I first heard of Micropixie (MPX) last summer through Daniela Kantorova of Mideast Tunes, who urged me to explore the work of the recording artist. I was immediately intrigued by the groovy, dulcet tones I heard in her short, My Beige Foot. So when I found out through Nila that MPX had released a new single through her brand spankin’ new record label, One Little Alien, I figured it was time to hear from the alien herself.

The story behind your latest release, Under the Neath?

The title of my new single comes from a phrase my Dad always says (instead of “underneath”, it’s “under the neath”. He has a habit of adding a “the” to everything. eg. when he refers to my Mum, he says “the Mummy”). There’s a very sweet passage in the track where he gives me advice on getting music lessons (which I eventually took to heart). Other phrases are things my littlest sister said when she was a kid. The track sounds like it is laden with innuendos (at least to my dirty mind…), but it is quite innocent. The music (co-composed with Audio Pervert, a Delhi-based producer) was inspired by Underworld’s wonderful album Beaucoup Fish.

Last I checked, you were planning to release a second album, The Good, the Beige and the Ugly. Still in the works?

Yes, it’ll be coming out after the third One Little Alien release. I’ve been working on it for over 3 years now so this sonic baby is well overdue. It’s also a concept album, continuing from my terrestrial adventures after Alice in Stevie Wonderland, but less from the perspective of an alien, and more from the view of a non-white human female. It’s an intergalactic feminist spy thriller… (my, how I love the phonetics of that phrase)! The UK-based producer I worked with, Paul Horton, is very gifted, and I am super excited that it will be out soon.

What are the advantages to launching your own record label, One Little Alien?

Number one is that I can release my tunes when I want, how I want. Also I hope it encourages other musicians to make the important decisions about their work. I’ve put my tunes up on CD Baby but I’ve also decided to sell them as high resolution CD quality downloads. I was inspired to go that route after attending a seminar at Women’s Audio Mission given by eminent producer and audiophile, Cookie Marenco. It’s important to me that the songs are heard at their highest possible resolution, ie. how I heard it after mastering. MP3s are greatly diminished versions of the original, so a lot of sonic data falls by the wayside. Digitization has sadly led to the dumbing down of everyone’s ears…

What is Yoni Ki Baat and how are you involved?

Really glad you asked about Yoni Ki Baat as it is so dear to my heart! YKB is often described as the “South Asian Sisters’ version” of The Vagina Monologues. However, although the show is inspired by Eve Ensler’s play, the writing is all original, new pieces are submitted every year, and for the most part written by the performers themselves. My involvement thus far has been: performing in the last two shows, helping out with sound during the show, and also creating the Beiged & Confused micro-fillum as a trailer for YKB 2011.

Each show is always sold out (people see the show and bring all their friends the following year). The topics covered – issues that affect women from our communities – are very important, the writing and performances top-notch. Each story always left me in tears, even the ones that were told with a comedic slant. I feel like I have lived each story myself, and many of the women who’ve been in it or who’ve come to see it, have told me they feel similarly. As a team, we worked hard, rehearsed for months, and by the time of the performance we all become very close… like sisters. It was a timely, beautiful thing for me to be part of YKB, to work with all these brilliant women to create such a powerful yet compassionate show. Basically, it’s been a tremendously empowering experience. I tell you YKB is a rad, rad, RAD concept, and I am so glad to be part of it!

Planning to do a follow-up to your short, My Beige Foot?

Fershure, yes! I recently took My Beige Foot off of YouTube since there is a new, banging soundtrack for it (which’ll be on the new album). Beiged & Confused will be up there again even sooner (I want to add subtitles so that non-Gujaratis can understand what Kenyamasi is saying when she chastises me for being in Yoni Ki Baat.) And apart from those two, and the three others I currently have on my Youtube channel, I have a whole series of other Beige micro-fillums in the works.

What do aliens do for fun?

I can’t speak for all extra-terrestrials but this one listens to music obsessively, loves to read, dance, rock climb, play board games, sing in other people’s cars, take classes and work a lot (perhaps too much, but all my creative projects are big fun too). I also enjoy ell-oh-elling with cool humans on a regular basis.

Describe your music in five words.

Um, that’s a tough one… how about: Intricate, melodic, layered, feminist, cheeky?

If you could work with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

This is the toughest question, ‘cos I adore the work of so manymusicians (Erykah Badu, Andrew Bird, Bjork, Elvis Costello, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Massive Attack, Sinead O’Connor, Abida Parveen, Radiohead, Nitin Sawhney, Jill Scott, Gil Scott-Heron, The Smiths, Soul II Soul, Thievery Corporation, Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder… do I really have to end this list?!). But right now I seem to have a thing for Danger Mouse (Brian Burton). Every album I’ve heard that he’s worked on – regardless of the genre – I’ve found to be compelling, complex and deep.

Your crazy groupie story…?

A few years ago when my first album came out, a radio station in Houston interviewed me and played some of my songs. Some bloke heard the segment and immediately got on a plane to San Francisco to attend my show that same evening! I couldn’t believe it when he told me – I was completely gobsmacked.