You can listen to the soundtrack here.

Retro flavor is not something Vishal Shekhar are new to. They have done it quite well numerous times in the past, tributes to RDB or otherwise. Hence it comes as no surprise that Ooh La La (the one that has already made its mark via channels) sounds like it does, helped on its way by Bappi da and Shreya Ghoshal’s energy. Shreya hasn’t sounded this naughty as far back as I can recollect! The arrangement is spic, the duo’s RDB fanboi-ness does surface in places here too. Dhol mix for a retro song is a bad idea, it is proven well here. Honeymoon Ki Raat continues on the same retro-risque vein, following a groovy disco template this time with a woodwind refrain that reminds slightly of a particular hook from Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhein. Sunidhi is brought to sing this and she doesn’t disappoint.  It is just the lyrics that fail to fall in line.

Arrangement-wise Twinkle Twinkle comes across as the composers’ combined tribute to Hothon Mein Aisi Baat and Mehbooba, but the corny lyrics make it something else entirely. The composers’ work and the singing by Shreya and Rana Mazumder (who mimics RDB quite well) make it an engaging listen though. It is only in Ishq Sufiyana that the soundtrack takes a diversion from the “dirty” route, surprisingly also from the retro route.  But that is not to take anything away from the composition – the breezy melody is beautifully orchestrated by Vishal and Shekhar and works in both the male and female editions – I liked Kamaal Khan’s better for the simple fact that I have never heard him sing a classical-based number before, and this one came as a pleasant surprise (ok I stand corrected, this is apparently a new Kamaal Khan who won SaReGaMaPa. Well sung! And thanks, Sameer Joshi, for the correction). Sunidhi does an equally commendable job.

A soundtrack from Vishal-Shekhar that for most part stays true to the title The Dirty Picture. Better lyrics would have added to the allure though.

Music Aloud Rating: 7/10

Top Recos: Ooh La La, Ishq Sufiyana

You can listen to the soundtrack here.

Shamir Tandon’s two songs – Ajab Hulchul Si and Ek Pata – are both uninspired compositions. Worse, the composer employs a fab set of singers including the likes of Vasundhara Das, KK, Shaan, Kunal Ganjawala etc for the undeserving songs. Mika Singh might have impressed with Ganpat in Shootout At Lokhandwala, but looks like that is the only style he is proficient at – Saari Duniya is another Ganpat, the expletive-laden lyrics, the gangsta-type arrangement et al. But one of that type will do, thank you very much. Relatively better of the lot is debutant composer Shravan Sinha though that is not saying much about his two songs. Jawani Ki Bank I guess would be the Rakhi Sawant number. Sung by Mamta Sharma it just about passes muster for the singer’s exuberance. Title song seems like a poor inspiration of Javed Jaffrey’s Mumbhai, the groove is catchy, but overall the song lacks punch.

A safely avoidable soundtrack for what appears to be an equally avoidable movie.

Music Aloud Rating: 4/10

Top Recos: Heh.

Who are India’s next big bands? Red Bull Bedroom Jam 2011 will find them

(Posted on behalf of Little Big Noise)

4 bedroom bands will get the chance to perform at some of the most anticipated festivals in the country and each of these bands will get a brand new music video shot in their bedrooms by the coolest, edgiest directors at social media and production house, Jack in the Box.

This is what Red Bull Bedroom Jam 2011 is set to do this November: Scour the country for the best talent among homegrown bands across all genres – rock, metal, alternative, hip-hop, singer-songwriters, pop, funk and so on – and put the best 4 bands in the spotlight. 

The idea is simple: Most musicians showcase explosive creativity while jamming in their bedrooms, making the bedroom the best place to find original, unidentified, fresh talent. Red Bull Bedroom Jam India hunts down these bedroom bands and gives them a platform to take their music to the rest of the world.

