Aniwa: London’s Own Making Her Mark On The Indie Music Scene

Photo provided by Aniwa

Aniwa is one of London’s top emerging indie artists, having already been featured on BBC Music Introducing and performing for Majestic Casual’s Bridging Gaps event in Hackney. She has secured herself a firm position in the indie scene.

I sat down with Aniwa to talk about her experiences with trying to break into one of the busiest music scenes in the world.

“I’m more of a shy person. And I think that shines through in my performances. I tried pretending to be this confident person, and then I realised I really can’t be bothered to do that because I just end up being who I am anyway. The adrenaline makes me act the same; I can’t force myself to act like someone else.” Aniwa meets me over Zoom. After struggling with wifi connection problems for a solid five minutes, we laugh it off and immediately kick off the questions.

We delve into the various stories that brought her to where she is today: touring around London about to play at the Lexington in Islington after releasing a single with Majestic Casual. Aniwa tells me about her first guitar, her first music experiences, and how she eventually broke into the London indie scene. She's got an incredible aura that immediately puts people at ease, and her softly spoken voice is no different from her singing voice.

Photo provided by Aniwa

“I wish a relative had shoved a guitar in my hand when I was a kid, but I remember being around 10 years old, my dad bought me a guitar from Argos, I think. I was the happiest kid in the world. My mom made him return it the next day… I’m sure there was a reason, but I don’t know why. When I was 20, my friend Pitt really encouraged me to buy a guitar. So when I got my first guitar, I started learning myself and it all happened from there!”

Aniwa’s journey into her music career started there, in 2019 with a guitar and the internet to teach herself how to play. She properly recorded her first song in the summer of 2021, and she continued to consistently put out music and perform in small pubs and open mic nights. She was also featured on BBC Radio 1 Introducing this past summer, a lovely addition to her growing performance CV.

When I first saw Aniwa perform, I kept trying to figure out who she sounded like. It was at Majestic Casual’s Bridging Gaps event in Hackney. She was one of the first people to go on. Her nervous stature didn’t take away from her beautiful performance, which included little stories about her songwriting process and also announcing some unreleased songs. Her soft voice sounded like bedroom pop while her guitar carried the rest of her aesthetic with beautiful string scratches that reminded us of raw talent versus a computer-based guitar. After going to so many shows where all singers sound the same or perform the same songs, it’s almost an automatic response when you hear something different. Aniwa is uniquely herself when she picks up her guitar and softly sings a heart throbbing love song. A beautiful blend of influences such as Raveena, Beabadoobee, Alanis Morissette, and Olivia Rodrigo (I could keep going, but for the sake of word count, I’ll end it there), Aniwa cannot be pinned down into one single sound.

Photo provided by Aniwa

“I think that comes from me wanting to make music for every genre possible because I'm so indecisive. I don't have any specific artists that inspire me; it's more of a combination of people.”

Aniwa attributes a chunk of her success to her producing partner, James Casper. Casper has produced all of Aniwa’s songs, and they seem to be a tight duo. Casper regularly frequents Aniwa’s performances; he can be seen usually filming and cheering on his creative partner or even playing guitar as a duo. Casper also plays guitar in Aniwa’s current touring band. For what seems like a once-in-a-lifetime match artistically, both seem to deeply support and encourage one another.

"James makes great music...he's the reason why most of what I'm doing is happening in the first place. We met as friends, and he genuinely just wanted to work on my music because he believed in me. Since then, he's been really investing in my music and wanting to make my music the best it can be. I've got to give credit to him."

Photo provided by Aniwa

Aniwa found her band through various outlets and even by chance through word of mouth, which has led to a tight-knit four-person band that includes: Aniwa herself, Casper on the guitar, Josh on the bass, and Dan on the drum kit. Now, they’re touring around various grassroots venues in London ahead of her new EP, which is slotted to release later this year, a highly anticipated project since her continued steady successes.

With a new chapter coming in Aniwa’s career, she’s taken to the studio to experiment and divulge all emotions into this upcoming EP. Experimenting with different sounds, genres, and lyrics, as she should. She talks about her upcoming EP as an experimentation with “everything Indie rock” and with a swinging pendulum of emotions. An EP that has come a long way since the beginning of her career. “I'm really excited. It's gonna be really pretty. It'll make you sad, it might make you cry. One will make you rock out,” she laughs.

She's also collaborating with Sean O'Dowd of NewDad, a collaboration that's particularly exciting for this upcoming project. "It's gonna be angsty, pretty, ethereal, rocky! I'm so excited!"

Aniwa's newest EP will be out later this year. Until then, check out her socials and Spotify and enjoy!