Mum’s the word

Nitesh Jhurani aka Owlist

Sometimes, mothers really do know best. Ask Nitesh Jhurani aka Owlist. The Jaipur-based electronic music producer had a bit of a breakdown in his hometown in 2017, when he felt that his efforts in gaining a foothold in the industry had come to naught. Despondent, he called his mum up - when she was visiting his sister in a different city - at 11 pm one night, telling her that he was ready to throw in the towel. That's when she asked him a simple question - "Are you making music for yourself or for other people?" In a flash, Jhurani saw the light. "I realised that it was for myself," he recalls to us.

That maternal impetus drove him to dig deeper into the art form and he released his first EP, Slides (again, it was his mother who encouraged him to upload it on a free platform, telling him that those who listen to it would, and those who wouldn't, wouldn't - it's as simple as that). As it happens, the record got its share of hits and Owlist became a fairly familiar name in Indian indie circles. And now, he's released a full-fledged album called Amoeba, which comprises 10 uncomplicated, easy-listening electronic tracks with unpredictable samples.

It's been released under the label Export Quality Records, which goes to show how far he's come because one of the reasons Jhurani felt disillusioned back in 2017 was because a deal that he was close to signing with another label had fallen through. But again, that one call at 11 pm changed his entire outlook, and there's only one person he has to thank for that. In fact, as a listener, if you enjoy the music on Amoeba, you should thank Owlist's mother, too.

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