Deesha Sarai, born in Toronto, Ontario, is a Canadian singer/songwriter/producer. The youngest child of Indian immigrant parents, Deesha grew up with traditional expectations and not so typical dreams. As a little girl she would lock herself in her bathroom and sing to the tunes of Whitney Houston hoping nobody would hear her. During commercial breaks watching the Grammys, Deesha would race to her bedroom to give her own acceptance speech to an audience of one, ripe with the emotion and tears only a true artist could understand. But no one knew how bad she really wanted it, not even Deesha.
Deesha spent most of her time doing what was expected, getting straight A’s in school and overachieving. She began attending university at the young age of 17 on a full scholarship and by the time she was 23 had graduated from law school. Her parents were brimming with pride but Deesha was terribly unhappy and empty. It was at this point that she started making her way back to her first love – music. It was finally time to focus on what she wanted and so she walked away from what she was groomed to become and started from scratch. “This was probably one of
the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make. I didn’t have any support from anyone really. To this day people think I’m crazy but I’m done making compromises for other people.”
While her parents may not have understood, she was lucky to have a brother that equally shared her passion for music. Together they created her first single “Dried My Eyes”, with Deesha penning the lyrics and her brother producing the track. “I was driving into downtown one day and it came on the radio and I had no one to share the moment with” Deesha recalls about the first time she heard it on the radio. “I didn’t have a cell phone so I couldn’t call anyone and so I sat there and absorbed how cool it felt that there were millions of people hearing my song at that exact moment.” “Dried My Eyes” was not only featured on Canada’s MuchMusic, but also received frequent airplay on KISS 92.5 (Toronto’s largest commercial station) and CBC Radio, as well as a number of compilation spots (mp3.com’s Urban Music Compilation, GarageBand Records’ R&B Evolved, Best of R&B). At that time, Deesha also began making appearances on several of her brother’s South
Asian projects with releases spanning the globe and featuring some of the biggest names in South Asian music.
Fast forward 4 years. After countless demos and countless rejections Deesha realized that her latest demo didn’t sound much like a demo at all. With the help of a production duo from Detroit, Michigan, Deesha decided that her songs had the makings of an album and “Life Less Ordinary” was born. It began with her first single “Falling In Love” which, unexpected to Deesha, took the Canadian airwaves by storm. “Falling In Love” became an instant summer anthem and was charting with some of the biggest names in the world, yet Deesha still could not catch the attention of the industry. Not knowing when or how to quit, she forked over her own hard earned money to shoot a video to this much loved song. “It was the greatest feeling to know that people loved the song but nobody had any idea who I was. I would have conversations with people that would tell me how much they liked the song and they would be shocked when I would tell them that it was me singing it. My own friends had no clue. So I figured if no one else was going to believe at the very least I had to.”
While her life as an artist was beginning to pick up steam, her personal life was a very different story and after finally completing her debut album, Deesha unintentionally shelved it to get her life together. “It took me a while to get out of a situation where I was broke and really had no place to go. I was lucky that I have a great sister and a forgiving niece who let me hijack her 8x6 closet of a room for 6 months.”
Even still, in 2005, Deesha’s collaboration with Canadian rapper Arabesque on “Stardust” became a heavily rotated single and much applauded video. By the beginning of 2006, Deesha had independently released 2 singles, won several songwriting competition accolades, written for a major label artist, and had become a constant on the now defunct MTV Desi. Having hosted and performed on the “Live from Puerto Rico” special, as well as “Maximum Party,” Deesha was invited to co-host the MTV Desi “Top 10 Desi Countdown.” She was also featured on an artist spotlight on MTV news that year.
Finally in October of 2006, “Life Less Ordinary” saw its debut. This was no ordinary debut. Completely self-penned, co-produced and
independently released, “Life Less Ordinary” garnered the respect it deserved and was nominated for the 2007 Juno Awards as Best R&B/Soul Recording of the Year.
Leading up to the awards, CTV, one of Canada’s largest television networks, and MTV Canada, aired a segment with Deesha hosting her own shopping trip for her first ever red carpet.
In 2008, Deesha enjoyed reading her name in the credits of the Oscar nominated film, “The Wrestler”, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. Her song “Let Your Freak Out” can be heard playing during one of the most revealing scenes of the movie.
Now, in the year 2010, Deesha too is ready to reveal her most intimate self with what can best be described as an emotional retro-electro-pop journey through heartbreak, hope and love. From the Bollywood inspired ‘Got Me Sayin’ to the painfully honest “Let Me Go”, Deesha’s sophomore release will be an unexpected surprise to many, but as far as Deesha is concerned, she has finally found her voice. Inspired by the sounds of her youth, including classic Bollywood, Pop, Rock and R&B, Deesha is itching to put it all on the line. “I have never been more proud of something I have created…ever.”
CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS:
Deesha - Falling In Love - Music Video
Arabesque ft. Deesha - Stardust - Music Video
CBC Radio Canada - Falling In Love - Live in Studio Performance
