The Score Magazine - Archive November 2016 issue! | Page 16

How was it to perform live on stage after almost 6
months?
It was an emotional feeling! I took this deliberate Hiatus
to rectify my knee condition and over these 6 months
that I was on bed, I ended up rediscovering myself and
my passion, my talent, my handicaps, my shortcomings.
It was a very good time I got to spend with myself. When
I came back on stage, all the learning gave me a different
perspective to myself. I met another Sonu Nigam for the
first time on stage after 6 months.
It is said that it was an emotional moment for you
while performing in Atlanta? Could you tell us why?
It was an emotional moment, a feeling, an experience.
As we say familiarity breeds contempt, similarly, when
you are too familiar with your craft and when you sing
the same thing for so many years, you don’t get the
correct perspective of what you actually are and how
blessed you are. So when I was not being able to do the
thing I wanted to do the most, the thing I am blessed with,
understanding music/able to sing/entertain people/to
make people smile/laugh, I think I took it all for granted
just like most humans do. Subconsciously, we all do it
on daily basis. so when I got back on stage in Atlanta,
I saw myself from that perspective, the perspective of a
person who could not do it for 6 months, who could not
perform/not even walk properly, without the help of a
walker or crutches. That is when I realized how blessed
I have been in my entire life. The tears in my eyes were
of gratitude. Gratitude towards the almighty!

How would you differentiate the live music
performance between India and outside?
There is not much difference, except sometimes the
scales are really high. We are getting there and we have
done a good job since the time I had started 25 years
back at Mumbai to what it has become now. What all
we are asking now for production and how efficient
our team is, we have done a great job in terms of sound
and production. Live performances are not just about
the artist but also about the experience that they give
and then in India we have singers who lip sync on their
own voices and in the West also that happens. In India
we have singers that sing live and in the west that also
happens.
So, not much of a difference except the fact that the
scales are sometimes very varied. They have millions
of dollars to invest in production, lights and sounds and
various other paraphernalia.
Can we look forward to more live performances
from you henceforth?
Of course my performances, my concerts are ways of
connecting myself to the almighty and my audiences.
To make them happy also there is no medium. You
see I don’t need any arbitrator between me and the
audiences. Whatever I do goes straight to the audience.
If I am good, they would appreciate and if I am bad, they
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would reject me. So live shows are my passion and I
would love to keep doing them for my entire life time.
Your association with Atif Aslam has been loved by
all over few years. Please throw some light on the
same.
Well, Atif Aslam is an artist from Pakistan and he has
done pretty well in India and I have collaborated in the
past with Junoon, Strings in dubai .I have collaborated
with Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ghanjawala, Asha
Bhosleji, Kailash Kher and so collaborating with
another artist is the same thing whether he is from
India or Pakistan. We have won lots of good shows and
this time what we had done in the US was outstanding.
In certain centres, the arena owners came up to us and
said that they have never witnessed such crowds even
for American shows. So it was very heartening as the
promoters had not made this kind of money in a long
time.
Now that the tour is over, please tell us what all you
will miss about the concert? What kind of memories
have you carried from the tour while coming back
to Mumbai?
Throughout the tour, I was almost on a prayer mode.
I had always been inclined towards discovering the
ultimate truth but I have never been so full of gratitude
so I don’t miss anything. I am carrying the same
gratitude back to India and I have also learnt the lesson
of never procrastinating in life. Don’t keep anything for
tomorrow! Finish everything today and get done with
it today itself. I am happy that god has given me this
second chance.
Tell us about your upcoming projects.
An interesting upcoming album with Saregama with
multiple singles coming up.
What advice would you give to budding musicians?
Don’t fly too soon.... :)
Photo Credits: Avinash Gowariker