Bands from across India can upload their home-produced music video on www.redbullbedroomjam.in by 7th November. After which, fans log in and vote for the ones they like, and the winners are picked based on their popularity on the ‘Buzz Chart’. The best 8 bands will then play at a club opening and will open for some of the biggest headlining acts in the country and will compete to be the final, winning 4 bands.

Red Bull Bedroom Jam debuted in India in 2010 and saw breakthrough bedroom bands Colossal Figures (Delhi), Inner Sanctum (Bangalore), Noiseware (Pune) and Blakc (Mumbai) join the Red Bull Bedroom Jam family of 1,500 bands in countries such as the UK, Australia, Mexico and Sweden. These winning bands got new music videos and performance slots at festivals like Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Great Indian Rock, BITS Pilani, The Tilt and Symbiosis.

 Log on to www.redbullbedroomjam.in to upload your music. Check out the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RedBullBedroomJamIndia

If I were to pick one thing I have been most cynical about in music, it would be someone reinterpreting A R Rahman’s music. And there have been quite a few instances that cemented my cynicism. I have heard cringe-worthy instrumental adaptations of many of his works. And then there is Hariharan. Notwithstanding the immense respect I have for his singing, I have found his improvs on ARR songs almost always been avoidable. But in Episode 4 of MTV Unplugged India there happened a cover of Genda Phool from Ranjit Barot that I would gladly quote as an occasion where I was proven wrong. The occasion was Rekha Bhardwaj appearing for Unplugged, and in her own words they were presenting an urbanized version of the Dilli 6 song. And a true urbanization it was – the beatboxing from Allan, the rap from Kunal (whose lyrics could probably have been better, but given the way the rap added to the grooviness I am willing to ignore that), the awesome Kurt Peters on drums, the bluesy phrases on the piano, the basslines, the effect was brilliant! But even the urbanization was not without elements of fusion, the composer providing the classical-based garnishing from North and South – Shakthidharan from Kerala on the morsing, Arshad Khan on israj and some lovely shehnai by Ramchander. Add to all these the flawless rendition by Rekha, and I was absolutely floored!

Earlier the night kicked off with Rekha soulfully rendering a sufi piece from her 2004 album Ishqa Ishqa called Tere Ishq Mein. I had not heard this song earlier, but I liked what I heard on the show. For this episode Barot had brought in a dedicated strings section which was having a marked effect on the whole sound, especially towards the climactic end where the violins, the harmonies all came together quite nicely.  She next paid a tribute to NFAK by singing one of his famous Tere Bin Nahi Lagda. Well adapted in fact, but I guess once you get used to a song actually sung by Nusrat it is difficult not to have a bias against any other rendition. After Genda Phool the next song was again one of her own Bollywood ones, this time from the movie that won her the National Award, Ab Mujhe Koi. A very soothing tune (in the raag Shuddha Nat, Hindustani expert on twitter @shenoyn told me) that had its soothingness accentuated by the strings and Ashwin Srinivasan’s flute rendition. In the latter half Rekha digresses from the actual song into a brief Hindustani rendition in the same raag. The switch is so smooth one wouldn’t realise it is different if not acquainted with the original composition. And then came the second ARR cover of the evening, Ranjha Ranjha. Once again Barot did a total makeover of the original, going heavy on percussion (Barot himself handled percussion for this song) and strings. The sinister aspect of the song comes off more starkly with this. And I totally loved Arshad Khan’s israj solo in the second interlude. The only place I had an issue was the vocals, probably due to getting used to listening to the song in the duet form. But there did seem a bit of struggle in Rekha’s rendition, something that did not occur in any other song, either before this song or after. Barot shifted onto vocals with Rekha for the next song, a jazz cover of Madaniya. The only knowledge I had of this song was that it was part of the Karunesh album Punjab. I now know that it is a Punjabi Wedding song. Interesting take on a wedding song this, and a nice listen, though not as impressive as the one Karunesh did. And finally there was another Vishal Bhardwaj-Rekha Bhardwaj-Gulzar product, Laakad from Omkara. The singer pulled it off as beautifully as she did the original, and the charm of the original was done little harm by the arrangement.

