It is hard not to fall in
love with Prateek Kuhad.
His music has become
a stand-in for human
vulnerability, warmth,
and confession outside
the Bollywood mold. The
uncomplicated frankness
of his lyrics, attached to
instrumental compositions
that are almost immediately
enchanting, have made
Kuhad’s work instantly
recognizable and lovable.
His last album cold/mess
established him as someone
who understands the mess
of human emotions and is
unnaturally good at talking
about it. Kuhad himself
calls it a “quintessential
heartbreak album”, but
it goes beyond rehashing
tired tropes of failed
romance. As is his signature,
he focuses on the somewhat
inherent irrationality (and
beauty) of human feeling
and does so in a way that
reassures the listener
that everything will be,
eventually, okay.
His songwriting carries
the gift of closeness. He
conveys stories that feel like
home, and the universality
of his work was proved
when former US president
Barrack Obama included
“cold/mess” in the list of his
favorite music in 2019. With
sold-out shows at every
turn, Kuhad is one of the
most listened to individuals
among the lonesome, the
pensive and those seeking
to make peace with their
own longing.
He took a moment with
Score to answer questions
about how he makes music,
how it feels to be known,
and how it hasn’t changed
who he is.
When you write a song, how
do you decide if it goes on an
album? Or does every song you
write make the cut for release?
I write on a regular basis, whatever
the situation may be. Some days,
you'll write a song that works, some
days you just write. There's no static
process to it. In fact, a majority of the
songs I write usually just get trashed.
The way I have been doing it so far, I
write a lot and then usually most of the
songs end of being pretty bad. Maybe
every 10th song I write – on average
– ends up being worth releasing.
How would you describe
yourself outside the persona
of being a musician?
I consider myself a regular human
being. I live a normal, regular life,
similar to a lot of other people. I tend
to let my music do the talking and keep
my persona outside of being a musician
only for close family and friends.
How do you choose which
song goes best on which
instrument? For example, how
did you decide to put the piano
at the center of ‘cold/mess’?
It’s not a very deliberate process,
I take a call based on what feels
right and then it’s a lot of trial and
error. The arp in cold/mess, which
I presume you're referring to, was
added during the production process.
It was originally written with just
guitars, drums, bass, and vocals.
Other than President
Obama’s shout-out to ‘cold/
mess’, what have been the
highlights of your 2019?
Touring through almost half the world
was definitely a key highlight, of which
selling out my Delhi and Bombay shows
which were respectively around 6,500
and 9,000 capacity shows topped them all.
Selling out ticketed shows at that scale
was quite a landmark for me personally.
If you could control your artistic
progression, what would it be
like? Would you prefer to write
better melodies with each album?
Or would you rather focus on the
ideas you sing and write about?
Ideally, I would like every single aspect
of my songwriting process to progress
evenly. I think every aspect of the
process is important and no aspect is less
important than another. So everything
from the words to the melodies and
the harmonic layers beneath, the
production and technical aspects like
mixing, etc. - it is all very important.
A record should be treated with a lot
of seriousness and fastidiousness.
How do you know something is
worth writing a song about?
I tend to write about anything that
I’m feeling. It could be personal, or
situational, depending on my feelings.
I try to just write and not overthink
or judge myself or the song in the
moment. Usually when it’s finished
or close to finishing is when I get
any perspective on the song.
Who or what has been your best
and worst musical influence?
I have had many positive influences
- movies like Before Sunrise, Pyaasa,
books like The Fountainhead,
Norwegian Wood, and artists like
Elliott Smith, Led Zeppelin and John
Mayer. I don’t think I have had any
“negative” influences - is that even
possible? If I foresee something as
influencing me badly I will just avoid it.
What drew you to the
music of Elliott Smith?
I think he wrote some of the best songs
ever written. His songs have a lot of
emotional depth and also show his
mastery of the songwriter’s craft and
his excellent musicianship. On several
levels, Elliott Smith was a genius.
What is the prime difference
between composing for
someone else’s story (like
your work with Bollywood or
Netflix) and composing for your
own? Which do you prefer?
The approach to both scenarios is a bit
different. While the basic principles
behind making a song apply to both
situations, when writing for myself I
have a lot of freedom – I can write about
whatever, whoever and in whatever
way I want. There is no time crunch
and there are no boundaries. That can
sometimes be liberating and other
times cause a lot of confusion – it’s
kinda like when you have too many
choices it’s harder to make a decision.
Whereas when writing for film/TV, all
these boundaries come into place – who
are you writing for, what emotions
you need to fit into the song, what
exactly you are writing about, etc. So
in some sense, it’s easier cause you
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