What’s My Scene: Parvyn sees art as a lifestyle
In our regular Q&A column What’s My Scene, InReview speaks to emerging and established local artists to get their take on the South Australian creative scene and their place within it. This week, Parvyn revisits her first live experience: falling asleep onstage as a seven-year-old.
Where was your first Adelaide gig, and how did it go?
Oh wow, this is going back a long way but I was seven, and it was at the Lion Arts Theatre with my family. It was the first show of my dad Dya Singh’s band and my sisters and I were his backing singers. We were performing Sikh devotional music with musicians from a range of other cultural backgrounds. The most memorable story from that gig was that I actually fell asleep on stage! The show was recorded and released on cassette and CD called Australian Sikh Rhythm and Soul.
What is your artist origin story?
Singing has always been a big part of my life, starting with devotional hymns at the Gurdwara (Sikh temple), that my parents established when they arrived in Adelaide in the early 1980s. I started touring with my dad when I was in primary school, first to Singapore and Malaysia and then later to the USA, Canada and UK several times. We performed at festivals, arts centres, jazz and folk venues, Gurdwaras and private homes. I was always part of choirs throughout my school years, and in high school took jazz vocal lessons. After finishing year 12, I went to India to study Indian classical vocal and dance while doing an arts degree through correspondence.
I was in bands The Bombay Royale, BluGuru, Singh & Blanes, countless other collaborations at festivals and for special tours. I just kept following the opportunities that came my way, leading me along this path of artistic discovery and development, but it was only during the pandemic when everything stopped that I had to make the conscious decision that I wanted to be an artist for life and in my own right. I spent the time fine tuning my first solo album Sa, which eventually got nominated for an ARIA. For the first time I had total creative control, a comfortable budget to work with, and was really thoughtful about what I wanted my art to be.
What was your impression of the Adelaide creative scene when you first started, and how has that changed?
I spent a lot of my early creative years in Adelaide in the folk music scene. We enjoyed going to the Goolwa, later Victor Harbour Folk Festival as a family. Also, our entry into the scene coincided with the beginning of WOMAD which was such an inspiring place for a young musician and performer. We also spent a lot of time at different migrant community events like Hindi ghazal nights and Pakistani Sufi qawwali events. Keep in mind that I was only a child when I started so I was very much just going with the flow and found joy and fun in whatever spaces my parents took us to.
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Now being back in Adelaide I’m seeing a lot more young musicians from diverse backgrounds, with beautiful supportive artistic communities around them, especially surrounding venues like Nexus Arts, doing more contemporary original work. It’s great to see a development of blending languages, traditional sounds and instruments, with modern western music in a way that is many of our experience, growing up in Australia but with strong cultural roots from other parts of the world.
How has your own work evolved since you first started?
I have done an incredible variety of things over the years that with each experience and project I have learnt so much that in turn informs my work going forward. I’m currently in a classical enquiry phase but it’s almost getting to a point where I’m ready to cycle through the genres again from devotional, RnB and soul, jazz and folk and see what comes out the second time around. When I started I was often following other people’s visions, but now I’m taking more of a lead and creating work that speaks to me and my tastes.
What is it about your next project that you’re most excited or nervous to share with the world?
It has been an absolute dream collaborating with the Australian String Quartet and I am very inspired to continue pursuing my practice of classical Indian vocal and composition with them. I’m both excited and nervous because I am challenging myself and also in some ways presenting work that hasn’t been done before that I’m hoping speaks to both lovers of Western and Indian classical music. I want to find a smooth balance that feels authentic, and represents these worlds I love, coming together in beautiful harmony.
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Who are the artists around you that inspire or challenge you?
My number one is my husband Josh Bennett. He both inspires and challenges me on a daily basis. It can be tough constantly surrounded by his sort of musical excellence and discipline. I think we push each other to keep improving but also make sure that the focus and enjoyment is from the practice of our art, not the outcome. I see my art as a lifestyle. It starts with my immediate environment of my home, studio set up, and my practice, to the stages I’m on, and the people I meet.
Favourite Adelaide venue to play?
Nexus Arts: it’s always provided me a safe, supportive, and creative environment to share my work for which I am very grateful.
Dream artist to perform alongside?
Chris Thile: I have a not so secret love of bluegrass and mandolin and his vocal technique is excellent, but another is Nai Palm from Hiatus Kaiyote – I’m a big fan!
Favourite artist to collaborate with?
One of my favourite artists that I worked with over the years is Rob ‘Mantra’ Tremlett. I did a track with him Got Me Wrong and we did several shows and festivals together. I think he is an absolute gem in the Aussie hip-hop scene and was just so fun to perform and work with. He’s incredibly talented and professional and I hope we collaborate again someday.
Where is your next Adelaide performance, and how do you hope it will go?
I am super excited to be performing with the ASQ on Thursday November 5 at Nexus Arts. It will be the first time we are presenting all of the arrangements, that were specially commissioned for this collaboration, in one show. I will also be performing some of my songs with Josh on guitar, sitar and mandolin and the ASQ presenting some works culminating in our joint presentation. It is going to be really beautiful and something, I think, everyone can enjoy.
Parvyn will perform with the Australian String Quartet at Nexus Arts on Thursday November 5
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