THE 2o YEAR JOURNEY OF A POLYMATH

2002

Reeta lived in Brixton at the time of its Breakbeat explosion and worked at the Brixton Academy. Reeta performed as a spoken word artist & jazz singer with live bands at venues around London including Brixton’s Bug Bar and the Effra. Reeta trained at prestigious music studios The Premises, Hackney.

2003

Became front-person of LO Freq, with Sri Lankan-Chinese brothers Jamie & Michael Perera, performing several nights a week in London including their own monthly night on Brick Lane. Lo Freq were sponsored by Converse, put on tour and had vinyl released and distributed at Rough Trade. They performed in the UK, Berlin and Croatia and were released alongside Cinematic Orchestra, Meshell Ndegeocello, Sia, The Bad Plus and Mark Ronson. They were one of the earliest bands to use Ableton in a live environment.

2007

The music industry was struggling with the migration to digital and many artists were unsigned without the platforms available today to self-release. LO Freq disbanded and the album remained unreleased. A label that felt like home never emerged despite signing to an indie and talks with majors.

The album featuring previously unreleased material will be available on Bandcamp soon.

2010

Reeta put out an EP of some LO Freq tracks, available on streaming platforms.

Reeta worked with producers and live bands whilst learning to produce their own music with mentorship from Sam Zaman (State of Bengal).

2016

By 2016 Reeta had written, recorded and produced their own debut solo album. The album sampled Hindi film vinyl from the ’60s and ’70s. Reeta pitch-shifted their own vocals to create gender-bending same-sex love songs with Bollywood protagonists and fused these with London beats.

Reeta began using the alias ‘LOIAL’ as a reference to their surname and the heritage they were now reimagining after separation from their family of origin and subsequent loss of access to their culture. The name LOIAL (pronounced ‘loyal’) conveyed their loyalty to their cultural roots and personal exploration of this through their art. The LOIAL identity was one of a gender-fluid deity with striking visuals and a backdrop of live animations that supported their sound.

Reeta’s voice was now becoming widely known amongst mainstream and LGBTQ+ media and they had met increasing numbers of charities and support groups serving LGBTQ+ South Asians around the UK. These groups were all lacking funding and needed support to reach their communities.

2017

Having spent many years without community and family, Reeta decided to be a more visible person for the South Asian LGBTQ+ and lesbian community.

Joined DIVA as a columnist using their name and face publicly for the first time. After 20 years of being out, Asian lesbians were still overwhelmingly absent in the media.

Founded Gaysians, the world’s most comprehensive support platform for South Asian LGBTQ+ people of the diaspora, promoting 25 vetted organisations internationally.

Launched ‘Desi Lesbians Where Are You?’ with 75 desi lesbians attending a panel discussion Reeta hosted with guests including DJ Ritu and lesbians of different generations and faiths.

Selected by Penguin Random House as one of fifty writers to watch in London based on the manuscript of their book.

Listed in the DIVA Power List

2018

Started the year DJing at Mumbai Pride.

Curated Gay Times Gaysians issue, the first Asian cover of a global LGBTQ+ magazine. 

Listed a Forbes 100 Woman Founder.

After successfully lobbying in parliament to push for legislation change in India, Reeta put on the UK celebration on the scrapping of criminal legislation 377 in India & was covered in global media.

‘Desi Lesbians Where Are you?’ became part of WOW programming in London’s Southbank and Bradford.

Spoke on the Main Stage at UK Black Pride and hosted the Wellbeing Stage.

Released debut self-produced solo EP ‘Ek’ to critical acclaim.

DJ’d widely including at The Wallace Collection Diwali supporting Talvin Singh and Bobby Friction, curated by Bishi.

Listed in DIVA Power List

Guardian Pride Power List

2019

Recorded new music and started developing their next album.

Performed at the Haramacy festival collaborating with other South Asian and Middle Eastern artists. Showcased Reeta’s racial hierarchies piece ‘Walking’, a spoken word performance to the backdrop of Sarathy Korwar and other live jazz musicians.

Supported Bishi’s London gig showcasing songs and other new material in development.

Dedicated time to writing their book whilst based in North America later in the year.

Listed in DIVA Power List

Guardian Pride Power List

British LGBT Awards - Outstanding Contribution to LGBT+ Life (Top Ten)

2022

TEDxLondon talk and spoken word performance of ‘Superpowers’ alongside a live version of ‘Remedy’ with Gnarly.

Face of Boots Beauty for International Women’s Day campaign

Featured in ‘Where have all the lesbians gone?’ on Channel 4

Face of H&M’s Global Pride campaign

Performed a spoken word piece ‘Chosen Family’ at Somerset House for the launch of H&M’s Pride campaign

Released ‘Remedy’ which featured across platforms including Earmilk and Gay Times.

Speaker at Meta with leading activists from around the world on how we fight for global equality and rights, as well as Burberry, Dr Marten’s, Levi’s and a panel about the future of fashion at Shoreditch House.

Hosted a panel with artists Sadie Lee and Sarah Jane Moon and DJ’d at new queer exhibition ‘Unapologetic Sexuality’ at the Saint George St Gallery, Mayfair

Attended RADA to develop a new show which lead to the formation of Reeta’s new one-person show told through story, poetry, comedy & song.

Debuted new show on the main stage at Bobby Friction’s new festival ‘Going South’ at London’s Rich Mix, to hugely positive feedback

Performed at DAYTIMERS Mehfil to further acclaim

2023

The Remedy Tour