Easily the best episode of MTV Unplugged India yet, both in terms of the artist and the execution. Below are the videos from the episode, all except Laakad.

Not so long ago a lot of music aficionados were grooving to the tunes of No One Killed Jessica, particularly the one that opened with the tongue-twister-esque Da.Da.Da.Da.Da.Da.Dlli Dilli. The girl who sang this tongue twister, Aditi Singh Sharma has spent a major part of her career singing such attitude-loaded songs, both in Bollywood and off it, where she has part of rock bands and the like. We decided to catch up with the lady in between her madly hectic schedule and know more about her. And here is what we found.

Your repertoire so far is primarily comprised of western-flavored songs. And you seem to be naturally fluent with such songs. Has it to do with the training you might have received? Have you trained in Indian classical?

My mother got me trained in Hindustani classical when i was 4 years old. i dont remember much of it, but i had performed on stage in school etc when i was 5 and used to sing ‘raags’ (which i have no recollection of). when i was in 3rd grade we moved to Russia (Moscow) which is where i got my Pop influence from. also, listened to a lot of international music in general. all this mixed together is what has translated to my current work.

How did you end up in Bollywood? Tell us about your journey that got you here. Have you been part of some band before this?

I’ve been a front woman in a band called CRIMSON which was a Delhi-based Rock band. after which, I sang in a band called LEVEL 9 which was a Delhi – based Blues/Pop/Rock band with whom I performed at the GIR (Great Indian Rockshow). we opened day 2 & I’m one of the few lucky female rockers to have successfully set foot on the GIR stage. after which, currenly im with my Pop/Bollywood/Dance set-up GROOVE ADDA. It’s great to be performing my own film songs too =)

I never thought I would end up being a playback singer, when i came back from Russia i wasnt very fluent with Hindi & my singing always had a big big western influence. I worked on it gradually and am still working on it. I had met Ehsaan (SEL) at the JD Rock Awards 2007 if I remember, thats how I got my first trip & song in Mumbai called Chhoti Si (Highschool Musical 2) and was priveleged to have stepped foot in Mumbai & kickstarted by working with Shankar Ehsaan Loy.

At one of the Level9 gigs at Zenzi, Bandra, Amit Trivedi was there to watch us gig. I asked him if I could come over to his studio to play him my work .. which is how I landed up giving a shot to ‘Yahi Meri Zindagi Hai’ which pretty much changed my zindagi haha.

You have sung a fair number of songs for Amit Trivedi.

To tell you honestly, I still wait for a call from Amit to get a chance to work with him. I’m such a big fan of his work. Fair number of songs? Really?  Just Yahi Meri Zindagi Hai, Aali Re, Dilli & a small part in Meri Rooh (Admissions Open). I dont think these are enough =)

Many of your contemporaries have made inroads into other industries, primarily South. Have you got any offers?

I’ve been good with languages since I’ve been travelling so much. I went to kinder garten in Poland (Warsaw) then back to India then travelled a lot to Canada since my siblings live there, then lived in Moscow for 5 years. I’ve sung in French, Japanese, Spanish & Russian. in India, I’ve sung a rock song in Marathi which is yet to release and I’ve sung a few of my ads in 7 or 8 different languages. I’m still looking forward to getting a chance to sing in all other languages.

You were one of the singers in the recent Ram Sampath ad for Airtel. Tell us a bit about your ad side of things.

I travel a lot with Groove Adda and sadly many times I’m not in town when I’ve been called for work. That’s a battle for all singers who juggle between the stage & studio, but I’ve still managed to sing on a few ads. Airtel, Lotus Herbals Safesun, Ponds Dreamflower, Ponds no soap wash, Sunfeast cookies just to name a few.

Remember seeing your name at an unexpected place recently. As lyricist, that too Russian lyrics, for Darling from 7KM. Tell us about it. How did that come about?

