Alternative pop duo Bahari, consisting of singer/keyboardist Ruby Carr and singer/bassist Natalia Panzarella, have been in the music industry for a long time. They wrote their first EP, “Dancing On The Sun,” when they were all sixteen and one of the tracks on the record, “Wild Ones,” has over 40 million streams on Spotify. In 2015, they collaborated with famous producer Zedd on the song, “Addicted To A Memory.” They have toured with Birdy and Selena Gomez and released their debut album this year, “Chasers.”
Unheard Gems: Welcome to Unheard Gems! So excited to get the chance to talk with you ladies about your music!
Unheard Gems: You have quite an impressive list of accomplishments under your belts in the music industry but just looking back to your roots, how did you all start out musically and then what led you to come together to create BAHARI?
BAHARI: We’ve always been passionate about music since a young age and all decided
to pursue it. We met at a recording studio in LA and as young girls, we found comfort in each other because we all shared a love for music. We became friends really fast and started writing together. We wrote “wild ones” and that’s when we decided to be a band.
Unheard Gems: What have you seen as the journey of your band? You started out at Interscope in 2014 but then this past year left the label. What has that transition been like and what caused this change for you?
BAHARI: As artists, it’s so important to be able to write and perform the music you love. The transition into becoming independent has given us the freedom to write and have all the creative control we wanted. It has had its challenges but ultimately we are able to do what we want now and feel like we can finally give the music what it needed.
Unheard Gems: What inspires your music? I love the accessibility of your songs, I always find something to relate to when I listen, what are the key stories that shape your music?
BAHARI: We write about our experiences, the things we go through. As young girls becoming women, you go through all the ups and downs of relationships and friendships and just life in general. the stories we write about are direct experiences that we’ve gone through and feel like a lot of people go through. It’s definitely a healing process for us and hearing that people can relate is what pushes us to keep writing.
Unheard Gems: What has been each of your (or as a group) favorite song you have released or are working on and why?
BAHARI: I think we agree that our favorite song is “Wild Ones”. As the first song we really wrote together and put out it really means a lot to us and we never get bored performing it.
Unheard Gems: In your trio how does your dynamic work both as friends and co-workers?
BAHARI: We really are like sisters, we spend so much time together and really put any differences aside when it comes to our music. Ultimately our music comes first for us, but being able to do this with your best friend really makes it easier because we’ve got each other’s back.
Unheard Gems: Anything new we should be keeping an eye out for?
BAHARI: Yes! We have a music video for our song “Chasers” coming out soon + a lot of new music that we’ve been working on the past year that we are finishing up. We can’t wait to share it all!
Unheard Gems: You guys have had so many amazing experiences in the music industry, you’ve opened for Selena Gomez and Birdy, you were featured on Zedd’s last album and on a single with Grey, and probably many more I can’t think of off the top of my head. What have been some of your favorite memories or lessons learned from those experiences?
BAHARI: Our favorite memories definitely come from touring, it’s an unexplainable feeling being able to play the songs we wrote and to see people singing them back to us. Being able to connect with people on that level is a rush and reminds us why we do what we do. The Selena tour was insane, playing to crowds with that much energy was extremely inspirational to us.
Unheard Gems: We got the chance to see you live in LA at the Teragram opening for Kid Bloom. How was that show and can we expect more live performances or tour soon?
BAHARI: The Teragram show we just played was actually one of our favorite shows we’ve had in a while. We had so much fun on stage and the energy was amazing! It made us miss tour. We are definitely planning a tour soon and can’t wait to get back on the road.
Unheard Gems: I always like to ask this even though it’s a toughy, if you could recommend to us another artist you think deserves more recognition in the music industry, or an Unheard Gem, who would you recommend and why?
BAHARI: As you mentioned we played a show with Kidbloom, they are definitely ones to watch out for. Their music is really authentic and they will blow you away live. Also some of our favorites right now are Tanarelle, Amir Obe is amazing!!!, and King Princess is on repeat.
Unheard Gems: Lastly, for all of our readers, where can they find you and your music and is there anything else you want to leave us with that we didn’t talk about in our questions?
BAHARI: You can find our music on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube, pretty much everywhere but if you want to stay up to date with everything that we are doing our Instagram and Twitter is @bahari ❤️
Check out the newest Bahari music video their song "chasers"
Interview by: Hannah Schneider
Photos by Laura Epperson
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