A blend of ominous drums, dramatic strings, and ethereal vocals, Sanjay Sreedhar, aka SSANJAY, an Indian-American indie artist, is staking a name for himself, creating music that brings to mind artists like Daniel Caesar and Frank Ocean.
“It’s a mix of modern R&B and experimental R&B,” Sanjay Sreedhar said. “Taking influence from SZA, Kendrick Lamar and putting my own spin on it, like my Indian influence.”
Sanjay began producing music unintentionally when he and his cousins would create short films together.
“When I was really little, me and my cousins, we grew up together, we always liked to make movies,” Sanjay said. “Suddenly I realized that we needed music to go on the side of it. I started doing that and started making music for it and then suddenly when I realized that I can make my own music. It really inspired me and made me think, ‘oh I could do this a lot better if I just sat down and worked on it’ and that’s how I started.”
Sanjay makes sure that everything that he produces is genuine and authentically himself.
“I like keeping my creative process real and raw and nothing forced,” he said. “I’ll usually hum some melodies or I’m always recording things on voice memos and then I’ll come back to it later. Like when I’m biking or going outside playing basketball and then when inspiration hits I’ll sit down I’ll record something or play it through on the piano. I like to make sure that nothing’s forced and everything is natural.”
Juggling the responsibilities of AP courses and trying to build up a listener base is no easy task, but Sanjay is still determined to make music, even if it means having to give up free time.
“At times it is hard, but my passion for music always allows me to make time for it,” Sanjay said. “Even if that means sacrificing my weekends and waking up early just to make some stuff and practice instruments.”
Sanjay isn’t primarily focusing on music for his main career choice, but does plan on continuing making music on the side in the future.
“I’m really passionate about medicine and things like that but I’m always gonna keep doing music on the side so that if it works then it works.” Sanjay said.
He currently has three singles released with a total of over 3,000 streams. He plans on coming out with new music some time in the summer.
“Yes, I’m working on a new record,” Sanjay said. “ It’s a new album coming out in the summer with some music videos and a short film, so you can see that anytime in the next school year.”

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2ewSrS6QoK7mFPSeeUdr6H