Haha. Oh ya. I had worked with Clinton-Hitesh on a track earlier on & wrote a small Russian rap for it. It sounded way cool, so they thought of me while they were working on Darling since its based on the russian song ‘Kalinka’. I tried to write a small part for it, I think it sounds way cool !!

Do you do composing too, given your experience of having worked with various bands? Or were you just into vocals then?

I haven’t found much time for composing yet apart from the time that I’m at a studio and am working on a part either I’m writing or freestyling on. Right now, just happy travelling with Groove Adda & working on the various film songs, ads & getting to share stage with super artistes. i just opened for Mohit Chauhan in Australia & New Zealand. also, just played 2 shows with Agnee in Delhi & Mumbai. have had the awesome experience of sharing stage with Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Amit Trivedi, Parikrama, Them Clones etc. to name a few.

Upcoming projects? Private album plans?

I have had 11 film song releases this year. I feel very fortunate and blessed. Upcoming projects – nothing yet. But am still happy in my head with the 11 film songs this year & the few ads & the many stage shows & the insane travel.

Singing in movies, singing for ads, singing for your rock bands. Which would be your choice? And how would the three compare? Obviously there are differences? 

Singing in a studio & performing on stage are 2 totally different things. I always say that we singers, are actors too. singing for ads & film songs is always fun because there is so much to work on in terms of your texture and diction and pronunciation and style and I’ve been so fortunate that my listeners have liked all my work & some of them think I’m versatile and I’ve gotten great support & feedback for all my work.

Being on stage for me is an unexplainable feeling. I’ve been on stage for so long now & it really feels like home!! It’s comfort, madness, crazy, happy, and i LOVE the boys in Groove Adda. My best friend & super bassist Gaurav Balani totally gets me going on stage every time and the rest of the boys are CRAZY – Bhaskar Gurung (guitars), Vishal Mehta (drums), Prabir Sekhri (keys). You should come watch one of our gigs sometime soon =)

So all of a sudden there has been flurry of shows on MTV and other channels focusing on the Indie scene. The responses have been mixed, but one thing that has definitely been good about all this is the increased public exposure of some instrumentalists who were hitherto non-existent to the public eye despite their talent. Yes, the advent of Rahman in the 90s did turn around the fortunes of some like Sivamani and Keith Peters and Naveen Kumar to name a few, but quite a few still remain in obscurity. And for this reason I have been particularly happy about the latest initiatives regardless of the fate of the shows as such. One such artist who really caught my attention was this flautist Ashwin Srinivasan, who has been exhibiting some fabulous performances on MTV Unplugged India. Turns out that the man has been around for over twelve years now, playing for people like Nitin Sawhney, Imogen Heap, Hariharan et al. The band he heads with drummer Darshan Doshi (also part of the inhouse band for Unplugged and Coke Studio India), keyboardist Santosh Mulekar, guitarist Abhilash Phukan and bassist Manas Chowdhary – Ashwin and the Bombay Project – came out with their debut self-titled album early this year. I had the fortune of hearing it, and thought of jotting down my thoughts of it.

I could not find much of a connect between the opening track and its title Chennai Central. But Ashwin’s neat rendition of the sprightly semiclassical tune makes it a good listen. Saajna Baalma has Ashwin display his singing skills to a light music-ish template. And it works like the general easy listening songs do. It is with BD that the artists get into full-blown fusion mode – Ashwin’s sedate classical rendition giving way to Santosh’s jazz phrases , giving way to more flute from Ashwin. The composer gives an imaginative makeover to the Bade Ghulam Ali Khan thumri Ka Karun Sajni, throwing in a mild whodunit flavour in places. Fix Off Six is the pick of the album, the artists engaged in a frenetic cross-raga sparring with an increased incidence of something that sounded like Hamsanandi or Kamavardhini. The highlight is of course Ashwin’s flute which acquires epic proportions in between. Rangile Balma is the high point of Ashwin Srinivasan the vocalist as he expertly and beautifully executes the classical inflections. The bluesy background melds quite well with the base tune. In the North East-based Bihu tune the composer cleverly adds elements from further east to add to the mystic feel. And even in the folk piece Ashwin infuses some classical phrases that work beautifully. The soundtrack ends with a composition in one of my fave ragas, Jog, Jog Sargam. The song is pretty much what the title says – Ashwin rendering an almost four minute long sargam in Jog. Now here the composer stumbles slightly in his singing, evidently struggling in the soaring portions. Nevertheless the charm of the raga and the lively arrangement work well enough to mitigate those foibles.

