Why did you choose Miami to make the “Give Me Love” music video?
The song has a really tropical, carefree and positive vibe, and I feel like Miami embodies all of those qualities as a city, both in terms of the location and the people. Also, Daramola, the vocalist, lives in Miami and I was down there for Miami Music Week this past March, so we just decided to make it happen!
How do you choose the talent you worth with whether its a song, a video, an art project, ect.?
It honestly depends. Daramola and I have worked together on a bunch of different projects and we just have this really awesome natural chemistry together as artists and creatives, but with other people I'm always looking for a natural vibe between us. I've found that forcing a record between two people who wouldn't otherwise get along as friends rarely works.
Where did the name ShiShi come from?
My parents used to call me ShiShi growing up! (My real name is Aasheesh)
Biggest musical influences?
Growing up, Michael Jackson and Led Zeppelin were huge inspirations for me – Michael Jackson simply because he was the greatest and most talented entertainer I had ever seen, and Led Zeppelin because their songwriting, arrangement and production was so groundbreaking and versatile – they dabbled in so many different cultures and genres but still stayed true to their classic rock routes – I always appreciate and get inspired by artists who can take risks like that because that's one of my big goals as an artist too – I feel like Diplo and Major Lazer have done that a lot for electronic dance music in more recent years, so in terms of modern artists, they are my biggest influences right now.
Favorite live show you’ve been to & why?
I could never choose just one so I'll just say that seeing Tyler, The Creator at Coachella this past Spring was pretty amazing – the energy he brought to his performance, the versatility of sounds in his set, the stage design and lighting – everything was just incredibly unique and artistic and high-quality – even though I'm not a rapper, I envision my shows to one day have a similar impact on people in festivals all over the world.
Upcoming plans worth sharing?
I have a bunch of new music coming out in the fall, and before that I'm dropping my second music video, for my track “Damelo,” at the end of summer – I won't give away too much but all I can say is it's super unique and I don't think anything has really been done in quite the same way in dance music yet, so I'm super pumped to share it with the world 🙂