Saahas Patil
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Saahas Patil’s one-word description of his music is “honest.” What he means by that is he writes his songs from within. His journey is inward. The words are personal. They are about someone or something he experienced. For instance, the track ‘California’ from his debut EP, The Grays, is about his first live gig (at State Social House, a gastropub on Sunset Boulevard, California) after he moved to the US in 2015. It is a breezy yet sad song of unrequited love for a place.
The entire EP has a subtle melancholic thread running through. The album’s title reflects a realisation. “Before its release, my thoughts were often binary — either something was good or bad, black or white. However, as I underwent therapy and coped with the aftermath of a challenging breakup, my perspective evolved. I recognised the nuanced nature of emotions and experiences, acknowledging that life is rarely black or white; it’s a delicate blend of the two,” says Saahas over a call from Los Angeles.
The Grays, which won several accolades at the Annual Indie Music Channel Awards in 2021, is a pivotal moment in Saahas’s career. “While recording several songs, I grappled with personal challenges, especially the loss of my father in 2018. His battle with cancer required frequent travels back and forth, disrupting my creative process. Simultaneously, I navigated life in Los Angeles post-graduation, attempting to establish myself in the music industry,” he recalls.
While experiencing the emotions of joy and sorrow and everything in between one after the other, in rapid succession, Saahas learned what it took to live, what it was to be… Human, his upcoming album, slated to release in 2024.
“I want all of my albums to maintain a cohesive theme, creating a narrative that flows seamlessly and reflects the evolving chapters of my life,” he says.
It was a journey that began with trips to the local cassette stores in Bengaluru with his dad. “My earliest memory of buying music is getting Michael Jackson’s Dangerous when I was around three or four. My dad exposed me to various genres, including Western music like Pink Floyd, Eagles, and disco,” he recalls.
In the fifth grade, his music teacher discovered his singing talent and asked him to join the school choir. Saahas slowly discovered new artists and genres and lost himself in music. In his late teens, he joined Allegro Fudge, an acoustic rock band, where he recorded and performed until he left for LA.
Though Saahas graduated from the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, he does not consider it a defining factor in his career. “The hunger, drive, and passion for music are more critical than theoretical knowledge,” he says while admitting that the institution helped him read music and build networks.
Apart from his solo endeavors, Saahas is renowned for his collaborations. He works with skilled musicians to compose harmonies that have a genuine and passionate resonance. In 2018, he collaborated with Russian producer Vlegel for the song ‘Don’t Stop’, which got over half a million streams across platforms. Saahas also worked with composer Anthony Darlak in his short films, Unreal Estate and Long Island Wolf, which was shortlisted to be screened at multiple festivals around the world including the New York International Film Festival.
It has been over eight years in LA now. Does he feel settled now?
“Yeah, I do in some ways,” he chuckles, pauses, before launching into a mini monologue, “It has been a roller coaster because of everything that has happened both personally and in the world with the pandemic and with the music industry being, especially the performing industry being heavily impacted by the pandemic through from 2020 all the way till the end of 2021. That was when I had to rethink many things and was on the verge of changing my career path. But I’m glad I stuck with it. So yeah, I’m as settled as I can be as a musician living in Los Angeles.”