The Score Magazine - Archive November 2016 issue! | Page 15

How did your journey as a musician begin? What
made you decide to pursue it?
I do not remember when I realized that I was blessed
with music but I do remember the first time I sang
on stage because of my own insistence which was in
Jind, Haryana, sometime in late 1977, at the age of 4. I
have been singing professionally since then.
What kind of music inspires you?
Music that exhibits someone’s genius, or acumen, or
just an inexplicable divinity or ecstasy. It could be
any genre.
Which artists do you think have had the most
impact on your style?
Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle,
Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, K L Saigal, Anup
Jalota, Pankaj Udhas, Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali,
Michael Jackson, George Michael, Whitney Houston,
Mariah Carey, Suresh Wadkar, Hariharan, Salamat
Ali Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Vasantrao
Deshpandey, Ajoy Chakraborty, Justin Timberlake,
Mohammed Aziz, Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, S P
Balasubramanium.....I’m missing out on many more
due to lack of space.
If you had to pick 3 of your own songs to best
exemplify your style, which would they be?
Aa Pukare Tujhe Ye Dil Mera (Album Yaad), Ai Dil
Mat Ro (Album Classically Mild) and Crazy Dil mera
(Single). I have deliberately chosen the non film songs
simply because they actually are purely my own
personal expression as a musician.
Any artists you would want to work with in the
future?
I have had a blessed career at a very young age where
I have had the opportunity to work with the greats
of many different countries. So I leave it up to my
destiny to surprise me rather than me trying to lead
my destiny somewhere.
What’s your take on the Indie Music Scene right
now?
Music scene today is pretty festive, a lot is happening!
There are new singers, composers, composition styles,
changes in the functioning of the music business in
India. This is an interesting stage, and its impacts
would be clear only after the storm settles down.
How did your journey as a musician begin? What
made you decide to pursue it?
I do not remember when I realized that I was blessed
with music but I do remember the first time I sang
on stage because of my own insistence which was in
Jind, Haryana, sometime in late 1977, at the age of 4. I
have been singing professionally since then.
What made you go ahead with the initiative of
Being Indian?
Me, my office team and my management team Kwan
were just having a chat as to what should be a precursor
to our video Crazy Dil. The Culture Machine team
came up with the initial thought behind this idea and
then I tweaked the finer points to make it as genuine
and true to our message, as possible.
Share some details on Crazy Dil?
Crazy Dil was written in a domestic flight in America
in 2014 although I had a basic idea in my head earlier.
I was aware that even though I had been doing non
film stuff all this while and people loved Classically
Mild, Mahaganesha, Rafi Resurrected, Music Room;
they were expecting me to come out with something
simple and catchy, something massy like Deewana,
Jaan, Kismet, Mausam, Yaad, Chanda ki Doli (My God
I have done so much Independent stuff :) . Since the
private album scenario is almost completely replaced
by the singles format, we decided to put our positivity
and energies in to one good song. I understand that
radios and tv channels don’t support singles anymore
unless it’s a Rap artiste generally, but I still want to
keep doing independent music just so that I leave
music of my choice too for posterity. Also, people keep
asking me for more and more music videos of my own.
So Aa bhi Jaa kahin se in October 2015 and Crazy Dil
in May 2016.
What was the best advice you received regarding
music?
My father always told me, just don’t merely sing, but
emote in such way that even if the listener doesn’t
understand the language, he knows what you are
trying to say through merely your expressions. I hope
I have made him happy.
Do you think being born into a musical family
aided your growth as a singer?
It did, but there is no thumb rule to back this theory.
I have seen a lot of scions of noteworthy musically
families having not taken up their family art-form as
profession. In my case, my parents were singers, but
they never had to coax me into music. I was myself a
very involved and keen child.
You recently performed on the streets in disguise.
Could you tell us why and how this came to be?
The experience was surreal in a way. To not know the
outcome of such a bizarre exercise, in a busy city like
Mumbai, is not exactly a simple and fun situation. It
needed a lot of patience and faith to pull something
like this off. And what love we received for this!
Wooohoo.... !
The
Score Magazine
www.thescoremagazine.com
13