A performer on the Spacebar stage lights up the audience. Credit: Courtesy of Ben DeRolph
“Emotion and connection,” Montreal artist Thanya Iyer said, is what she’s bringing to The Spacebar as a headliner this April.
The Spacebar, located at 2590 N. High St, is hosting Iyer’s first venue performance in Columbus April 12. Iyer and her live band will be accompanied by the Columbus-based supporting acts Everyone But Me and The Psyche, according to the event page. With an 18-plus attendance and tickets ranging from $10-12, Nick Bain, solo artist of Everyone But Me, said the goal is to achieve a “dreamy, spaced out kind of vibe.” Iyer agreed.
“I’m just excited to share joy,” Iyer said. “It’s just going to be nice to bring a little bit of the universe we’re trying to create over to Columbus.”
Iyer said her start to music came from performing South Indian vocal styles and dances as a young girl, as well as learning violin and piano. While this background shines through in her music, it wasn’t until she met her rotating bandmates, collaborators and friends in Vanier College that she began conceptualizing Thanya Iyer as a band, she said.
“I went to music school when I was 17, and that’s when I kind of started writing songs and playing with other people,” Iyer said. “The community began to grow that kind of collaboration and that creative way of making music.”
Iyer said while the experience formed her roots, she now draws inspiration from her years spent earning a degree in music therapy, especially in her latest album, “rest.”
“For a lot of the music I make, it’s centered around internal growth, and struggle as well — the growth and healing that comes from that and the community and people that are a part of that healing,” Iyer said. “With ‘rest,’ I feel like I was in a bit of a very, very long burnout for years and years but only started to get the self-awareness behind it in recent years, through making that album.”
Bain said he feels most inspired by the music of his childhood, and his tastes shifted as a teenager. He said he was drawn more to the static sounds of shoegaze after hearing the genre’s most notable album — “Loveless” by My Bloody Valentine.
“My stepdad was a music reviewer for the local newspaper in Newark, Ohio, so every single week he got printed materials, boxes of CDs and tapes,” Bain said. “Amongst those at one point was the My Bloody Valentine ‘Loveless’ album. I remember at that time, my favorite bands were Metallica and Slayer and that kind of stuff, and something like that really blew the roof off.”
Similar to Iyer, Bain hasn’t yet played The Spacebar, but he said performing as a solo artist has taught him how to draw energy from the crowd, citing a previous performance at local spot Ruby Tuesday as a pivotal moment for confidence building.
“That was just such a great night. You know, being onstage, I didn’t feel like the weird guy that was just like, ‘You’re up there playing by yourself.’ People were really vibing on it,” Bain said. “It’s called shoegaze for a reason, right? And nobody’s really expecting you to do much. It’s just about creating a big sound, projecting emotion and a vibe.”
Like many musicians, Iyer faced a learning curve since returning to live performances. Iyer said while the COVID-19 pandemic was a time spent exploring developing her identity as an artist, her experiences in music therapy allowed her to find confidence in that identity.
“I used to get all my energy from the audience, that’s how I vibe, that’s how the banter happens, that’s where I feel good, getting that feedback from the audience,” Iyer said. “Then doing music therapy, sometimes, I’m getting no feedback, but I still need to bring my all. I’ve kind of brought that into every tour, every show. I just know I have the band, we have each other, and we’re going to bring our all no matter what situation we’re playing in.”
Doors at The Spacebar open at 8 p.m.
