Reena Ranger, Chair of Women Empowered, is In Conversation with Reva Rana for her regular series for ‘iGlobal’ to explore some inspirational facets from the life and achievements of prominent Global Indians.
Reva Rana is a 17-year-old British India singer-songwriter based in London. She has been singing and songwriting from a very young age and is determined to get her music heard by the world. She spent eight years studying performing arts at Stagecoach and Italia Conti but then decided to focus on creating and releasing her own music. She is currently studying broadcast and digital media and music technology at the Global Academy. Her debut EP, ‘Moodboard’, was created entirely by her at home, as well as her singles such as ‘Yellow’ and ‘There's No Sorry’.
You are a phenomenal singer-songwriter who has been singing and writing from a very young age. How did you start and what was your inspiration?
Singing has been something I've always done. My parents put me into musical theatre clubs at a young age and I fell in love with performing in front of people. I wrote my first song when I was about seven, and it wasn’t that good, but I remember loving the idea of writing how I feel.
The moment I knew I wanted to be a singer was when I watched ‘Aladdin’ for the first time and heard ‘A Whole New World’. I printed off the lyrics and decided there and then that I was going to sing for the rest of my life. Me being in love with singing and writing also stems from my mum being a singer, and my dad being a huge fan of music in general.
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Do your songs reflect your moment?
I’m 17 and don’t believe that I’ve had a ton of exciting life experiences yet; well, not exciting enough to write a song about. When I write music, I either exaggerate my feelings or write about a character or someone I know.
I’d consider myself quite emotional and really try hard to understand how people are feeling, so that makes writing songs easy. When it comes to picking songs to cover, I tend to go with songs that I can somewhat relate to, even if I’m exaggerating. I enjoy singing those types of songs as I really get into them.
What has been the lesson you have learned during the Covid-19 lockdown?
Lockdown was really important for me, as I released my first single and EP (consisting of five tracks), and wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t have all that time at home. The main thing I learned from those few months was to just focus on and be patient with myself.
Life can be difficult with social media and seeing all the things that other people are doing. I wanted to get so much done in lockdown just for the sake of doing it, but when I slowed down and understood what I really wanted to do, everything fell into place. When I took time to focus on myself instead of others, I managed to write, produce, record, and release an EP from my bedroom.
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If you could have dinner with four people, living or passed on, who would they be and where/what would you eat?
I blame my indecisiveness on being a Libra, but here are four people who would be on my probably forever long list:
Ariana Grande. She’s been my favourite artist for years, I’ve seen her perform live twice, and would LOVE to meet her and just talk about music and life.
Freddie Mercury would definitely be there too. He just seems like he was such an amazing, interesting person who would have unforgettable conversations.
Another person I would want to invite would be Harry Styles. Like Ariana Grande, I’ve been a fan of Harry Styles for years, and to meet him would be a tick off my bucket list. To have a whole meal with him would be even better.
Finally, I would want to invite Taylor Swift. A lot of my music is inspired by her and her songs never get old.
I would probably end up inviting them to my house for dinner, purely for the reason that I’m never able to choose where to eat. I think it’d be fun to actually cook our favourite dishes together, and then sit down to eat and just talk. These four artists are so talented and their music inspires me so much.
Reena Ranger is the Chair and Co-Founder of Women Empowered. In this exclusive “In Conversation” series for iGlobal, the dynamic entrepreneur-philanthropist catches up with high-achieving Global Indians across different fields to spotlight some insightful life lessons.
*The views expressed in the answers are of the interviewees.
