ISHA - What You’re Seeing (EP)
“What You’re Seeing” is new EP from Amsterdam/London-based 23-year-old producer, artist, and multi-instrumentalist ISHA. The release features previous which saw support from Deb Grant & Tom Ravenscroft - New Music Fix (BBC 6Music), BobaFatt (Soho Radio), Dom Servini (Jazz FM), Jyoty (Rinse FM), Stereofox and extensive airplay on FIP Radio France.
“What You’re Seeing has two sides. One is the learning I’ve done from every collaboration/collaborator I’ve worked with. The other side is me. It’s a raw depiction of me, and I’ve tried to push my boundaries by adding my own vocals as well as mixing the whole project myself” - ISHA
The “What You’re Seeing” EP and showcases ISHA’s vision of “musical connection and open collaborations driven by pure joy” and features Max Rad, Joe Hertz, Alfie Neale and Jack Howard. “With every track I felt a little more confident to take the lead and challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone, even leading me to experiment with my own vocals,” ISHA adds. Each collaboration has contributed to a development in ISHA’s sound and helped her grow as a musician. The creation of the EP has parallelled with changes in ISHA’s own life; moving to London, having new experiences, and growing as a person.
Focus track “Undone feat. MAX RAD” brings the whole EP full circle. Of the collaborators on the EP, MAX RAD has helped ISHA grow in confidence as a vocalist and a songwriter. “What You’re Seeing comes closer to showcasing my full abilities as a musician and showing that sometimes with the help of others you can uncover your full potential”, she adds.
With the rhythm section as the foundation for all tracks on “What You’re Seeing”, ISHA began with drums before dragging the bass – her primary instrument – out of the background and into the forefront of the track. The resulting sound is rooted in funk, while the production leans into ISHA’s electronic sound. With influences from the 70s and 80s funk, hip-hop and jazz scenes, melding alongside modern-day acts like SG Lewis, Jungle and FKJ, ISHA creates her own blend of broken beat-adjacent jazz-funk on the EP.
ISHA’s debut EP “Bending Colours”, released on UK imprint JuiceboxFM in 2023, received support from BBC 1Xtra, Jamz Supernova and Foundation FM. With her one-woman solo live set, ISHA started touring the Netherlands and the UK in the same year, playing stages across London Jazz Festival, Bird, Paradiso, Brixton Jamm, 91 Living Room, London’s 100 Club, ADE and Mysteryland Festival. As a developing artist and bass player, she got the opportunity to support Adi Oasis and Miranda Joan and open for Franc Moody in her hometown of Amsterdam, before joining Franc Moody for the duration of their Latin-America tour.
ISHA has hit studios with acts like Blue Lab Beats, Franc Moody, BINA., Emilia Anastazja, and Close Counters amongst others in the last year. Trying to fight the stereotype of being assumed to be a singer-songwriter as a female artist, and fighting the common preconception that a woman on stage is likely not to be a producer or gifted multi-instrumentalist, ISHA has strived to collaborate with male vocalists on her new project. This journey has led to her experimenting with her own vocals, both as backing vocals and taking the lead top line on one of the tracks. On her second EP, ISHA takes charge of her own journey as a young producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.