Hi, my name is Umaisha, and I am a Maldivian-American singer-songwriter living in Chicago. I write and sing in English and my native language, Dhivehi. My music lives in the world between these two places, having no fixed genre, but drawing influences from folk and soft rock with rhythms and melodies from my island home.
I grew up in Malé, the capital of Maldives. I was the seventh of eight kids, living in a home where music was a constant in daily life. Around me I heard Maldivian bodu beru, Bollywood, Western pop, and rock. In first grade, at my classmates’ request, I would recreate these tunes on a tiny electronic keyboard embedded in a pencil case. When I was a teenager, two of my brothers started a band and put me on drums. This foundational experience helped develop my musical tastes and instincts, along with the way I listen and collaborate.
Upon finishing school, I started a career in accounting. Soon after, I was on a remote Maldivian island when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit, and I was literally swept into the ocean. Surviving that changed my perspective on life’s fragility and purpose, causing me to rethink my trajectory, and to place greater importance on creative pursuits. A few years later, I moved to the United States and eventually made Chicago my second home.
In Chicago, while working in accounting, I discovered the Old Town School of Folk Music, where I started taking classes in guitar, songwriting, voice, and piano. There, I also met the acclaimed Chicago musician and songwriter Steve Dawson, who would become my mentor and eventually produce my debut album, Find Me. At the Old Town School, I grew as a musician and found a sense of community and belonging. That immersion helped me move from casual playing to songwriting in earnest. I made covers of songs and shared my poetry on social media for years. That consistent public practice helped me get comfortable with the basics: showing up, finishing ideas, and learning in front of people. By 2018, I was sharing original songs, and in 2023 I played in my first live show.
I mostly perform with a guitar, but over the years I’ve also spent time with piano, ukulele, bass, drums, clarinet, harmonica, and accordion. I don’t claim fluency in all of them, but they’ve each helped me discover the possibilities of music. My songwriting takes form instinctively as I play with melodies, time signatures, prosody, and rhythms infused with my past and present musical influences. Writing in both English and Dhivehi is important to me; it embodies my life between Maldives and Chicago and keeps me close to my roots. Reflecting that importance, my third single is a Maldivian folk-fusion piece named “Dhannahen,” which is likely the first Dhivehi-language release by a U.S.-based artist.
Outside of music, I have other creative interests. I practice calligraphy, bind books, and enjoy making abstract ink and watercolor pieces. I read poetry, fiction, and philosophy, and take photos and videos whenever something catches my eye. Wordplay is another common theme: each year, I have a lot of fun running a month-long multilingual pun-riddle challenge on Instagram and creating around a hundred puzzles for it. These pursuits might seem scattered, but they find their way into my songwriting through imagery and perspective.
I try to keep my work honest. I’m not trying to fit a fixed story about who I am or where I’m from; I’m just trying to write songs that are meaningful to me. As the title track of Find Me says, “please come and find me, but please don’t define me.”
So, here I am, having moved from the Indian Ocean to Lake Michigan, but connected to both places through song. If you’ve listened, attended a show, or reached out, thank you. If you’re new here, welcome.