Music journey

My name is Devaki pronounced Deeva-key. I am a writer-philosopher, singer-songwriter, recluse, minimalist, and vegan sharing wisdom, insight, and lived experiences through a neurodivergent lens.

Growing up in New Zealand, it was common to go to parties where someone would have a guitar, and voice to sing along with. People used to tell me I had a good voice, which I never took much notice of.

I started singing, writing lyrics, and playing guitar in 2000 at the age of 42. I play finger style-rhythm guitar, and over the years I have developed my own finger style weaved with rhythm.

For much of my music journey I have chosen to to create music in isolation of the influence of other musicians. However, I am sure the music I listened to growing up has influenced or shaped me in some way to the artist I became. I feel this will be the experience of many musicians. What I have taken from that experience has created my own style rather than being defined by sounding like other artists I like.

My father bought me a guitar when I was 9 years old. I only took interest in it for a couple of months, so it ended up being something he played. When my brother was visiting me in Australia, they bought themselves a guitar, and on returning to New Zealand decided to leave it with me. It ended up in a cupboard only to be thrown out several years later, as the neck had warped badly beyond repair.

In 2000 the year I got married, my spouse heard me singing, and said I did not know you could sing, I thought ‘here we go again’. I let them persuade me to buy a guitar. It also was not until then I found out they could mix and master music.

In 2002 we moved from Daylesford to Melbourne where I began to write songs for my love is album. We started to record the songs for the album 2003. I hired some session musicians to accompany my songs. Patanjali recorded my voice and mixed and mastered the album. It was released into music stores in 2004.

In 2006 we moved to Sydney. In 2012 Patanjali became interested in playing guitar and later went on to playing mandolin, and bass guitar. We then decided to form a folk duo called DevaKnighT, where I continued to write the lyrics and music. In 2013 Patanjali began to build a soundproof recording studio in our lounge room. In 2013 we recorded 4 studio quality recordings with video which was challenging, as we did the video at the same time as the studio recording.

For financial reasons in 2016 we pulled down the recording studio and sold all the musical and recording equipment. I had to sell my Taylor and Takamine guitars. I bought a cheaper Taylor guitar, so I could continue to write. In 2017 we moved to Canberra, In 2019 we decided to pull the DevaKnight label. I now write and create music in private and feel this to be the end of my outward focus thus music is now a hobby. Of course, all music I have recorded is still available for download on most streaming sites.