Musicians IP Singh and Rajarshi Sanyal recently launched their band Faridkot's new EP, IBTIDA. They have impressed the listeners with their music for many years now. In an exclusive chat with SpotboyE, they opened up about the story behind forming their band Faridkot and how their music has evolved.
Can you share with us the story behind the formation of Faridkot and how your musical journey began?
IP Singh: Faridkot started in 2008 in Delhi. Both of us were pursuing our own music. Rajarshi used to play in a band, and I had a few tunes with me. I was looking to form a band, and through the music circuit, we met, and that's how the journey began.
Rajarshi: Faridkot started a while back when IP Singh and I met in Delhi. We were both looking to make music together. IP Singh was searching for a band, and I was seeking a good singer who could sing and write songs in Hindi because I had an English band and I wanted to branch out to experiment more. We came together and we were pretty like-minded. We complimented each other as musicians. IP Singh's preferences were different from mine, but we both wanted to experiment and have a lot of fun in music.
Your latest EP, ‘IBTIDA,’ features enchanting love ballads and collaborations with renowned artists. What inspired the theme of this EP, and how was the experience of collaborating with artists like Jubin Nautiyal and Raghav Chaitanya for the EP?
IP Singh: In this EP, we were fortunate to have them on board and lend their voices, which was amazing. It was a great experience, and they added so much to our tunes, songs, and words. Actually, we were initially supposed to release just one track as a single. But then, we all had this idea to release an EP, and we had a few tunes that we really wanted to include, and somehow all of them fit in this EP beautifully. This was the idea behind it. Somehow, they all turned out to be love songs, and when they were put together as an EP, it made sense to us.
Rajarshi: I think the theme of this EP is a collection of love songs. We hadn't specifically written an EP focused on love songs until now. It's about love for our family, love for our friends, love for any beautiful moment that we experience in the course of a day. It’s one of those things that keeps us happy. Love is such a beautiful part of our lives and it just keeps us going. I think that's what makes life worth living. The experience of collaborating with these amazing artists was very eye-opening and brilliant. They brought their own flavors to the song. Jubin Nautial is a beautiful singer. He has such a rich sound, which is also identifiable. He has obviously sung a lot of great songs and has this very peaceful vibe about him. He loves music, loves having fun on a track, and he loved the song, and we were very happy that he brought soul into the song. Raghav is another fun guy with full of energy. He is so much fun to work with. He is a funny guy and obviously a very talented singer. It's amazing that we were lucky enough to work with such beautiful singers, and it's been a great experience. We would want to collaborate with them again, definitely.
‘Nasha’ featuring Amar Jalal became a chart-topping hit and was later featured in the soundtrack of the Bollywood movie ‘An Action Hero.’ How did this collaboration come about, and what was it like seeing your song in a major motion picture?
IP Singh: Nasha, yes! We got a call from Anahad Foundation, an NGO in Delhi. It was a huge song for us, bringing together folk rural musicians with contemporary urban musicians. And of course, when it appeared on the big screen, it was a big thing for us. And to finally see the video pictured on Nora Fatehi and Ayushmann Khurrana was quite thrilling. It has indeed been a pivotal point in our career.
Rajarshi: Nasha, came about when we got a call from Anahad Foundation, an NGO in Delhi. They organised this kind of collaborative mentorship where they brought a folk artist and other musicians together to create a song. It was a fun project, and I don't think it was intended to be something spectacular. It was about learning from each other and learning from a folk artist. It was a five-day insanely crazy session where we met the guys and recorded the final song and the music video. We had no idea that the song was going to become so huge. We feel very lucky that Nasha could do so much for us. It entering a Bollywood movie was a fantastic feeling. It helped us a lot because obviously Bollywood has an amazing reach, and it's great to have a song in a motion picture. It was an amazing experience, and we hope it happens again.
With two acclaimed albums and a repertoire of several million-streamed hits, how do you feel Faridkot's music has evolved over the years?
IP Singh: Actually, if you listen to our music, you can feel how much it has evolved. We like to move with the times and always keep exploring new sounds and not getting bound down by a certain sound or a certain style. We always want to make pop music but we don't know how to make it (Laughs) and that's why we call our music confused pop (Laughs), the evolution is very natural. Both of us have evolved, and so has the music along the way.
Rajarshi: Faridkot's music has evolved quite a bit over the years. We have really grown as musicians. We've had so many different experiences and experimented a lot. We keep trying to push ourselves and our boundaries. It's been an amazing experience to be musicians in today’s time because I think the music landscape has changed a lot. There's a lot more happening now. There are so many new independent artists coming up and Independent music has grown so much. So, it's fun to be a part of that and to keep evolving and keep pushing ourselves, keep throwing ourselves out of our comfort zone and make more music.
Could you share any memorable moments or challenges you've encountered throughout your musical journey?
IP Singh: There are so many memorable moments. Playing in Arunachal Pradesh and Kabul was one of them. Shifting to Bombay, chasing our dreams, getting our first song, being with a great label like T-series, these are all really big memorable moments of our lives and will always cherish it. Our parents were very supportive of us for following music as a career. And I think that was the biggest force that kept us going and motivated to make more music.
Rajarshi: There are a lot of memorable moments. I think of a few challenge which we've taken headfirst is how to keep ourselves interested when we are doing something for a really long time, we tend to get into a set pattern with the same kind of music. But we always wanted to throw ourselves out of our comfort zone. We love doing that and making new kinds of songs, overall it has been an amazing experience doing this.
What's next for Faridkot? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations that your fans can look forward to?
IP Singh: Yes indeed, there is a lot of new music. We are trying more EP’s this year. Other than that, we are collaborating with a few more really exciting artists. A lots of music in the pipeline and we are really excited. Going to be a great year ahead.
Rajarshi: Yes absolutely, we are working on another EP currently. There are couple of film projects that we are working on and a lot of exciting things happening and should be happening this year. A lot of exciting stuff definitely coming up.
Image Source: Instagram