INTERVIEW: Naz, Member of DOGVIOLET, Chats To Us About Her Path to Music in the UK

INTERVIEW | Naz
Vocalist/Guitarist of DOGVIOLET
Photo Credit: Tommy Lin

Yo…welcome to 2026! We’re starting the year gearing up for our new band MASHAAL‘s debut show here in London on January 10th with good friends in AGENCY and STATE SANCTIONED VIOLENCE. If you’re in London – make sure to come down to THE DEV in Camden! All info HERE.

We’re also taking this moment to continue with our Asians in the UK music scene interview series. This time, we have the pleasure of getting to know the vocalist/guitarist of UK post-punk band DOGVIOLET, Naz, a little better. Check out what she has to say and share below…

UA: Hey Naz! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this! Can you tell us a little about yourself? What your ethnicity is, what instrument you play and what band you’re in currently.
Naz: Hey! I’m a musician and the founder of a zine by and for alternative South Asians called WEIRDO. I’m of Indo-Mauritian heritage, but born and (mostly) raised in England. My current band is called Dogviolet – we’re a melodic grungy post-punk band, and I’m on lead vocals and rhythm guitar.

WEIRDO Zine

UA: Sick sick! I’ve been interviewed by WEIRDO before, so I have been a supporter of yours long before I immigrated to the UK. When and how did you start playing music?
Naz: I started writing songs when I was about 9 years old – I’d always carry a little notebook with me and write ideas. I’d always wanted to learn to play the guitar and be in a band, especially after watching episodes of Buffy. I finally managed to convince my parents to pay for guitar lessons when I was about 14 or 15 years old. I had a handful of lessons and then started a band with my now partner, who is the lead guitarist in Dogviolet.

UA: That’s amazing! Since you have South Asian parents, were they supportive of your love for music (both listening and playing)?
Naz: My parents have been supportive of my love for music, though neither of them has seen my band live yet! My dad is the one who mostly introduced me to bands like Metallica, Nirvana, Papa Roach and Queen growing up – he’d play their albums on car journeys. Both my parents are supportive in their own ways – my mum thinks it’s impressive that I even get on stage to perform, and my dad is equally impressed by the music we’ve recently recorded, which is really sweet. They even supported the idea of me going to uni to do a music or performance degree, but I got scared and decided to study psychology instead! And actually, it’s because of that decision they’re a bit confused about why I still pour so much energy into music and think it’s a distraction, but I’ve got to have some hope that those of us who don’t study music at uni can still build a following, and Dogviolet is a project that got me back into creating music. I’d like them to come to a show sometime and experience it live.

UA: It’s actually crazy, you’re the second interviewee of South Asian descent that had/have supportive parents! Do you remember what were some of the earliest guitar-music that really “got” you and why?
Naz: Some of the earliest guitar music that really got me was Bring Me To Life by Evanescence. Amy Lee’s voice is so beautiful and the music video was so cool I remember watching it on Top 40 UK. I was so obsessed with it that in primary school I choreographed a dance to it and sang along to it in a school assembly haha! Another song that really got me was Numb by Linkin Park. I feel like they get a lot of shit and people thought they were uncool, but the melody and lyrics of that song get me every time and I think they’re an amazing band. I’m so happy I got to see them before Chester Bennington died.

UA: Totally agree about Linkin Park – there’s a reason why they connected with people of all walks of life. When you were going to school were there other people that looked like us who listened to this type of music? I had maybe like 2 other brown people who I skated and listened to heavy music with. There wasn’t a lot of us.
Naz: I feel really fortunate that I did have brown friends who were into the same music as me. I had a Pakistani friend who introduced me to bands like Paramore and My Chemical Romance. I also had a Bangladeshi friend who was into bands like Muse and Queens of the Stone Age, and she was actually one of the guitarist in my first band at school! Other than that though, I didn’t really have any other brown people in my life who were into the same music as me beyond liking Chop Suey by System of a Down haha…

UA: And how soon after you got your first guitar did you start writing music and form your first band? How’d you find the members for your first band? Were they fellow POC’s?
Naz: Not too long after! Once I learnt the basics, I started a band, but I didn’t play guitar in the band. The band members were my Bangladeshi friend I mentioned, who was in the same form group as me at school, my sister played drums, and my now wife, who I met in our English class at school, joined on lead guitar and was the token white member of the band.

