Frizzell D’Souza to conclude India tour in Bengaluru this weekend

In a day and time when reels are child’s play and music is tech driven, it is refreshing to see a honest-to-goodness song play out where the lyrics and visuals are in sync. Frizzell D’Souza has done just that with her newest single ‘My Last Cigarette’ which released in August this year.

“I have been performing this song live for about two and a half years now. I wrote it in November 2022, when I was going through something similar; it is about dealing with red flags and a toxic situation. The song is quite relatable and has been doing well at my live shows,” says Frizzell.

The Bengaluru-based musician adds, “The song grew over the past two years and is going to be a part of my upcoming album which is something I am working on with my band.”

She continues, “In the past, when bands would tour, they would play their songs and going by audience reaction would tweak them. The songs which got the best response would make it to the album as it is quite expensive to record a live band.”

Frizzell and her band did something similar with ‘My Last Cigarette’. “This was a new approach for me, and it has been great to test new music on the road. You get to see people’s reaction in real time and work on what needs to improve.”

“I saw the response to ‘My Last Cigarette’ and decided to go all out. We recorded with the full live band, got horns and trumpets, and produced a video with an actress and a dancer, which was something different for me.”

The result, a charming video, speaks for itself as well as the message it conveys. While the song has been produced by Aadarsh Subramaniam, the music video was directed by Anurag Baruah and shot by Aman Choudhury.

Frizzell and the band toured Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, and Singapore, the latter as part of a showcase at Music Matters, where she represented Indian independent music on an international stage for the first time in her musical career. Now, the final leg of her tour unfolds in Bengaluru this weekend. 

On the world stage

Talking about her experience in Singapore where she had three shows, the artiste says, ”It was interesting to play my music over there because lot of the music in South Asia is inspired by K-pop. It was a challenge to be thrown in the deep end where literally nobody knew me or my music, and I knew every reaction would be authentic.”

Frizzell D’Souza on The Last Cigarette Tour
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

With three rather diverse venues — a music store, a pub and the main festival stage — Frizzell says she and her band learnt to alter their sets on the spot to cater to the space and crowd. “All the other acts there were wonderful and quite different from the indie music industry here. Watching them made me realize how much I needed to learn and grow as an artiste; there was so much to take away. It was a great experience,” she says. The showcase in Singapore had over 40 musicians from about 20 countries, as well as delegates from global music companies.

“The Last Cigarette Tour is coming to an end, but there still is music in the making,” says Frizzell, adding that there are going to collaborations “with other exciting artistes soon”.

Frizzell D’Souza will present The Last Cigarette Tour at the Bengaluru International Centre on October 25. Tickets starting from ₹499 available on Skillbox and Bandsintown