What is your artist name? NIO ENDO – It means New Origin.
What kind of music do you make? Most of the music I have released is in ‘Hip-Hop/Rap’, although my roots grow from a plethora of different genres. I started writing rock and roll, punk and grunge then moved to blues and have been a blues guitarist for over a decade as of June 2020. Having written multiple unreleased songs I moved to rap music a genre I had been listening to since the early 2000s. After releasing my first track in July 2019 I gained a lot of traction in the local scene and found a voice to send my message across to the people of my community. 10 singles into my career, making hip hop music has become an integral part of my life rather than just an integral part of my playlist. I don’t mean to restrict myself and still draw influence from music as a whole and intend to work on a fusion of elements from different genres in my years ahead. My upcoming projects “Rave in a Crater” & “Floating on an Ice Ring” have a similar output as a result of this approach. Growing up 50, Em and Dre were the first few rappers to appear on my iPod alongside Jay Z as a result of the Collision Course album with Linkin Park. I was in a frenzy about rap music until the 6th grade when my musical taste took a turn towards Metal, Rock & Roll, Punk & Alternative Rock, and these were the genres that dictated my yesteryears. From “Lamb of God” to “Pink Floyd”, “Sum 41” to “Led Zep”, “Nirvana” to “the Beatles” the headbanging and daze of rock music had me thinking about the bigger picture of life an influence that is deeply rooted in my conscience. I had phases for different artists whose best hits would play on repeat at different time frames in my life. Notably Linkin Park, Lamb of God, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Kurt Cobain who had a huge influence in my life with his unique outlook. And Elvis! I rocked out to Elvis for a hot minute. Even though hip hop never truly left my playlist, my love for Hip Hop started to grow exponentially at University in Manipal, and I had a lot of ‘purist’ rock and rollers feeling like they had lost a true fan. Music is a universal united front and that is what I want it to represented as. Not a divide amongst people but a celebration of a common feeling without the need to speak, touch or see one another. It is truly an unbelievable gift to humanity and an invisible chest to the beautiful moments in history with the potential to influence the world in revolutionary manners. Present-day: Emimen never left my playlist, although, the rise of artists such as Kendrick Lamar & J Cole has had an influence in my music and I draw inspiration from their writing along with all the knowledge from the never-ending lifelong sonic pictures that have entered my brain. And I love the growth of Indian Hip Hop. It is a very exciting time in India, and I am honored to be representing Hyderabad, the NorthEast, and Manipal at this pivotal time in India’s music culture. Every word that I write is drawn from experience and I can only hope to be the spark that ignites people to take action in their own life. I have been fortunate enough to be able to make a difference in many people’s lives around me in my local, receiving many about how I made a change, and to me, I have already achieved the goals that I set out to achieve. To make a difference doing what I love.
How old are you and when did you start creating music? I was born into music, and my biggest influence musically in my life is and has been my Father. He himself is an unbelievable guitar player with a style very reminiscent of the music of his time, even though in his humble nature he would never admit to what a class act he is. My mother who has been a constant rock and the wings in my life had her share of music and my father his, and I was probably sung to, from the day I was born. So I did house performances, weddings, and possibly all sorts of weird family locations from a young age. This might be my reason to feel right at place on any stage I perform on with an absolute lack of stage fright. Dec 2009. A lack of talent in my class led me to start playing the guitar. I was put into piano lessons with Trinity in my 3rd grade which I had duly ignored and left, over the next few years. Following a failed attempt to learn the guitar after watching “School of Rock”, finally led to my compulsion to perform at our seniors farewell to make me pick up the guitar. From there Youtube, My Father, and another talented artist and a huge influence in my music, my cousin brother became my Gurus of this art. I practiced all day, even running my fingers through the air when I wasn’t wearing the strap. I fell in love, started writing music. You know, the whole 15-17 cheezy romantic songwriter phase. Thank god she broke my heart. Did wonders for my music. Eventually formed a band and started performing cover songs of RHCP, The Beatles, and a few OCs. The best and most important thing that happened during this phase was that my father taught me how the play blues. The core structure to so many other genres of music, and a simple scale like the pentatonic blues, changed my life. My school and upbringing had me writing differently but my lifelong dream of becoming a musician in a country like India was far from reality. If you would have asked me a year back to this day, I would tell you that there is no way I could’ve considered music as a possible career. July 2019: I released my first Rap song and caught the attention of the community. From there it has been a year of learning and growth. I already had the arsenal for words, so I put my effort into the production. mixing and mastering and now have the fuel to drive my passion for music to profession as a one-man army right from home.
What are your goals when it comes to your music career? On a more selfish revelation, I love music, and a lot of it is for myself. I can’t imagine a life without making music and I want to make a comfortable living doing what I love. But the energy in the crowd, the tears of sorrow, the uncontrollable ecstasy, and the honest emotions are the biggest driving forces in my effort to write down my life lessons for the world to listen to. Everyone wants to make a change in the world. For me its as much a learning journey for myself, as the people along with me. I’m still learning and I feel like it is my responsibility as an artist for me to use my platform to address issues that I believe in. I have been subject to a lot of racism and have been through my fair share of struggles in life as anyone else, which I want to bring out to the people on a positive note. “What’s done is done. Let’s take this lesson and rise to new heights instead of breaking down”. Its easier said than done, but I understand the pain and sorrow and the repercussions of these incidents on you mental health, but yeah… You can only light up a room when its dark. I feel the power to unite is beautiful. And that is another huge driving factor to making music. When I see the whole crowd in unison, enjoying the music as one peaceful army, I somehow feel like I am serving a much higher purpose in life than just the material human problems in a usually narrow perspective of life that exists today. Finally, I don’t see an opportunity to this day in my city and country for artists to be able to pick a profession like music and many other art forms without having to struggle to impossible heights. This is very unfortunate and we need this art in our life. We need a mini-renaissance over here and I very much intend to try and fight this failing system to help create a porch if not a platform in front of the industry buildings. I have been vocal about this with my campaign #ArtistFirst, and this is a war of many battles, that must be fought in a smart and enduring way and not alone.
What do you want the reader to know about you and your music?I couldn’t tell you exactly what to expect from my music; but I could tell you that, you can expect the truth and when listened to, could have a very eye-opening impact in your perspective. Although I might go off on a frenzy at times. Fair warning. It’s an exciting time in my career as an artist in a relatively new, up and coming industry in India. I make music bilingually and my upcoming first mixtape: “Dawn of the Deccan Sun” is a very exciting prospect that potentially opens the door to a lot of unique and exciting music in the months and years to come. I’m available to answer questions you have about my tracks, catch me while you can @nio.endo on Instagram. I needn’t say more. My music shall be the mediator.
IG: @Nio.Endo Twitter: @NioEndo
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nioendo
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nioendo
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4pEqatZJxCL2Lxb1wNhglR
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