A truly impressive debut from Ashwin and the Bombay Project. And I thank MTV Unplugged for leading me to this album. Below are the videos of the band performing the songs at the launch (in order of my preference). Do have a look, you will not be disappointed. It is quite saddening to see his seven songs get a combined viewership of some 2000 while the Shraddha Sharmas of the world get some 4-5 lac views for each upload. The world truly is an unfair place.

 

You can listen to the soundtrack here (link courtesy @iPeeKay)

Pritam adds a lot of noise to one of his regular templates in Make Some Noise for the Desi Boyz creating a pretty sub-par product whose only positives are the classical-based second interlude on electric guitar and KK’s exuberant singing with Bob. And the remix makes some more techno-based noise for the Desi Boyz. With Mika Singh and Shefali Alvarez handling the vocals and a cheerful hook, Subha Hone De could have been much better, if not for the techno overdose. And not satiated even with that much of electronic infusion, they go for a remix, sorry, TWO remixes with varying levels of electronic infusion. Needless to say, safe skips. The composer borrows elements from his Zor Ka Jhatka and places it atop an acoustic guitar-based Pachelbel’s Canon-esque hook for Jhak Maar Ke, and replaces the vocalists with the reliable Neeraj Sridhar and Harshdeep Kaur. The result, I must say, is more impressive than ZKJ. Remix once again turns out to be a rather unimaginative affair.

Using a techno loop that sounds mildly like the addictive one used in this song but with a tune that is pretty much the opposite in appeal, Pritam presents another avoidable track in Allah Maaf Kare. If it has anything worth listening that is Sonu Nigam’s rendition. Even Shilpa Rao’s vocals are spoiled by excessive processing. Surprisingly the arrangement in the remix sounds better in this case, with that Robert Miles-ish edge to it. Nevertheless given the base tune the improvement doesn’t work to a great extent.  And in the end when Shaan croons Let It Be, it seems good, more probably in comparison with what went by than for its own quality.

The last time Pritam composed for a John Abraham-Akshay Kumar movie we got to hear some impressive tunes (although quite a few of them later turned out to be “borrowed”). Desi Boyz pales in comparison.

Music Aloud Rating – 5.5/10

Top Recos – Jhak Maar Ke, Let It Be

The title song is your regular hero intro (tamil) song, grand trumpet sounds, kuthu beats and the paraphernalia. And it starts off quite engagingly, Baba Sehgal leading the vocals with Ranjith, Rahul Nambiar and Naveen Madhav doing the backing, but somewhere in between the repetitiveness gets to you. Composer Thaman gets behind the mic with Rita to sing Unnaale Unnaale, a song which stands out for its spectacular arrangement. From the stringed instrument (mandolin/ukulele/banjo, I can’t be sure) that kicks off the proceedings the orchestration goes through some fabulous moments, despite once again following a kuthu template on the beats front. The playback, especially by Thaman, isn’t perfect, but you will hardly notice that, the song makes up for all that. Rahul Nambiar and Mahathi’s Neduvaali is a reusal of the composer’s tune from Mirapakaya and works as did the original (once again kuthu-based, btw). The kuthu-flavor continues into the next song as well, Silambarasan rendering a rather cheesily-penned and middlingly arranged Pondaatti. Thaman reserves the best for last, the severely addictive Kalasala. Though the visuals (I am guessing this is the one featuring Simbu and Mallika) and fleeting moments here and there in the song make it quite clear that this is a take on Munni, Kalasala is an out and out tamil track. And with the composer getting the super-exuberant L R Easwari and T Rajendar leading the vocals (with Solar Sai doing a wonderful job of backing them) things couldn’t have got any better! I am definitely looking forward to watching this one!