UA: Having a token white member for a change is pretty sick! Hahahaha…what was the name of the band and what were the songs about?
Naz: The band was called ULTERIOR MOTIVES haha. We were 14/15 when we started the band, and the songs were about whatever I had on my mind at that age – they weren’t very good!

UA: And were they more punk-sounding? What was the reception like? Do you remember your first show?
Naz: Our sound was probably still more alt-rock than punk, though in some ways heavier and rawer than Dogviolet. The reception was okay, but we didn’t really know what we were doing! Our first show was at The Water Rats in King’s Cross, and I remember it well because of how the older all-male bands were laughing at us during sound check, and the sound engineer wouldn’t help us. It was also a pay-to-play show, and the promoter had convinced us to part with like £150 and sell physical tickets to our friends. We sold all the tickets, but lots of our friends couldn’t even get in because of age restrictions and not realising they had to bring ID. We really didn’t know what we were doing! But the gigs we played were fun, especially when we managed to bring loads of friends from school. I even remember my form tutor in sixth form popping his head into one of our shows

UA: YO…that’s such a fucked up situation! What an introduction to how patriarchal the world of live music is…what ended up happening with the band?
Naz: For sure! The band ended when we all went to uni, but Ella and I continued making music together, even with the distance, because we clicked creatively.

UA: And this was the band with token white person right? And a predominantly brown female band?! The whole thing is incredible…what were the songs about?
Naz: Yes, we were a predominantly brown and all girl band. Ella was the “token white person” haha. The songs were all teen angst, I didnt start writing songs giving my political commentary until I was well into my 20s

UA: Once you thought about starting dogviolet was there anything from this first project that informed dogviolet? Not just musically but in all aspects of being in a band?
Naz: It’s really just having been in a band. Once the band ended, Ella and I stuck to more folk and acoustic music, but I always missed being in a band and making noisier music. There’s something about being in a band that also makes me feel confident being on stage as I’m quite shy – I get a lot of energy from my bandmates.

“I think we’re living in a time where people feel really disempowered and hopeless – we’re witnessing multiple genocides such as in Palestine and Sudan via our phones with our government complicit, a soaring cost of living crisis and the rise of the far right.”

UA: So fast forward to today – how did dogviolet come together? And is their a special message beyond the music that this band is about?
Naz: Dogviolet came about when I started going to more gigs at grassroots venues hosted by promoters who put on punk and alternative bands. I was making folk music as a duo with my wife Ella at the time and managed to convince her to start a band with me during the first covid lockdown. The band started in 2021 and it’s been so fun to be part of a band.

In terms of our message, a lot of our songs touch on sociopolitical issues and the power of community. Lyrically, I draw on the natural world to share our message and this has really resonated with our fans. I think we’re living in a time where people feel really disempowered and hopeless – we’re witnessing multiple genocides such as in Palestine and Sudan via our phones with our government complicit, a soaring cost of living crisis and the rise of the far right. We take it seriously at our shows to remind people of their power and the importance of speaking up and showing up in whatever way they can as it all makes a difference.

UA: So sick…as someone who is raised here, do you feel there is a change in the overall demographic at shows? In terms of the world of hardcore in the UK, it’s a very white dominant space BUT with tinnier little pockets of hope here and there.
Naz: I definitely think so – I’ve seen more diverse audiences at gigs and festivals I’ve been to in recent years, but only when promoters and bands make the effort to create shows that make lots of people feel welcome. I recently went to a Karma Sheen show – they’re a psychedelic Hindustani band – and the audience was probably the most diverse I’ve been part of. Lots of South Asian people there of course, but also wide age range and unique styles. I don’t see that much at shows. Decolonise Fest is also doing great work, not only by putting on their annual festival, but by collaborating with other festivals – I feel collabs like that really help bring in audiences that have previously either not felt included or nervous to attend.

UA: Sick – so to wrap this up, if any fellow POC non-male readers may check out this interview, what advice would you give them?
Naz: Sounds a bit cliché, but I’d say keep doing what makes you happy and stay true to your values.