Diya Anantharaman on ‘Parasitism,’ Finding Inspiration, and What Comes Next
Del Norte student and musician Diya Anantharaman (’22) describes her creative voice as “mercurial.”
“I tend to get bored extremely easily,” Anantharaman says. “I feel like that really, really manifests itself in whatever I make.”
She cites her debut album “Parasitism” – released in February 2020 under the name “Planet Bones” – as an example: not every song fits into the same genre. The first two tracks, “Something Blue” and “Sandbag,” boast two different sounds and moods. Yet, neither song fully prepares you for the album’s brutal seventh track titled “Painkill” – implying codependency – in which Anantharaman sings, “I am tired of being here for you,” against heavy electric guitar.
According to Anantharaman, the album was written at a pivotal point during which she not only had to face her own struggles, but also mitigate the pain of those around her.
“I feel like I was there for people who weren’t really there for me,” Anantharaman says. “That’s kind of where the title ‘Parasitism’ comes from.”
More recently, Anantharaman has moved past the introspection of her first album, focusing more on observation and commentary, and her work is much more experimental in terms of sound. She also feels that a regression has taken place. At nine years old, when she began to write solo pieces for the piano, her music was completely instrumental. Today, although she still writes lyrics, she feels less compelled to place vocals in the spotlight, allowing herself to explore the “gray area” between instrumental and vocal music.
In spite of having released an album and continuing to make music, Anantharaman says that she wouldn’t describe herself as a “singer-songwriter.” She doesn’t write with the intention of creating a song or a lyric—typically, she begins with writing poetry—nor does she compose music with the intention of adding vocals.
“What I’ll usually do is I’ll have an idea in my head, and then the way that idea manifests itself can be in many different ways,” Anantharaman says. Currently, her creative process is related to her synesthesia, a phenomenon that allows her to “hear colors.” Starting with a color palette or a landscape in her imagination, she composes based on what she sees.
As for lyrics and vocals, “It’s dodgy,” Anantharaman admits. “It’s just, ‘Okay, here’s a mood, here’s a scenario. I happen to be writing about this at this moment.’ You can’t really force it.”
General inspiration, Anantharaman says, comes from everywhere.
“I personally don’t think that inspiration should be limited to other musicians or to sound itself,” she says, although she adds that she does pull influence from her favorite mixes when it comes to technical aspects of production. She cites the band Talk Talk, American composer Steve Reich’s “Electric Counterpoint,” and the Sun Ra Arkestra as points of reference.
“One thing I really like about [Sun Ra Arkestra] is the amount of liberation there is in their crazy, avant-jazz chaos,” Anantharaman says. “I think that’s something that really inspires me—the chaos that they can foster, and the liberation that comes out of it.”
Still, inspiration comes from a variety of places. Discussing Planet Bones’ next album, which aims to explore how people interact with politics, political figures, and the changing world around them, Anantharaman specifically mentions today’s social and political happenings.
“It’s super hard not to let that seep into your work, especially when you have so many thoughts about it,” she says. Later, she adds that the political content of the next album will be mostly subtextual; she doesn’t aim to preach, but rather to offer commentary.
“I really do think there’s no clear-cut intention behind me making music,” Anantharaman says. “I just think it’s something that feels right to me, and it has been feeling right to me; it sounds nice, and so I keep doing it.”