Akarsh Shekhar
In conversation with
Shashwat Bulusu
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind ‘ Raani ’ and what led you to finally release it after 10 years ?
I think when I wrote ‘ Raani ’ it was quite aspirational . I was still in school in Baroda and hadn ’ t really acquired that many life experiences . In some ways it reflected my aspiration to go somewhere in the mountains . In the last 10 years , the song lived and breathed its own life in a way that was never in my control and it is now that I ’ ve come to terms with that .
How has ‘ Raani ’ evolved from its original version to the one that has been released now ? Did you make any significant changes during the production process ?
The original recording was raw in the sense that it was recorded in the middle of the night with a recorder . You could hear the room where I recorded . It captured a mood and a moment . Before I got around to the version that I released , I had already attempted reproducing the song multiple times with more elements and none of it felt honest to me . So when it finally came down the final version of the song I went back to a fairly minimal and raw sound . All that was added to the basic vocals and the guitars were a few vocal harmonies and some keys .
Could you share your experience of writing ‘ Raani ’ as a teenager and how it feels to revisit it as a more experienced artist ?
‘ Raani ’ was not written with a formed idea in my head . I just kept adding lines and eventually it had a semblance of a song . When I wrote it , I wasn ’ t intending to pursue being a musician so I wasn ’ t trying to really push the craft of writing . In that sense , it ’ s fairly carefree . Once I decided to give the song another shot , I went in knowing that I can ’ t touch the lyrics or the structure much because the people who loved ‘ Raani ’ were quite passionate about that . So I had to forget the songwriter side of me for this and just lean in to the structure and movements of the original version . But because my sound has changed in the last 10 years , how I arrived at the tone of each element during the production has been fairly different .
‘ Raani ’ has garnered a significant following through bootlegged versions on YouTube and WhatsApp . How do you think the unofficial circulation of the song has impacted its reception and popularity ?
I think the song has an identity because of the bootleg and YouTube . In fact everyone who had the bootleg didn ’ t even know who wrote the song . For a lot of people ‘ Raani ’ came into existence before I did . Today , a lot of people know me for ‘ Raani ’ and haven ’ t even heard any of my other music . Also because there was no official release , people used these versions as a “ Hey , I have a song for you ” like an inside joke of sorts . And 10 years of that would for sure add up to a decent number of listeners .
As a trained classical musician , how does your classical background influence your songwriting process , especially when creating tracks like ‘ Raani ’?
It doesn ’ t play much of a role in how I write . Also , I am formally trained in tabla which doesn ’ t show up in my music but it has given me an ear for rhythm . Although because I spent a lot of time playing the tabla I ended up listening to a lot of classical vocals which sometimes make way into how I sing but it completely depends on if the song needs it . It ’ s not intended but I ’ m trying to develop a muscle that allows me to make the right choices .
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