Zoe Viccaji

How it started.

Zoe grew up in Karachi surrounded by music. Her mother played guitar, her grandmother had sung on radio, and family gatherings often turned into singalongs. She began playing guitar and writing songs at 15.

Finding her audience.

She studied at Hamilton College in New York, singing in the college choir and performing in musicals. Back in Karachi, she played Mama Morton in Chicago and appeared in Mamma Mia. Alongside her day job, she built a music career through Coke Studio backing vocals, her version of Mera Bichra Yaar with Strings and solo shows. She eventually left her job to make music full time.

Her own songs.

Her 2014 debut album Dareeche brought her songwriting to a wider audience through Universal Music India. She had begun writing in English, then worked with Urdu lyricists to carry the feeling of those songs into another language. Later releases and collaborations sit alongside a live repertoire that draws on jazz, pop, folk and Sufi music.