Freshman singer-songwriter Sashi Chuckravanen (‘25), also known as RAVANE, recently released her first iTunes album, Late Nights. Soothing vocals reveal an emotionally touching story about her experiences with young love. Her alternative style is truly breathtaking and reminiscent of a young Billie Eilish. This is her first officially released EP containing three songs: “Midnight,” “Dear David,” and “We Can Go Back.” She reassuringly explained that there is currently more to come in the works.

Sashi notes that music has always been an integral part of her life. At the age of four she started learning the piano and by eight she added the violin and choir to her skillset. “I’ve also always loved listening to music, whether it be classical or hard rock,” she said. “I think that the step I took into actually making music and producing it was just a way for me to express my emotions when I can’t speak of them or communicate in other ways.” Perhaps a little therapeutic singing can go a long way? “I started writing songs a little before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and I never really expected to release them, but as soon as I did I realized that it was something I loved to do, just sharing my thoughts with others.”

Sashi’s songs are heartfelt and explain her personal experiences with the highs and lows of young relationships. “These albums are both very important to me mostly because of the people and events I associate them with,” Sashi explained. “Late Nights, my recent album, is a mix of songs about different people who are—or were at some point—very important to me. “Midnight” is about my best friend from Switzerland, Amelie. She lives in Switzerland and we only see each other once a year. One night, our parents were out for dinner, and her dad ordered us food. In fact, he ordered it twice, and by 9:30 we realized it would never come. We ended up running around the train station looking for a restaurant! “Dear David” is about my old piano duo partner who is also a close friend. I reflected on all the fun times we had together playing piano competitions in New York and London. “We can go back” is the most difficult song for me to talk about, because I wrote it during a time of sadness.” 

The process of producing an album is much harder than one may anticipate and does not mean simply recording vocals once and fixing them up on Garageband. “The biggest challenge is to be patient,” Sashi explained. “Often, I’ll write and record a song in two days and I’ll be so excited about it- I’ll want to release it right away. But then I play it on a recording in the car to hear it and I realize, ‘Oh, that doesn’t sound good,’ or, ‘That’s out of tune.,’ or, ‘That needs to be mixed better.’” The truth is that the process of producing music takes a lot longer than one may think.

Sashi shows the same dedication to her music that she does everything else in her life. She relates the process of producing a song to English class, “It’s like in English where we are taught to revise, revise, revise. I think the release of my first album in 2020 was a bit rushed,” she said. “I didn’t give it as much attention as I could have to make it perfect. I’ve learned a lot about mixing and recording since then.”

Sashi evidently has a lot of life experience already to sing about but she answered the question of who inspired her the most in a humble fashion, recognizing her Mom’s impact on her life. Sashi said, “Two of the people I respect the most in the music industry or simply in my life are my mom and Tate McRae. My mom, obviously, has always been my biggest supporter, driving me back and forth to lessons multiple times a week, supplying me with equipment for my home recording studio, and telling me honestly what’s good and what’s not. She is the reason I had this opportunity to officially release an album,” she said. “Tate Mcrae is also an amazing singer-songwriter. Since she was 13, I would watch her videos on YouTube; they were just songs she wrote before she became famous. I watched her become noticed and sign with a record label. I have always related to her music, her lyrics, and her growth and success in her music career, which genuinely motivates me.”

Sashi sets her sights high for the future and plans on having an extensive career in music. “Right now, I have a list of new songs that I hope to release soon!” she exclaimed. “Some of them I’ve been working on for months, and some are a little newer but I’m so excited to share them. For the future, I hope to open my own recording studio in London or Bordeaux where I can collaborate with other artists, experiment with sound, and continue recording my own music. I hope to continue growing as a musician, along with adding and developing sound engineering skills.” The future looks bright for Sashi and our community at Bishop’s awaits what greatness is yet to come.