Songwriter Shayan Italia has just released his latest single “Warriors”, a dramatic, confident song that will effortlessly lift you up if you are feeling down. With beautiful piano accompaniment, encompassing production, and Shayan Italia’s versatile voice, “Warriors” is a song that will have you dusting off and preparing for the next battle.
“Warriors” bypasses an instrumental intro and enters with an echoing, whispered verse featuring Shayan Italia’s emotive, striking voice that delivers each word with enthralling intensity. A swirling storm of harmonies enters adding an optimistic, glowing energy that leads up to the chorus that sings “We are warriors, we don’t back down”. Elegant, reverberating piano chords drive the song with a steady rhythm while leaving plenty of space for the lyrics to flourish.
Born in India, Shayan Italia is a British musician who has turned to music to deal with the hardships of losing his parents at a young age. His incredibly deep and hopeful music showcases Italia’s fighting spirit, and his latest single “Warriors” is no exception. The incredible lyrics paired with Italia’s unique voice and intricate production make “Warriors” a song that will resonate with anyone who has ever needed some encouragement to keep fighting.
Written by Katrina Charles
Q&A with Shayan Italia
Q: “Warriors” is a very uplifting song. Tell us about your creative process with this track.
SHAYAN:WARRIORS happened by chance. It wasn’t a song that I was looking to write, but with all of us locked in our homes, it just came to be and felt right. But the creative process of this song was more complex than any other I’ve written, purely because there could have been a number of directions I could have taken for this, but chose to keep it as open, as REAL and authentic as possible. I wrote 3 versions of the song but eventually chose the commercial release version, which felt to keep the listener interested, as the song in certain ways, is unpredictable. Like when the song starts, you’d never think it’s going to become this epic kind of anthem once the chorus drum kicks in. It’s like getting into a station wagon, seeing this title red button and thinking “I wonder what this does”, pushing it, and then that same station wagon becomes the BATMOBILE. Ha ha. Also the track was recorded without any metronome, just me playing the piano and singing live and then I started to add in all the elements. But underneath, it is only a piano playing. Not even a bass guitar!
Q: Is there anything specific that you hope audiences get from this track?
SHAYAN:WARRIORS is very empowering in its melody, lyrics and message. Many say it belongs in a film, perhaps the ending of a big game soundtrack or a GLADIATOR type of film. The words are incredibly uplifting and there is an underlying lesson to be learnt from this track, which is “We stand, We rise, We fight, We fall, We get back up as if nothing happened at all”. That last line especially is what defines the weak from the strong; the followers from the WARRIORS! WARRIORS is a song for every man, woman and child out there, especially in these trying times of ours. It has a universal message of hope, or belief and faith. We’re all capable of incredible things. We just need to find where we belong and how to use our own unique gifts for the betterment of mankind. I always say: If your life is driven by money and success, your story will echo till the day you die. But if your life is driven by purpose and the betterment of mankind, your story will echo through the ages”.
Q: “Warriors” also features your strong voice and impeccable composition. What is your musical background?
SHAYAN: I started writing songs after losing my Mum at a young age. My Mum asked my Dad to buy me a piano before she died. She never lived to see me play it. I’ve been writing songs ever since and the catalogue is now over 100 songs strong. I don’t have any formal musical training but have completed courses in sound engineering and music production to an effect that has helped me greatly along the way. If you feel WARRIORS was well recorded, then I’ll thank my teacher of my recording course. He’ll be pleased! I think the world is changing rapidly. We now all possess the tools in the palms of our hands to self educate, discover and create things out of nothing in multiple fields. There are incredibly talented video editors out there who have never done a course on video editing and perhaps know more than all the knowledge base as they are CREATING the future within their craft, pushing the envelope daily. There are musicians, video bloggers, songwriters, social media influencers all doing amazing things technologically in their own fields of expertise to really master content creation and the future looks very bright. The key is persistence, hard work and perseverance. In my book here’s how the formulae works: HW X P2 = S (Hard Work x Persistence x Perseverance = Success).
Q: Who are your musical influences?
SHAYAN: I listen to a lot of melodic pop and this ranges from the old greats, classics, to even the new age dance numbers. The key for me is the song has to have a TUNE. Right now my favourite track on Spotify is called “Dangerous Game” by Klergy. I discovered it while watching a TV Show.
Q: You had quite a debut. Do you have any future projects you would like us to know about?
SHAYAN: I’ve just launched my YouTube Channel (she’s a baby), which will be my hub for hopefully creating a community of people that enjoys my two passions which are Music and Wellness. It’s a long long journey ahead of me and I aim to make it happen slowly in baby steps, one video at a time. I’m also launching my flagship wellness app called START which launches later this year on the App Store and Play Store globally. If I can bring in music and wellness under one roof in perfect synergy (as music is a state of wellness), then that would make me very happy.
Interviewed by Sarah Scott
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