Diving Into Neharika’s Whimsical Hyperpop Universe

Interview by Grace Franklin

At just 23 years old, Indiana based artist Neharika is crafting a sonic world all her own, one that glitters with vulnerability, nostalgia, and unapologetic self-expression. Blending electronic and alternative pop with visual storytelling, Neharika approaches music as both an emotional outlet and an immersive art form. With influences like Charli XCX, Ariana Grande, and FKA twigs, Neharika’s sound is bold yet deeply personal. We had the chance to talk with her about her whimsical approach to songwriting, the nostalgia behind her latest single “h2o,” and the next chapter of her ever-expanding creative universe.

SOUND STAGE: Who is Neharika as an artist?

NEHARIKA: I'm a 23-year-old girl from Indiana and I make electronic and alternative pop music. I'm also queer and Indian-American, so that's kind of my background. I feel like as an artist, I'm very vulnerable and whimsical. I feel like my music is really representative of who I am and whatever I'm going through at the time when I'm writing the music. It just connects to parts of me that aren't able to be expressed in like other ways. For that reason [my music is] very vulnerable with the lyrics and everything. As an artist, as a persona, I'm very whimsical, I really like to storytell and world build through my songs and my projects. To me, it's not just about the music because I'm a visual artist as well. I really like to create a whole world and a whole story around each release. I'm also always evolving, adapting and changing. My music is really representative of my life and whatever's going on, and as a person, I'm always changing and I feel like my music is kind of the same way.

SOUND STAGE: I love the word whimsical for you. That makes so much sense. Your world building is one of the first things I noticed about you. Who are some of your biggest influences?

NEHARIKA: Top three, first is Charlie XCX. I've been a fan of hers for like six years now, I think. It's been really cool to see her grow as an artist as well. I just love her like everything about her as an artist. She never misses on a song. Every song is so good and she has such a core cult following that was always so exciting and then obviously now she's kind of blown up. I really love how she would connect with her fans and everything and just as a performer like I've seen her three times. Last time was the sweat tour and it was truly something else, I just love her. I also like how she really embraces change. Not every artist does that, but she totally embraces the world around her. She's very adaptable, you know, whatever new challenge presents itself to her, she'll make the best of it. During COVID when a lot of people shut down, she decided to make an album during that time and document the whole process and get her fans involved, that was really special. She's like a huge inspiration for me. Ariana Grande is also a huge inspiration to me. I think that she's probably the best vocalist of our generation and I’ve also been a huge fan of her since high school. When I was starting to make music, I was really nervous about my voice and stuff. I learned a lot just from watching her interviews and seeing how involved she is in the studio recording. She knows exactly what she wants and how she layers her voice and all the harmonies and everything and the riffs that she does. It's really inspiring to me. She's like topnotch just as a singer and an artist and as a live artist too. I look up to her in an aspirational way too. She's also super vulnerable with her music. She just lays it all out there. She's definitely just overall one of the best artists of our generation.

SOUND STAGE: I agree. She's one of my all-time favorites, too. Do you think she was robbed at the Grammys this year?

NEHARIKA: Every year. And you know what? I was robbed of tickets.

SOUND STAGE: Me, too. I feel you on that. 

NEHARIKA: The third artist that I take a lot of inspiration from is FKA Twigs.  I haven't been a fan of her for as long. Probably since CAPRISONGS is when I really started to get into her. She is so good with the world building aspect. Not even just from whatever she publishes online, but even in her performances and the way she presents herself. What I also love about her is that she's an artist outside of the music as well. She's very vocal about like, you know, being a dancer and everything like that, too. She's really good at the world building and it’s not just about the music, it's about a feeling truly that she's trying to communicate. She's always evolving. No album sounds the same at all. The newest [album] EUSEXUA versus CAPRISONGS is so different but it's still really her. She's also very vulnerable and I really love her songwriting. I feel like mine is kind of similar where you don't always know what I'm talking about but it's deep, if you're listening it's there.I just I definitely really look up to her. I think she's she's amazing and she's still hasn’t mainstream recognition, but I feel like it's really coming and she just she always is going to surprise whoever is listening and watching. 

SOUND STAGE: Tell us a little bit about your music journey. When and how did you get started with making music?

NEHARIKA: I've been a musician my whole life. I started singing when I was three. I loved performing. I would just get on top of the table and start singing. I loved the Little Mermaid, I would sing all the songs from that. My parents enrolled me in carnotic vocal training which is Indian classical music. My brother and I would go to class every week and I was a kid I didn't take it that seriously but I loved it and I loved performing. I did that for about 13 years. Then in middle school I started getting more into western music. I played the obo in middle school and I really liked that. Then I started picking up the piano. That's when I started songwriting. [I was playing] something that would allow me to write songs and it was just a natural progression. People in middle school will go through an emo phase. But, at that time I went through a hardcore EDM and house phase.

SOUND STAGE: Wow. You were so ahead of your time. Being like 12 years old listening to EDM is so funny to me.