So a completely kuthu-based soundtrack. Not everything works, but it would act as perfect material for Simbu to display more of his dance skills. And even within the template the class that Thaman possesses does surface in places.

Music Aloud Rating – 6.75/10

Top Recos – Kalasala, Unnaale Unnale, Neduvaali

Last time the Hindi/Urdu word meaning Zero made waves in Indian music scene was back in 1998 when Lucky Ali released his second album “Sifar”. The word was interpreted thus by the singer on his album sleeve “Sifar – Containing nothing, it encircles everything. Without a beginning, without an end, it stretches from emptiness to infinity and back again”. This time around it resurfaces as the name of an alternative rock band from New Delhi and they sing in Hindi/Urdu. A Hindi Rock band is nothing new there were many before Sifar and many more will come. But Sifar might turn out to be a watershed band in the history of this genre. And here is why I think so.

Hindi rock and roll goes back to Shammi Kapoor and his composers. Our films have been satisfying our Pop music urges for ages and Rock music in it various forms did percolate into our music scene now and then. Thanks to Shanker Jaikishen, OP Nayyar, RDB and Bappi Da to name a few. But out and out rock acts belting out Hindi rock songs had to wait till 90’s.  It is really interesting that it was also in 1998 that a Delhi band called Euphoria released their cassette called “Dhoom” and they had called their music “Hind Rock”. Euphoria arrived on the scene probably at the perfect moment, they had a billion fans to conquer but down the road to fame something happened and Euphoria never became what it could have. And while Dr Palash Sen went on to try his hand at acting and playback singing, Euphoria had started becoming irrelevant. Euphoria has been producing CDs throughout their career and is still going strong, I am looking forward to their new CD “Item” but as a fan they have disappointed me.  Rabbi Shergill and Kailash Kher have also made significant contributions to Hindi Rock through their music.  And if you have started wondering if I have conveniently ignored Indian Ocean, you are mistaken. It is only that I can never slot Indian Ocean into just a Hindi rock band, for me they are much more than that. And bands like Silk Route and Colonial cousins can’t be classified as rock acts either.

A year before Dhoom was released something remarkable happened on the other side the Line of Control, in Pakistan Junoon released their fourth album, Azaadi and unleashed “Sayonee” upon us. This brilliant album almost single handedly created a new genre called Sufi Rock and formed the tip of the Panzerkeil which led the Pak Invasion of Indian pop rock scene. And soon songs by bands like Strings and Jal was regular fare in our music channels and this trend has sustained. And appearances in the movies of a certain serial kisser also helped. Indian fans have openly embraced these songs and have made it their own.

I feel Sifar has their musical precedence in these Pakistani rock bands in terms of the rendition of lyrics, their subject matter and to a large extent the emotion. Have you heard anger or frustration in Kailasa’s or Rabbi’s songs? In terms of sound Sifar is more international and I have read that their influences span classic rock punk, grunge and industrial rock.  For instance “Main Jaaonga” is clearly a Green Day inspired track it starts off slowly like a prayer and the tempo goes up and up. It is a good choice as an album opener and keeps you wanting for more. It is with “Roko na mujhe” that Sifar’s music starts to assert their unique style. There is a very Owl City’s Firefly like sound in the initial seconds of the track and then the drums and bass join in followed by guitars. Amit Yadav’s voice is very sincere and he has managed to sing the lyrics very convincingly. There are no labored accents here, just plain matter of fact singing.  It is called maader tongue influence.

