Music
Indian-Australian Vinny Lunar On Hai Rama’s Hypnotising Video, His Artistic Homecoming, and More
In conversation with South Asian Australian singer-songwriter Vinny Lunar.
Indian-Australian Vinny Lunar may have taken up music a little later in life, but he’s made up for lost time, carving out a sound that’s uniquely his own.
Born in Hyderabad and now based in Sydney/Eora, Vinny has zig-zagged through cities and bounced across continents between that time, from Sydney to Melbourne and Sweden to Berlin. Like Vinny’s travels, his sound also traverses many genres: Afrobeats, reggaeton, hip-hop, and jazz.
Caught between two worlds growing up—his Western upbringing and his Eastern roots—Vinny often “felt pressure…to suppress his Indian heritage”. But, eventually, like many of us, Vinny has returned to where he feels most comfortable. Home. And Vinny’s EP Chauffeur (with producer Low Beams) is, in many ways, his artistic homecoming—his sound now soaked with the indelible, richly layered flavour of his heritage.
The duo’s recent release of Hai Rama’s music video has already received high praise after being exclusively premiered by Rolling Stone India. The video, directed by Daniel Stapleton (Low Beams), edited by Stackhat, and with female lead Anum Azzaz, features spellbinding visuals, vibrant colours, and complex choreography (by Aditya Bahl)—a tribute to the glamour of 90s Bollywood. The record itself pays homage to A.R. Rahman’s song Hai Rama Ye Kya Hua from the 1995 film Rangeela.
Brown Boy Magazine spoke to Vinny Lunar about his (and Low Beam’s) hypnotising Hai Rama music video, melding more of his heritage with his music, and the challenges of balancing his art with his career.
Hit play on Hai Rama below. Sunglasses are optional. But, forewarning. Things may get trippy.
Our conversation has been edited for clarity and concision.
Brown Boy Magazine: You’ve lived in six cities across four countries. You were born in India, and now, you’re based in Sydney. Who is Vinny Lunar? Can you tell us about your background? How did you get started in music, and how did it shape your identity?
Vinny Lunar: I was born in Hyderabad and grew up in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney. I then spent a bit of time studying in Sweden and lived in Berlin for two years.
I’ve been obsessed with music for as long as I can remember. It helped that my family had a musical ear—my mum played the veena in a band, my grandmother was a violinist, and my dad used to sing in his university days. I used to absorb endless 90s Bollywood cassette tapes alongside Top 40 tunes on the radio and then R&B and hip-hop in high school.
I was a late bloomer in my music career. I was briefly in a high school choir, and I auditioned for X-Factor, too. But, the real turning point for me was time spent travelling around Europe. I performed for the first time on my own at an open mic in London, and I fell in love with the stage. That’s where it began, around 2012, with the audacious release of a ten-track album during my first year of law school.
BB: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind Hai Rama and its music video? What’s it about? What are you hoping your listeners will take from it?
VL: The song is a bit of a Bollywood Easter egg, haha. I remember being mesmerised by the music video for Hai Rama Yeh Kya Hua. The seductive and dark energy of Urmila Matondkar and Jackie Shroff entranced me. This, combined with the haunting vocals of Hariharan and Swarnalatha, brought chills down my spine—and my love was cemented when I saw them perform in Sydney in 2008.
I want my listeners and viewers to take away and appreciate the effortless beauty of South Asian women and the charm of male protagonists in a modern setting. I feel the mainstream narrative puts us on either extreme, of being overtly “extra” in a traditional Bollywood sense or lacking expression completely as per Western stereotypes.
BB: What inspired you to double down on your culture and incorporate more of your Indian heritage into your music, particularly in recent releases like Prema and Hai Rama?
VL: I always felt slightly torn between my cultural connections. Growing up in Australia, I often felt pressure to fit into a mainstream Anglo-Saxon narrative and suppress my Indian heritage. It’s only been a recent development where I have shown my Indian heritage through music.
My years living in Berlin gave me the necessary breathing space to reflect and own my identity with more pride. I was lucky to have some local mentors and friends when I came back who gave me more confidence and encouragement to show that side of me (shout out to Klue, Brux, and Aussie icon Diesel). Finally, after a long time, I felt I had a safe space to discuss and showcase these different influences.
And it seems people are open to this more authentic version of me! Prema and Hai Rama have a strong lineage to my love for Bollywood soundtracks, especially A.R. Rahman’s work. With the songs getting featured in Rolling Stone India and on editorial playlists on Spotify, I feel I am on the right track, but more importantly, it feels right to me.
BB: You’re a self-managed artist who also works full-time. How do you balance everything? And what advice would you give to other South Asian Australian creatives?
VL: It’s been a challenge. I guess I have balanced it all by being a bit more confident, knowing my worth, negotiating assertively, and trying to be an effective time manager. This is an ongoing journey, and at times, I feel I am not getting it right. However, I think my background in law, combined with my time working in high-pressure consulting environments, has helped me. I now have the confidence to make my creative career a priority, and I work part-time at my day job.
To my fellow South Asian Australian creatives: take some time to reflect on your values and make decisions aligning with them. Try to have some separation from the inherent weight of the expectations and community pressures that come from having a migrant background.
Life involves trade-offs. I have left organisations and settings that were not the right place to grow my artistic career—forcing me to be smart with my finances and make sacrifices.
BB: What’s the most unexpected track on your playlist right now?
VL: Rosa María by Camarón de la Isla and Paco de Lucía. I fell in love with flamenco when I was travelling around Southern Spain last year.
BB: If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
VL: Usher’s Confessions. I mean, who doesn’t love belting out beautiful melodies capturing
themes ranging from infidelity to passionate love?
Brown Boy Magazine (@brownboyau) celebrates worship-worthy tastemakers and changemakers in the South Asian Australian diaspora (without taking itself too seriously).