If you have scrolled through TikTok lately, you may have come across sisters Kiran and Nivi. The duo has become known for their harmonies, emotion filled lyrics and classical Indian inspired covers of songs such as “Never Enough” from The Greatest Showman and Sia’s “Elastic Heart.”
Now they are creating their own music. The latest self-produced single, “Is There Peace?” pulls inspiration from Sri Sathya Sai Baba and takes a look at the world today.
Check out what Kiran and Nivi had to say about the single, TikTok and the impact of music on their lives.
How did you two first get interested in music?
When we were about 3 years old, we didn’t speak like any normal baby. We had a lot of speech problems which worried our parents, so they took us to a speech therapist. But, that didn’t help much as we were still stammering and couldn’t speak normally. Our parents went every Sunday to an Indian church, and the host asked our parents, “Why can’t you bring your kids here?” Our parents were afraid that we would make too many noises so they were hesitant. But, they brought us to church the next week, and to their surprise, we were so quiet and obedient. After a few weeks, the host asked our parents to make us sing a small Indian devotional hymn the next week. Our parents were really doubtful as we couldn’t even talk so how can we sing. But, having faith in god, our mother taught us our first small Indian song. Believe it or not, we sang it in perfect pitch and rhythm the next week. After that, our speech improved substantially and became normal. Music is literally a miracle in our life and we can’t imagine a life without it.
Who did you listen to growing up and do they have an influence on your style today?
We sing a lot of types of music, Carnatic Music (South Indian Classical music), Pop, Hip-hop, Bhajans (Indian devotional Music) etc. So, we listen to a whole lot of artists ranging from Indian to Western music: The Beatles, Michael Jackson, A.R. Rahman (Indian Film Composer), T. N. Seshagopalan (Carnatic Music Vocalist), Demi Lovato, Adele, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Charlie Puth, etc. These are just a few but there are many more. We feel that learning so many types of music and listening to different artists influenced our style a lot in songwriting. It has also helped our songs to have a unique sound that stands out.
Why did you decide to start TikTok?
We literally just started it for fun. We didn’t expect anything to come out of it. It is so heartwarming to see the appreciation and positive comments coming through!
What has been your favorite Tik Tok video that you have done so far?
We would say “Elastic Heart” by Sia. That just hits straight to our heart.
I love the way you often weave Indian Classical sounds into a lot of your covers. Why is it important to you that you include those elements in your music?
Indian Classical music has been our start and has helped us majorly in so many different ways. This music is one of the most unique and complex forms. It’s so different that we thought we should blend it in our pop songs. Also, this is our identity and we believe that showing this identity of ours will make our music more global and reach more people.
You two are twins. What has it been like to be able to work with your sister?
It is really cool to be a twin! In fact, we are fraternal twins which most people can’t believe. Sometimes, when we perform on stage, we can often read each other’s mind so we will know exactly what the other person will do next. Even though we are twins, we both have a lot of different opinions about many things. Regarding music, we have a lot of arguments on a daily basis with exchanging musical ideas which almost we can never agree on but, eventually we agree on one thing.
What inspired you to write “Is There Peace?”
With all the violence that happened with George Floyd and many others, we wanted to vent out our frustration in a song. We wanted to convey a message that’s so simple and apt for people to follow. A quote from Sri Sathya Sai Baba, “There is only one religion, the religion of love; There is only one language, the language of the heart; There is only one race, the race of humanity” After reading this quote, we really thought this is so perfect for the time and exactly what we wanted. So we used this quote that really drove the spirit of the song!
What was the writing and production process like?
This one we actually finished writing the song in a day! We both produced this ourselves, which took a little while but we instantly got a tune in 10 minutes that connected to what we really wanted to talk about. It was great and exciting for us to work on this song!
What was the creation process like for the cover artwork?
Before we released the full song, we released a 1 minute clip of the song on Instagram and Facebook. We didn’t expect so many people to react so positively and they all really wanted the full version. Through that, one of our friends really wanted to do the artwork for this song as he really connected with it. So, we went with his artwork, which shows diversity and unity through different colored hands touching the Earth!
What can fans look forward to next?
We are in the process of writing new songs and we can’t wait to release this next one which will be a really different vibe. We can’t wait to share it with our fans!
What is one quote that you have heard or that you go by that you want to ECHO out to the world?
Follow your heart and passion and don’t give that up for anyone or anything!