Singing Mama's Song

Ritviz Srivastava was only 21 when he broke out as a musician with the viral track 'Udd Gaye' (2017). Five years later, he's a part of the soundtrack for the hit webseries Ms. Marvel. RD catches up with the songwriter, days before the release of his debut full-length album, Mimmi  

- Tatsam Mukherjee

For a musician bursting on to the scene with social media virality, what are the biggest challenges?

It was overwhelming at the start, even though it was all I had looked forward to till that point. I think my biggest learning in the last five years is the art of saying ‘no’. I wasn’t saying ‘no’ to anything [in the beginning]. ‘Udd Gaye’ came out in December 2017, and from January, I was playing at almost every college in the country, playing three to four shows per weekend until April. I was so burnt out by the end that I decided to take a break. That’s when it hit me that for half a year I should focus on music, and I can then tour for the remaining six. That was a major struggle because it all happened so quickly.