INTRODUCING: Pryti
When PRYTI released her debut EP, Welcome to Pariahville, in 2013, she did not expect to see it reviewed in Kerrang! magazine. She also did not expect the review to be written by ARCHITECTS frontman, Sam Carter. “The day before [the review came out], I was thinking of moving on from music,” she confesses. “Then, I had a fan comment on one of my YouTube videos saying that they heard about me from Kerrang!. I was shocked and I ran to the local Tesco and then I found the review!”
Since then, PRYTI has released a debut album in 2015 to critical acclaim in Kerrang!, as well as Rock Sound and New Noise amongst many other publications in the UK and America, which was extremely impressive for an independent artist who runs her own record label. Sitting down with Distorted Sound to discuss her new album, Searching For Now Lost In Again, PRYTI is warm and open to talk about anything. However, one thing is certain when we sit down with her; her passion for music is deeply ingrained into who she is. And when she starts to talk, it’s easy to see why.
“I’ve always wanted to be into music and be a solo artist ever since I was little. I’ve always liked writing songs by myself. I’ve never wanted to be a huge collaborator. That’s my nature.” When she was older, PRYTI took her love of music to the next level, which would soon help inspire her career. “When I went to university, I studied Media and Marketing Management, and then it evolved from there.”
Making the jump from a degree to music wasn’t easy. “It was difficult because because before I was doing interns and temporary jobs, then my dad just said to me, ‘why don’t you try and release your own music?’. I started with writing, and I enjoyed it, and I organised recording. I knew that if it was not good, then it was a sign,” she laughs. “That is what became the building blocks of my first EP. It’s difficult at times as there’s a lot to learn, but there were a lot of things that university didn’t teach, so I’ve learnt it myself.”
Birmingham is known for it’s love of metal music; however, PRYTI never took influence from her hometown, instead preferring to take influences from elsewhere. Both her debut and sophomore album are a mixture of her own ideas and inspiration by other artists. PRYTI‘s influences cover a multitude of genres and musicians, ranging from BRING ME THE HORIZON and DEFTONES to HALSEY and SARAH MCLAUGHLIN. These influences can be clearly heard in her albums.
Her debut album, 2015’s Tales Of A Melancholic, is a doom rock album, leaning onto the heavier side of music. In contrast, her second album, 2022’s Searching For Now Lost In Again, was a much gentler approach to music; however, it still showed hints of her debut sound.
“I never want to make the same album twice,” she states. “I really wanted to go outside the box. I’m a big fan of a lot of different genres. I was really out of my comfort zone, and I really took the time with my songwriting and my voice. Buying my keyboard really helped shape this album. The songs are all my babies,” she jokes. “But the songs that explored new territories, such as Satellites and Teardrops, were really fun to record. But the hardest song was Battlefield, which took a little bit of time to get it to how [producer Justin Hill and I] wanted it to sound.”
In the nine years since PRYTI got her first review, the media landscape has changed drastically. The internet has given rise to a lot more social media platforms for musicians to make their name. Furthermore, with it becoming easier to record and upload music, many musicians are finding it hard to grab their at their chance of fame.
“I’m quite a private person, so I don’t find social media the easiest,” she explains. The chase for fame for many musicians has meant that there is always a fear of a rise in popularity being a flash-in-the-pan. “It’s like the new one hit wonder,” PRYTI acknowledges. On the other hand, the internet has meant that many music publications have moved online permanently, including NME. Whilst the lose of a physical magazine is hard, there is an upside to being online.
“You’re not all fighting for space in one magazine,” she explains. “Plus, it means that a review or a feature that won’t be in a magazine can still be published.”
Despite it being harder for musicians to get their name out there, PRYTI still has a lot of goals to fill. “I would love to do live shows, and release more music. I’d love to play Download Festival,” she explains. Some of her first live music experiences were at Download, which made her fall even more in love with music. But one of her most important goals is to sell out her own live shows. “It’s something I’d always want to do,” she smiles.
And why shouldn’t she? Her music is “for people who don’t fit in, and feel alone.” But the one thing she wants people to take away from her music is that “they can just indulge themselves in the album. My music is very imaginative, and I’ve built a whole world in my head, so if they can immerse themselves into the music, that’d be awesome.”
Searching For Now Lost In Again is out now via Welcome To Pariahville Records.
Like PRYTI on Facebook.