Life in Lockdown with Seeva and Jess

Jules Guaitamacchi catches up with Seeva and Jess to find out about their unexpected lockdown life together.

Artists, writing partners, producers and best friends, Seeva and Jess Young take us on a beautiful journey of friendship, perseverance, innovation, artistry and growth

Life in lockdown has been tough for us all kinds of different reasons, having had to adapt our lives to the extreme circumstances of a global pandemic. Some of us are isolating alone, others of us are forced into difficult family dynamics or living conditions, which may ring true, particularly for those of us in queer or TNBI communities. This inspiring pair, ended up in lock down in the midst of producing and recording music together.
Seeva and Jess, originally met back in 2015 on a music course in Brighton and found themselves connecting immediately as if they’d known each other for years. Recently Jess was invited to stay at Seeva’s family home, just after he returned from acting in queer theatre production ‘Butterfly’, at the Vaults Festival. “We hadn’t anticipated how long the lockdown would be, however we created good structure, motivated one another, when the other was struggling. We gave each other space and acknowledging but not bathing too long in difficult emotions.”

During these particularly challenging times, they both channelled their experiences through their passion for creating music. Jess and Seeva, have seen each other through, not only the lockdown but many of life’s challenges as well.

As a South Asian, gay man living with HIV and a queer woman, who’s battled with her mental health for most of her life, both, have huge insight when it comes to strength and resilience, that you can really sense through their music. “The song Hopscotch on my EP released in March this year was about coming to terms with the reality of living with HIV”

Religion and spirituality have had a part to play in their lives. Coming from a Hindu background, Seeva recalls finding his love for singing as a child, during prayer when he and his family visited the temple. He describes his upbringing and culture as incredibly supportive and inclusive “The way I’ve personally experienced Hinduism is wholly inclusive as most religions are at their core”

Despite coming from a Catholic background, Jess considers herself spiritual but not religious “As I came through the other side of my struggle with mental health I have been delving further into my own spirituality and this inspired song writing”

They have both written for artists signed with Universal and Sony and written music all over the world and have since evolved as individual artists. They have already released their debut singles, with plenty of support from international media.

They’re both currently recording and releasing music. Jess’ most recent single ‘I don’t need you to Love Me’ is out now and her third single ‘Holding on and Letting Go’ is out on the 12th June.

Seeva’s up and coming project “We Need to Talk” is a biographical collection of songs, executively produced by himself and Jess, and will be released at the end of summer 2020.

They are both looking forward to performing live in the meantime watch this ‘digital’ space.

Instagram: @Jessyoungmusic @seevamusic

Interview by Jules Guaitamacchi