Amit Yadav may not be the best singer in the circuit, in a way it can be seen as boon. Usually bands with classically trained singers tend to take the Fusion route and end up getting lost in the sonic wilderness. Amit’s voice might have been a factor in shaping  Sifar’s musical style.  “Mita Do” reminded me a little of a Cranberries’ Zombie but that key board thingy gives it a life of its own. Gunah is probably the first Industrial Rock song in Hindi, Trent Reznor will be proud of his Indian disciples.  “Kala Aasman” is an anthem sort of a song with nice interludes and melodic shifts. Even though their songs are built around guitars Sifar doesn’t seem to believe in long indulgent solos. These songs are going to be quiet popular among the rookie guitarist crowd, period. “Commonwealth Insaan” is a Greenday style punk song about the fiasco which hit New Delhi last year.

Sifar’s first album has released today by BeatFactory records. It is a promising album which might become a collector’s item after a few years. So go ahead and give it a listen. The band has even put the songs out for free download! I only wish that the cover art was better.

You can download the songs here, in your choice of high quality audio format.

I started my music career very late, at least compared to the young kids I see doing music these days. And I started at the absolute beginning, I learnt to play the guitar, my instrument of choice, only when I was 19 and then wrote my own songs because it was easier than trying to learn songs by all the bands I was listening to those days!

I come from a traditional Indian family and yes, my parents were definitely not thrilled at my musical inclination but if you look at it from their point of view, all they want is for you to be successful and they are trying to push you towards things they know. Now my Mum absolutely loves it that I am a musician!

The music was always in me! It just took that long to come out and make itself heard. In the meantime, life had taken me to Belgium where I was working as a microbiologist. It was there that one of my colleagues sent my song to a local radio station and looking at the fantastic response they got, convinced me to get back and follow my passion.

Never really a matter of great thought…which ever language comes first and sounds great in a particular melody, is used! No bias really! But singing in my own mother tongue ‘Kannada’ (spoken in Karnataka) has given me great joy simply because I find an inexplicable peace when I sing in Kannada and also suddenly I am singing to a wider audience than I ever imagined. I doubt if I would ever become this popular if I had sung in English! But no matter what language I sing in, I make it a point to explain each song before I perform…it’s very important for me to make my audience relate to what I am singing…in their joy lies my ecstasy!

The tour was a result of planning for almost a year now! We toured the UK in the summer of 2009 and that was when we got some very nice reviews and had Robert, Paul and the team from Jenral / Sound Advice come forward and offer to manage us. Over the year, we were in discussions about the management and future tours of the UK and Europe to start with and the rest of the world as we go along, and this is the first of such tours!

So you can say this was a very well planned and executed tour aimed at specifically increasing our audience base and catching the attention of the right people in the UK and Europe. In fact, after a very successful first leg, we have increased the number of bookings we have for the next leg in July and have received some very interesting offers for gigs during the rest of the year and also for next year.

Coming to your score for MFK, you debuted in Kannada films way back in 2008 and did some 3 soundtracks in between. Why did the Bollywood debut take so long (I am discounting the one song in QGM)?

Well, I was waiting for someone to ask , but seriously, the last couple of years I’ve been focusing on building a touring career outside India and playing a LOT of live shows, and I had not been seeking any work in Bollywood actively. So when Ashish Patil (Head of Y Films) called me for this project, the timing was perfect.

The situation demanded a light hearted and yet at the same time, a catchy, dance number and I think Dheaon Dheaon is the perfect combination of a melody that sticks in your head with some insane lyrics written by the amazing Anvita Dutt. When I made Vishal hear the scratch version of the song and showed him the lyrics, he loved it and it did not take long to finish that song.

I have also introduced the south Indian percussive dance and music form of tapanguchi in ‘Dheaon Dheaon’. I did this mainly because Bollywood’s association with dance music has also been as far as Bhangra or disco. So through this song, we are introducing a whole new form of dance music in Hindi film music. It was a way to showcase something about where I am from.

The material for the second album is ready and being road tested right now. Its just that we’ve put over 12 years of effort into the first album and I would really like to ensure we have done all that we can to promote it tour with it before we put something new out there. That said, you can expect to hear some good news on the album front by the end of this year!

You can read our review of Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge here.