I could’ve done a better job with Armaan: Alycia Dias

Emerging singer shares her ‘Coke Studio’ experience and formulation of band alongside pianist Mubashir Admani

KARACHI:

Ask a singer why they pursued music? The firsthand cliché that will be thrown at you is, “I was born to play music.” The scenario with Alycia Dias is however slightly different.

The emerging singer breathed her first in a house that was run by music playing. Her father Max Dias is a renowned session musician of Karachi’s local circuit who has performed with the likes of Atif Aslam, Hadiqa Kiani, Haroon and Zoe Viccaji. Alycia’s career choice had to be a no brainer.



“It’s not just because of my family. I was good at it ever since I was in school. I was one of the most vibrant members of our school choir,” she tells The Express Tribune. Even though she came to the fore with her short and sweet appearance on Coke Studio Season 8, she has been around in the music scene for quite a while now, with dozens of popular TV serial OSTs to her credit.

Read: Coke Studio: Pulling the strings tight

It all started for Alycia with Awaaz Banaye Star, a singing reality show that gave her a chance to see herself perform on TV.  “The show gave me my first taste of stardom. It was followed by numerous offers from music directors for a variety of projects. It was quite flattering,” she says, adding that after careful deliberation she chose Waqar Ali’s offer and hasn’t looked back ever since.

However, she does not see herself in the playback sector for long. “It has become too monotonous and one-dimensional. It doesn’t excite me anymore,” she adds. Alycia says most of the songs are mainly depressing barring a few Turkish serial OSTs that allow some room for experimentation. Even with the rebirth of the film industry and chances that lucrative offers will come her way soon, Alycia’s ambition of establishing herself as a pop musician remains undeterred.

Basking in the glory of her Coke Studio stint these days, Alycia feels that it was a seminal learning experience for her. “I still feel my performance could have been better,” she says, mentioning her collaboration with Siege on their song Armaan. “I felt my singing was very straight since I was trying to play safe unlike Junaid who seemed to fully enjoy his performance,” she adds. Although excuses simply do not work with the singer, she feels constant chops and changes in the song till the very last minute affected her performance.

Read: Coke Studio 8: Still haven't found what they're looking for



Outlining her plans for the future, the singer says she is soon to form a band, named Ally & Moby, alongside frequent collaborator and former Coke Studio house band member Mubashir Admani. She says her partnership with Admani is an ideal combination. “Our style of music is more disco, pop and funk hence we decided to pool resources and produce music together,” she says. The band is set to belt out its debut single next month.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2015.

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