Peer pressure to 'Pasoori'

Shae Gill discusses the checkpoints on her road to success

Shae Gill, who rose to fame with Pasoori, spoke about her career trajectory on Dananeer Mobeen's GirlsOnly show. On the YouTube show, she elaborated on her Coke Studio success story and the weight of expectations that come with fame.

The story behind the name

Shae kicked things off by revealing that her stage name is, in fact, not her real name but a shortened form of her real name, Anushae. As for the story behind both names, she explained, "Anushae is a Persian word, which a friend's mom told me means 'immortal', 'good luck', and 'good fortune', that sort of stuff. 'Shae' is just an abbreviation."

She recalled that one day, a friend of hers from university pointed out that she bears resemblance to a Game of Thrones character of the same name. "It's just a really catchy nickname, which is why my friends started calling me 'Shae'. And then my best friend Iman and I were just sitting in our hostel room, trying to think of something. And she was like, 'Why don't we go with Shae Gill?' And that's just how it happened," Shae explained.

On working with Ali Sethi

The Pasoori singer expressed immense gratitude for where she is, especially enthralled by the fact that she got to collaborate with Ali Sethi. "I have had the biggest crush on him honestly, which is why I was so nervous when I first met him! He has such an incredible personality. He's talented, he can sing in such an incredible way, and then the knowledge that he has, dude!" she gushed.

"He studied from Harvard, so that's really intimidating," Shae confessed. "So just to see him in person and speak to him was a huge honour."

A singer's secret ingredient?

On what makes a good singer, Shae believes it to be a "stereotype" that all singers come from a place of heartbreak. "Everyone gets their heart broken at some point, in some form or the other. So I don't think that qualifies," she said.

As in the case with some artists, Shae's step towards singing was an "accidental" one. In her early years, she actually fantasised about becoming a well-suited economist and carrying a nice briefcase to her corporate job. "I wanted that. I used to find it cool," she shared.

However, she took a dip into music with the help of her aforementioned friend Iman. Back then, Shae pursued music half-heartedly, mentioning that Iman would urge her to post covers. "I have sung on stage in school, but I never took it seriously," she said, adding that she was driven by the conventional belief of chasing corporate life.

"I wasn't planning on doing this. It came to me naturally," she said, revealing that it was Iman who would upload the covers on social media. Shae didn't even have the password to the handle, which is why she credits her friend for where she is today.

The two sides of fame

The 25-year-old singer finds it hard to believe that this is where she is today. However, she understands that popularity isn't always a rosy view. "I will say that the more people that know you, the more followers you have, the more criticism and hate you get in the midst of it all," she said, relating this to the wide exposure that comes with fame.

She admitted to falling prey to anger when it comes to negativity, but she would promptly calm herself down with a pep talk, reminding herself that she's a public figure and needs to sport kindness. That's how she has learned to ignore online trolling.

She further clarified that she is fine with constructive criticism; in fact, she invites feedback on her singing skills. "But not baseless hate speech," she clarified. "I don't like it when people bully you as a person."

Shae spoke up about a hate comment, which accused her of using unfair means to get ahead, back when Pasoori was released. However, the hatred doesn't overshadow the love since she also remembers the fond comments that people have directed her way.

"There have been so many, honestly. Like when they tell me they've been going through a lot and, you know, they listen to my songs and my covers and it makes them feel okay. [My music] gets them through it. So that's just a special thing to feel," she expressed, adding that these gestures in turn help her feel connected to her fans. "It gives me purpose. Like this is not all just for me, but for them as well."