WiSH girl band
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The four-member pop girl band W.i.S.H. (World Inka Stage Hai), is back with their latest single ‘Therapy’, which touches on toxic relationships, red flags and detoxing, through an “upbeat declaration of freedom.”
Launched in March 2024 by composer & producer Mikey McCleary in association with Sony Music India, this Mumbai-based band creatively conveys the importance of reclaiming one’s narratives and self-worth in a generation of complicated relationships.
W.i.S.H. band members include Ri (Riya Duggal), Sim (Simran Duggal), Zo (Zoe Siddharth) and Suchi (Suchita Shirke). Speaking to The Hindu, the W.i.S.H. girls who were in Bengaluru recently, discuss the inspiration behind their new song.
“With ‘Therapy’, what we were really able to do was draw on our experiences. We felt we were able to relate to what the song had to convey, and we hope so will our listeners,” says Sim. The band works collaboratively by brainstorming and incorporating everyone’s ideas. “Something about it being a breakup song, about letting go and moving on, as well as the music just felt right,” she adds.
WiSH girl band
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
W.i.S.H. is India’s first girl group in almost 20 years, making them unique in the Indian music industry today. “From the minute we debuted, we already knew the audience was there,” says Ri. With the support they received from the beginning, they realised that many were glad to finally experience a pop girl band in an Indian setting, complete with various cultural elements.
“Our major goal is to fill that gap and bring fresh dance music, with multilingual twists,” says Ri. Discussing future collaborations, Suchi expressed her interest in Afro and Spanish music. “Something about the way Spanish sounds…Hindi and Spanish go really well together,” adds Sim. The band hopes they have kickstarted a new genre in the country — one that is neither Bollywood nor indie.
Combining various cultural elements and creating a context for their music involves an extensive creative process. For the W.i.S.H. girls, each song is different hence they “don’t follow a formula”. At times, they write over a beat suggested by their producer Mikey McCleary. Attempting to “level up” the energies of their previous songs, ‘Lazeez’ and ‘Galti’, McCleary added various “quirky elements like the graveyard of memories” and experimentative costumes in their music video.
With changing formats of listening to music and short versions of ‘trendy’ songs on social media, W.i.S.H. feels confident that their music will not be lost in the short-lived algorithm.
“We don’t like making music for the trends, we don’t think about what will make it a hit,” says Zo. The band aims to find the right balance between making music for the love of it and creating their own signature sound through music and dance. “The thing about good music is that it transcends time,” says Suchi.
Hinting at their next release, the girls say their next song is a “complete 180 degree shift” from what the band has delivered previously.
Therapy is now out on all streaming platforms
