Rough and Genre-Free: How Sherry Soni’s Rave Express is an Ode to Breaking Boundaries!

From ‘Ranjha’ to ‘Channo’, there is a sense of roughness that glances through the lyrics that are both in Hindi and Punjabi – a feeling that echoes through the journey of Sherry Soni, the music producer, who never left the grit to make music that could break the conventions. 

In her debut album, the Indore-based singer attempts to merge industrial sounds, hardstyle, and distorted elements, taking references from her inspiration, the music band The Prodigy. As she sits embracing her blonde, long hair within the minimal aesthetics of her house, we speak about her quest for experimentation.

Released recently on Spotify, The Rave Express, in its 11 songs, contains not just international music genres and styles. Although, as she likes to put it, “There is no specific genre in this album.” Nonetheless, the album resonates with the contemporary mood of dance music in the country.

A Musical Experiment

Soni has been working to create and produce music for at least more than 10 years now. Working as a DJ in the city of Indore, the musician could soon realise that she needed to create something experimental in order to make her music stand out – something which was not possible merely working as a DJ.

“Nuclea is popular as a DJ because he created something of his own, and I have always taken inspiration from it,” she says. While it is not new for Soni to create music through technology, this is the first time she has thought of putting it all together. 

Soni’s experimental music has explored various contemporary themes, tunes and compositions – much visible in the album as well. However, nothing but her journey has shaped these experiments that liberates her music than her personal journey of liberation. 

The Journey of Self-expression 

Born near a small village on the border of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, Sherry could always find her longing in music and the arts. While her family’s background included a jewellery business, her earlier interests lay in drawing. 

On the other hand, along with the contention in the field of interest, there was another – about herself with her bodily appearance. “I knew I was different from a young age, but did not come out as trans until I was around 22.”
Her journey continued where she explored theatre as a creative outlet and as a “safe zone”. Post-school, Sherry was determined to leave her hometown. “I knew there were few opportunities and freedom of expression about the identity and hence wanted to move on,” she recounts. 

What came to her rescue was the accessibility of the internet, even as early as in 2000s. “It helped me understand my identity as a trans person,” she, who identifies as a woman after her hormone replacement therapy in 2019, says.

Meanwhile, Sherry Soni explored radio broadcasting and copywriting briefly and also discovered electronic music. “I started writing lyrics, and ended up learning the music production software like FL Studio,” Soni says.  

Soni shares that her first music projects started around 2013-2014, and she remained online and took up teaching music production, which ensured a sustainable livelihood for some time, until 2023, when she left it to focus on her album. 

So, then, has she been able to earn a livelihood after that? “Not really!” she laughs. Such is the power of music, she admits. 

What is also exciting for Soni is that even while working as a DJ, she wants to do it differently. “I wanted it to align with my feminine identity, and hence, I am working on a costume and planning to record a DJ set with unreleased music,” she says. 

While her personal journey with her identity has shaped her music as well, she believes that mere representation of her a queer and being visible can be impactful and potentially inspire others, even if her music does not directly mean to inspire the LGBTQIA+ community.