other forms of injustices. I would say there is quite some focus on one's appearance as a woman in the industry, which is often implicit but I might have internalized this. I think it’s a lot more accepted that men go up on stage in jeans and T-shirts and although I love to dress up, I think the main focus when you are a musician should be the music. Also, sometimes I feel a bit pushed in the box of a genre where we are mainly in because I am black. On the other hand, though my experiences in being a black woman are used thematically within my lyrics, in the creative process and working together with Arjuna, I hardly think about the fact that I am a woman. It is not something that is on the foreground which I can also appreciate sometimes.

How does the relationship with your partner impact the music you make? 

So just like with my musical partner Arjuna, I have been together with my partner for about 8 years now. And with this EP I chose to write about love and my relationship more than ever before. Sometimes I use situations that happened in our relationship as an inspiration and then it starts leading its own life in the lyrics. I like to keep a balance in how much personal stuff I put in there and in keeping things open for interpretation. But I notice that I am more comfortable with writing about personal stuff. Also because writing feels quite safe because people rarely ask what certain lines are about. Of course my partner sometimes reacts with a ‘Wait, is this about us?’ and asks for an explanation and then we just talk about it. For a long time I thought I could only talk about the hardships in love like fear and insecurities but our track ‘Black Water’ is the first song that I tried to express my gratitude for the love we have.

Working with a live band must carry with it so many creative benefits, how does this differ from studio work and recording over beats? 

We now do a semi live set when we play live. So it is mainly Arjuna and I on stage and sometimes there is a third person joining us for extra keys or a guitar. We have played with a complete band which was also really nice, but since we are the ones that mainly create the music, we really like to keep it to just the two of us. 

What sort of music do you find yourself listening to, any artists we should check out?

It really differs from time to time what I listen to, but these days I listen a lot to Big Thief. 

You go to the shop for a drink, what is that one impulse buy you always succumb to?

So this summer I am addicted to Elderflower syrup. I don’t think I do many impulse drink buying. I feel like, next to my Elderflower drink, I mainly drink water, coffee and then sometimes alcoholic beverages like prosecco, wine and beer. And Arjuna and I are both big tea drinkers. Although very different types of tea, he likes his teas as black as possible, I prefer light teas like chamomile or vervain. 

And finally, with Blood Lily just dropping, are there plans for live shows and/or tours? 

We just had our EP release shows in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. We hope to do some shows from the beginning of the fall at nice festivals and venues. Follow us on our Instagram or Facebook to stay up to date on future gigs!