NEHARIKA: That's the first time that I felt like I was really connecting with the music that I was listening to. And then it just kind of went from there. I kept it to myself for a really long time. Then in college, I started making music with Brooks, my producer and partner. We just created something that I feel like was so raw and real and I didn’t know why I wanted to hide this. I've tried so many other things, you know, I was doing art, I majored in fashion design and nothing came to me. Nothing felt right the way that making music did. After releasing my first EP, it was so scary, but then nothing has been as difficult. After that, it flew because I realized maybe this is something that I can do. It's going to be a ton of work. I mean, it is, but I feel like it's it's worth it to me. This is what I want to do.It's been a long [journey] and a toxic one sometimes. I feel like the music has grown with me and my relationship with making music and songwriting and all that, too.

SOUND STAGE: You recently came out with a new single, “h2o.” What's the story behind the track and what inspired the concept, the title, and lyrics?

NEHARIKA: I was working with this producer that I met on TikTok. Shout out Cole 2K. He's really cool and he does a lot of 2000s inspired stuff. That's the aesthetic that I kind of connect to right now. Even dress-wise and everything. Brooks and I have been working on this project and it felt like something was missing and we couldn't exactly pinpoint it. I just was open to receiving things. He sent me this beat and it was just something so unique and it made me connect instantly when I heard the beat. It made me think of playing mermaids at the pool with my friends and I literally texted him that and so he finished the beat and sent it over. That was the exact phrase was “playing mermaids at the pool” so I wrote the entire song around that. The rest of it just flowed from there. It really is a love letter to my childhood best friends that I grew up with. They were the only people who really understood me. We were the only brown girls [in school]. We really had each other and we would always play pretend. We loved the show H2O: Just Add Water, which is where the title is from. It’s about us always playing pretend, always wanting to be older and different versions of ourselves. And now  that we are older, we always look back so fondly on the simpler times. It’s very nostalgic and sweet.

SOUND STAGE: I really love that. And same, I was an H2O girl, too! How does “h2o” relate to your past singles/ EPs? Is it pushing into new territory or refining what you've been building?

NEHARIKA: “h2o” is a new direction for me. It's the first single that we are releasing from a project that I've been working on. The project as a whole has that sparkly quality. It's all about light and ambition. It's really pushing that new direction. A lot of hip-hop and hyperpop influence in that. A lot of my music in the past has been a little bit more depressing because it's just reflective of whatever I was going through when I was writing it. I'm not in that space anymore. I'm going through different things. I really wanted to make music that was reflective of how I'm feeling right now. Not every song needs to be super deep and introspective. Sometimes it's fun to just make fun music and I can still talk about the things that I want to talk about. It was fun to explore a new direction for the sound. There’s going to be a lot of bangers. It's definitely pushing into that new direction and I'm really excited to release more stuff because I feel like people will understand more of what I'm going for. But [“h2o”] is the first introduction into the newer sound.

SOUNDSTAGE: If someone never heard of you and your music, what is the first song of yours that they should play and why?

NEHARIKA: I think that they should listen to my song “BRAINFREEZE”. That song is really well thought out and it's just so representative of me and I feel like it's really relatable for a lot of people in their 20s. It's about going to a club and being kind of unhappy with your life but getting lost with your friends and in the music and dancing your feelings away. It starts off really soft and deep and then it just gets into this pop sound. I really feel like that's representative of my whole discography. There's kind of a dichotomy between more fun and upbeat pop songs versus things that are a little bit slower paced. I specifically made that song to connect those two different parts. We also did a music video, so if you really want to experience the whole world building aspect of it, it's cool to have the visual accompaniment to that.

SOUND STAGE: What do you hope people take away after listening to your music?

NEHARIKA: Basically whatever you want to get out of it. When I make music, I make it for myself and like whatever I want to process. Even if I'm just making something to have fun, I don't really make it with anything in mind usually. In that vein, people have misinterpreted my songs all the time. But, if that's what made you connect to it, then I want that for you. I have a song called “Evil Eye,” everyone thinks that it is about people hating on me, but it's actually about religious OCD. But, if that's what made you connect to the song, I want you to feel that when you're listening to it. I hope that you have fun when you listen to my music or if you're listening to the sadder stuff, I hope that it helps you heal. 

SOUND STAGE: What can fans expect in the future? Are you going to do more albums, any live shows?

NEHARIKA: Yeah, so I have a lot coming up. I'm really just kind of getting started right now. We're working on a new project. It's going to be a really slow release process, but definitely a lot more singles. We're going to be doing at least like one to two music videos. I love doing videos to accompany my songs. I have a live show coming up on November 7th. That's kind of a while away and I might be doing more.

SOUND STAGE: Is the live show in Indianapolis?

NEHARIKA: Yes, it is in Indianapolis, so mark your calendars!

SOUND STAGE: Where are you performing?

NEHARIKA: It's at the Health Club in Broad Ripple. I do a lot of shows there. I;m excited for that one! We'll probably have a lot more live shows coming up. And yeah, merch and just a lot more fun stuff. Hopefully some unexpected stuff, too.

SOUND STAGE: Well, I'm super excited to see it. Thank you so much for talking with us today!