You started off with your YouTube channel quite late....
A few months ago, I released my own YouTube channel.
I know it’s a bit late in the day because most of the musicians not only have a
channel but also many subscribers. I was stuck in an old school thought,
but nonetheless better late than never. I released a couple of songs on my
channel, one of them was a peppy number and the other was for a social cause.
My fans loved both the songs but they kept asking me to come up with a
melodious number and that’s how Surili came up.
Tell us something about your single Surili...
Surili was made in about a week’s time. After recording
the track, I relaxed for a few days and thought ‘video toh bana denge’! Days
passed and I realized that my deadline was just a few days away and that’s when
I called my friend Iqbal Rizvi who helped me shoot the video. Since I wanted an
innocent face for the video, I thought Preetika Rao would be the right face.
The video has got over 3 million views till date...
I am extremely happy that Surili is getting great
feedback from the fans. A lot of music companies get 3 million in a matter of a
day but I think for a new channel like mine, I am quite happy with the
response. (pauses)
Go on...
I get quite sacred of the dislike button but fortunately
I have only got 70-80 thumbs down till now, so yes I am thrilled. Anyway I
feel, today we do not have many original songs. Whatever views I have got, is
solely because of the content that has been created. Post releasing this video
one thing is quite clear that it is not a mandate to have a hook line or an
ultra glamorous video for the song to work. If you make a good melody with
meaningful lyrics, people will love your song. I performed the song in a small
town like Humpy and people were singing along, so yes they have heard the
track.
Sonu Nigam, once in an interview said that, back then, a
song would be a hit or flop according to the number of CDs or cassettes it sold
unlike now, when the views on YouTube can be bought...
I think views should not be the only yardstick because
that will not help people remember your song line-by-line. At the end of the
day, the number of views is more of an ego boaster. There are times when
despite getting the highest number of views -- when you perform the song,
people can’t even sing two lines from it. At times, I go through the comments
and likes of these songs do not match the numbers. Very often I come across
with people from foreign countries commenting on these tracks and that too with
Hindi words. If you go by their names, they have nothing to do with Bollywood
but they have, Hindi words in their comments. Ek do ho toh I can still ignore,
but this is a pattern which is seen quite often. I agree with Sonuji that if
there is someone who has bought a song investing his/her money, there is a
value to it.
Coming back to Bollywood, it is said, that the industry
does not like voices that understand playback. What do you think?
I would say the singers today lack singing sensibilities.
When we recorded a song, we would try and understand various aspects including
the actor who is going to lip-sync the track, his energy, when is the song
coming in the film and only then we would record the song. Now, the singer just
sings a song, adds a few elements here and there and the track
works.
Your son Shubh made a singing debut last year. Do you
mind if your kids (Soham and Shubh) take up music as a profession?
Both my sons sing very well but I ask them to think music
as a hobby and not as a profession. The more you talk about the professional
aspects, the more calculative you get.
Image Source: Instagram/shaanmusic