We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ali Shah. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ali below.

Ali, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

My upcoming project, “Boy Blues,” is the most personal and meaningful project that I have worked on. I started conceptualizing it in late 2023, after the release of my previous EP “The Talking Stage,” which was about dealing with situationship heartbreak. On the contrary, this new project kept developing into finding love and learning about what that does to someone. It’s about the ups and downs, the highs and lows of being a boy and being with a boy. What makes this so meaningful is that I have been able to diversify the sound of this project to reflect my autobiographical stories, stepping out of my comfort zone while still writing with the honesty I’ve become known for. Although my previous projects were personal, the ultimate goal with them was to create music that people would relate to. With this project, it’s about replicating important moments from my story, for myself.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am Ali Shah, a 21-year-old synth-pop artist from Toronto, Ontario. Although I was born in Canada, I spent a lot of my childhood in Pakistan and learned Urdu before I learned English. It was only when I started watching my favorite Disney shows and listening to Western pop music that I started learning the language and naturally started to write songs like the ones I was hearing. I only realized that I had a talent for songwriting at the age of 16, from which I decided to pursue this journey and release music. All my work is rooted in autobiographical storytelling about what it is like to be a queer man just figuring it out. With an ‘80s synth-pop influence, my music has been compared to the likes of Taylor Swift, Troye Sivan, and Conan Gray. What I think sets me apart is my identity and my desire to relate to those who look and feel like me. I want to be a voice, a face, a figure for the Queer and South Asian community, since being a part of those communities is what I’m most proud of.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Performing in front of family is hard for a lot of people, but for me, it was a mental battle at first. Being a queer south asian artist, I am very expressive and authentic when performing on stage – whether that’s in the outfit I wear, the stories I tell, or the songs I sing. The first time I performed in front of my family, I was scared that they just wouldn’t get it. I went up and did my 40-minute set with the looming thought of disappointing or shocking them. However, when I finished up and got offstage, I was met with applause and support all around. For someone who comes from a South Asian, predominantly muslim background, this was a major shock but a welcome surprise. As LGBTQ+ South Asian artists, we shouldn’t have to worry about these things when performing our art, and I’m glad I was proven wrong at that moment.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is hearing how much people resonate with a song I made. This happens in many ways, but the two most common ones are through social media and live shows. On social media, I receive messages from listeners all around the world telling me how much they love one of my songs and it fills me with so much joy. The same thing happens at live shows, but instead, they sing the song as loudly as they can to show me how much they love it. Hearing other voices echo my own in singing my song is something I never thought I’d experience. But as I continue to grow as an artist, those voices get louder and continue to remind me how grateful I am to make music and represent the unrepresented.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/alimusic
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notalishah
• Twitter: https://x.com/notalishah
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4vTQYLOX7njU3JWsr91Aht

Image Credits

Isa Visuals