Mena Sachdev

Mena Sachdev is a musician and multimedia artist based in Brooklyn. She found her musical roots playing guitar in neosoul and jazz bands and listening to bhangra and 60’s rock at home. Influences like Prince, Pamela Z, Talk Talk, and Four Tet shifted her inspiration and focus to the creation of Ushamami, her solo electronic project. Mena's art centers her identities as a queer non binary south asian, and she has committed her musical career to creating space for queer futures, disrupting the expectations of a recording artist. In Brooklyn, she is an active member of the city's queer arts scene, often collaborating with social justice-oriented collectives as both a performer and an events organizer. She has also performed nationally as a dj, solo act, and live band, and has shared bills with accomplished artists including Princess Nokia, Yves Tumor and Phony Ppl. Her most recent single and music video ‘Jinx’ premiered on Dazed magazine and is an 80’s-inspired dance floor bop with vulnerable lyrics and an upbeat hook. Mena is currently finishing up her debut full-length album to be released later this year.

Outside of releasing music as Ushamami, Mena is exploring intersections of design, technology, and sound, often in web and installation formats. She is a passionate synthesist, and is currently investigating how we can make audio production more accessible through interface design and embodied sound.