Independent Queer Musicians to Watch in 2025: Grape Guitar Box
In India’s indie music landscape, one name continues to resonate louder each year: Tenasia Balam, better known by their stage name Grape Guitar Box. At just 24, this Bengaluru based musician has already carved a niche as one of the most compelling queer independent artists in India, embodying resilience, creativity, and unapologetic authenticity.
Music as Survival and Self-expression
Teenasia, who identifies as trans nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, picked up music as a child starting with the keyboard at age 10, moving to guitar at 15, and quickly finding songwriting as their truest language. By 2016, their YouTube covers had garnered nationwide recognition, opening doors to a career that would blur the line between vulnerability and activism.
For Teenasai, music isn’t just art; it’s a lifeline. In an interview with YourStory, they explained:
“Through music, I created a safe space away from labels, judgement, and discrimination. Every song I write comes from lived experience mine or what I see around me.”
Their first single, Run, was a haunting portrait of surviving toxic relationships, a theme deeply familiar to many queer listeners in India who navigate love within layers of stigma and secrecy.
Beyond Labels: Singing Queer India into Existence
As a queer indie musician in India, Tenasia has always been conscious of visibility. They remind us that representation isn’t just personalities political.
“When I was growing up, I never saw any queer artists. It was a different time, and even media was not as welcoming to the community. Now, I want my art to tell the next generation: it’s not bad to be queer.”
Their songwriting transcends binaries, rooted in the universality of experience while unapologetically queer. Tenasia rejects the notion that gender determines sound or style. Instead, they use music to ask bigger questions about identity, belonging, and the stereotypes Indian society imposes.
Community, Collaborations, and Conversations
From collaborating with artists like Shruti Haasan and Bidisha Mohanta to running an Instagram series called The Queer Question, Teenasia’s artistry extends far beyond music. The series invites LGBTQ+ individuals and couples to share stories of closets, coming out, and community turning Instagram into a digital adda of queer resilience.
Before stepping into music fulltime, Teenasia worked as a freelance writer. That background shows in their sharp lyricism and narrative driven songwriting, where every verse feels like a page from a journal or a whispered truth shared at midnight.
Coming Out and Carving Space
Teenasia’s coming out story is one many queer Indians will recognise. They first confided in friends at 16, later in their brother, and eventually their parents who, while initially hesitant, ultimately supported their identity. That journey reflects a broader Indian reality: acceptance often comes in fragments, with love and patience slowly bridging the gap.
But Teenasia doesn’t stop at personal victories. They critique the very frameworks of gender in India:
“We have a habit of looking only at man and woman. We associate behaviours with gender and rarely validate people who fall outside the binary.”
By existing visibly as a nonbinary artist in India, Teenasia challenges those rigid binaries daily.
Why Teenasai Matters in 2025
In a cultural landscape where queer visibility is still precarious, Grape Guitar Box represents hope, responsibility, and rebellion. Their music isn’t just a soundtrack for queer India it’s a blueprint for what it means to carve space in an industry that too often erases.
2025 is set to be a landmark year for Teenasia and other independent queer artists. With Pride in India moving from protest to festival, and inclusive fashion, film, and music gaining momentum, artists like Grape Guitar Box are no longer the exception Hey are the future.
