Life and Work with Shivani Bhatt

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shivani Bhatt.

Shivani, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started singing when I was eight years old and sang in choirs etc. all throughout grade school. I grew up in a tight-knit Indian community in Rochester, NY, so I also grew up listening to and attempting to sing Bollywood music – and very little classic rock. In college, I started to play in bands – and while things started out more jazzy, over the last few years I started to dig into classic rock and have fallen in love. What I didn’t dig into growing up is now like a tractor beam for me – and to that end, my band VICODA is an alt-rock band with a diverse set of classic and 90s rock influences.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road! Haha, I don’t think it’s smooth for anyone I’ve ever talked to, and I’m practicing leaning into the uncomfortable bits because I think that’s where I’ll grow the most. The biggest area in particular that I’ve struggled with – and am still working on if I’m being 100% honest – is owning my own expertise and power – and doing that in a way that doesn’t ruffle feathers, or create obstacles to getting buy in. I’m still learning, and I still fail, but my advice to other women is to spend time owning their own power and expertise – it’s essential for us to know what our power is, define it, and live in it. This is something I think we need to do for ourselves before we go out into the world – I think this is something that’s about no one else. Then, we can figure out the places how we want to show up in the world – but I think that is difficult to do without really knowing yourself and your strengths.

Please tell us about your band.
VICODA is an alt-rock band based in Denver – we are known for electric performances and strong songwriting. I think another area that sets us apart is being fronted by an Indian-American woman! I say this not because I want to toot my own horn – but rather, growing up, I didn’t have a ton of role models that looked like me and faced race and gender challenges. A lot of these challenges show up in our songwriting – and not that every song is about a race issue – in fact, our bass player and I write a lot of the lyrics together and will write about many other topics – but we have songs like our new single “Wild” that are about positive (and fiery!) female sexual energy. We also have songs like a previous single “Blue Blood,” which was literally written about how gritty we women are when we’re up against challenges, and specifically has a lyric “A general never rests ’til HER enemy defeats” – because you don’t often hear “she, her” pronouns alongside the word “general.” This is really important to me because I want to be the change – and our lyrics and performances are one small way we do that.

There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
I suggest starting with people who you feel a connection with. We’ve all been there before – we’re at a networking event or even meet someone new, and think, “I like this person!” My suggestion is to follow that instinct! Every time I’ve followed this instinct, it’s helped me find a mentor or advice from someone who’s been there before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vicodaband.com/
• Email: vicodaband@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vicodaband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vicodaband/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/VICODAband

Image Credit:
Jordan Hansen for the action shots (socialmedia: jordanthansen)
GieseMedia/Greeblehaus for the headshots (nature shots) (social media: @greeblehaus)

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