For Siddhartha Singh, it all began with a guitar, picked up when he barely twelve years old, without much of a plan behind it. Growing up wasn't spent in one place, either. His father's job in the army meant that his family moved around a lot. Singh changed eight schools across multiple cities by the time he finished growing up, each move bringing new people and new music to listen to.

By 2021, it turned into something more regular: evenings spent performing in cafes, mostly other people's songs. Then in 2024, he started writing his own songs, and everything since then has been his doing his own work.

Somewhere along the way, back in school, he made a friend who played guitar well — blues, mostly — and watching him play left a real mark on Singh. This friend was one of the early influences on his musical journey, long before he had any songs of his own to show for it.

The Artist

As an independent artist under the name Siddhartha, music moves between a few different styles — pop, acoustic, fusion, jazz, and one Punjabi song so far. “I didn’t plan it that way; it's just how I hear music and how I end up writing it” says the young singer adding, “My songs are usually about love, longing, and memory — the kind of feelings that are easier to sing than to say out loud”.

Siddhartha has done all his music by himself, from releasing it to the song writing, the composing, the singing, and often the video too, without a label to back him.

Siddhartha says that the music that influenced him was quite different from what he actually sings. He says, “A few influences run through what I make, some a little unexpected for the kind of music I write. Frank Sinatra's way of singing, from records I grew up on. Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar playing which I discovered in college still find remarkable. And Chris Cornell, whose honesty as a songwriter I've always admired”.

The latest chapter: Kudi Chadd Gi

Siddhartha’s latest offering is Kudi Chadd Gi, his first Punjabi song, and sits alongside earlier releases like Karde Haseen, Tu Hoja Meri Jaana, Teri Yaad Aayi Hai, and Killing Him Now. Where those songs lean soulful and acoustic, this one is brighter and more energetic. “It's been a nice change of pace to try”, says Siddhartha. Kudi Chadd Gi has the long uptempo hip hop groove with a pulsating knock to pull you on the dancefloor and an absolute banger of a track.

Reflecting on his early work, Siddhartha says that he done three English songs too, namely You, Winter is Here and Killing Him Now, all with different meanings.“Winter Is Here, my second English song goes in a different direction, with a quieter, jazz-inspired sound. It doesn't get as much attention as some of my other songs, but it's one I'm quietly proud of”. The Christmasy styled tune released in late December a few days after Christmas, has a mushy edge to it for a cozy intimate evening with its charming music video hits top space for a romance. As for lyrics, “Let's go on a long and slow walk somewhere Put on your long black boots and your cute fur coat my dear, coz Winter Is Here love is in the air”, you couldn’t ask for anything better from Siddhartha.

His music videos come together the same way the songs do, self-funded and self-managed, without a label paying for it or making decisions. “I'm grateful for the response they've gotten on YouTube; it means a lot when people connect with something made this way”.

While he has done a lot of work over the years, he is quick to state that the one song that really flipped for him is the song You, “If I had to pick one song that means the most to me, it wouldn't be the one that took the longest to write. It would be "YOU." I never planned to write it at all. I was scrolling through something on social media when it brought back a memory from my past, and the song came out in minutes. Nothing about it was planned or polished. Maybe that's why, from what I can tell, it's reached listeners in different parts of the world — not something I expected, just something I'm quietly grateful for. It wasn't trying to convince anyone of anything, just saying something people already felt”.

Speaking about how he gets down to writing a song, he says at that most of his songwriting happens the same simple way. “I sit with my guitar, and the composing and the lyrics come together in the same moment, one shaping the other as I go. I don't usually sit down with a lyric already written and then find music for it — the two arrives together, right there in the room”.

“I don't really sit down and try to write a song. Most of the time, it just shows up — in the middle of an ordinary day, out of nowhere, when I'm not even thinking about music. I just try to catch it before it slips away. That's really all this is: someone who feels something, and tries to put it into a song before it disappears”.

Beyond Music: Theater

The New Delhi based guitarist, is not only a singer, but also an actor, actively pursuing theater. He says matter of factly, “It's a different medium, but it comes from the same place: trying to tell a story honestly enough that someone else feels it too”.

Besides making more music, Siddhartha plans on exploring different genres, and perform whenever the opportunity comes up. He says. “Traveling and performing further afield is something I'd love to work toward over time”.

One more thing worth a quiet mention in his illustrious career is that alongside music, he has also spent a good number of years working in market research and strategy, professionally and with real passion for it, a background that's shaped how he puts a time capsule for song releases and understanding what reaches people. “It's part of the picture, but the music has always been the main story”.

Siddhartha has a long way to go, but for him every release feels like a small, memorable moment on its own. “There's something quietly special about watching something I made reach people I'll never meet. Looking ahead, I'd like to keep releasing music”, he signs off.

Click on the link below to watch the YouTube music video of Kudi Chadd Gi:

https://youtu.be/0P2sfnWq0Gw?si=uJt0-9akq3YUaRK_ 

For more, follow Siddhartha on all social media platforms for loads of his songs on YouTube.

By Verus Ferreira