So , your new singles Sathi and Ari Ari from your collaborative album “ Baaraat ” with Nucleya are out . Tell us about this collaborative album and how it came to be and why now .
Udyan and I have known each other for a good while now . We met each other in 2015 and obviously , at that point , I was just a 19-year-old kid who was just starting out and like every other kid in the country , Udyan / Nucleya was the biggest thing in the country , and it was just amazing to have him watch me perform for the first time back in 2015 . And then when we met , obviously like a sync pretty much started to build , we spoke a little bit and a relationship started to form . And then over a period , from there until now , we ’ ve cooked up a song pretty much every time we ’ ve met . That ’ s the amount of music that we ’ ve written together because I think that the both of us really have a very similar understanding of what our music is , which is a reaction to whatever we have been going through , so if it ’ s a good conversation with me and Udyan – that ’ s a song . That ’ s how it ’ s been with him over the last couple of years . This is the year you know with the pandemic and everything , we got so much time to just sit and organise a little bit , so we figured this is the year that we are going to put some of the music out . There are only eight songs that we ‘ ve handpicked but there ’ s so much more that didn ’ t make it to the track list .
Your tracks Udd Gaye and Sage also had phenomenal music videos . Do you think that videos are very essential for an album to amplify its success ?
For sure , I think a visual identity is important to make the listener experience the world that you are trying to create with the song . We always believe with the kind of music videos that we ’ ve done , specifically , my solo stuff has been a very different video world meeting the audio . They are not in the same sphere so that just became like a format of sorts . It ’ s just a very epic experience for the listeners , that was always the goal . The thought behind doing the MV was to give a new flavour to the track altogether , now it ’ s become like we ’ ve built a little universe with all the MVs and the characters and try to connect them in some way .
Honestly , I am so lucky to work with such people who come up with such bizarre and exciting ideas . If you listen to Sage or Udd Gaye , it could ’ ve been such a traditional , boy meets girl video , but just the fact that we decided to pick an idea where one wonders do I focus on the audio , do I focus on the video , the two just merge together . I am very lucky to have found the right people , so a shout out to my visual people folks , Catnip , Jugaad . Much Love !
So , a month ago you released Khamoshi with Karan , again it received a lot of love just like your other singles . But you had to move your release dates for these tracks , so did they hamper your creative process and how did you deal with it ?
Okay , this is funny because I set these deadlines . I am my worst enemy . I tell myself ; I know that around this date I will deliver but the creative juices sometimes stop flowing . My very hardcore fans hate me for it but I truly believe I want to deliver quality . Once the song is out , it ’ s out , there ’ s no reverse . I try my best to stick to the deadlines I set so that it pushes me to come closer to the finished product . But it ’ s caused enough problems a lot of times with my close people , you know like ‘ Why did you announce the date ?’ But anyway , now we are at a point , my team and a lot of people around me , we believe in putting out the best , 100 % version of something that we truly believe in . And I hope to get back on track with the deadlines and all . Time management is a learning for me , haha .
Could you talk to us about Khamoshi ?
So Khamoshi was a very interesting song for us , me and Karan . When we started writing , it took us around a year to finish it . It was centred around the fact of being at home , where the pandemic had left us and the feeling of being isolated . I had released Roshni and Khamoshi under the same umbrella about our experiences through the pandemic and how our state of mind was 2 or 3 years ago .
So , you and Nucleya are releasing a series of NFTS ( Non- Fungible Tokens ). What made you venture into a new trend and how has the response been so far . Would you recommend this to other artists ?
Oh , this was a very big experiment . A huge shout-out to my manager Rahul because it was his idea . He had been reading about NFTs and the whole crypto world . Once we understood more about it and felt like this could blow up , we were the first set of artists who were doing this . We sold out our first round of NFTS , around 10 NFTS in the first day or two . It was pretty EPIC .
I wasn ’ t expecting that response but just to know that this is a new possible set of work displays , it opens up your horizon a little bit . I am still learning a lot about that world but I have people that are educating me about it . It ’ s very exciting . I just feel like this is awfully fun . It ’ s giving us new ideas to present my music or Udyan ’ s music . There are over like 60 NFTS that we are planning to drop over the course of the next six months . We are like totally going for it !
Last year , you were the most streamed artist in the Indie scene , how did that feel ? Did you expect that to happen ? What would you tell artists who are still trying to make their mark in the industry ?
Extremely humbled . When we found
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