I know it is a bit late to be coming out with this list, but since I have been getting multiple suggestions to compile a list of singers I decided to go about it anyway. So here you go: the top 10 playback singers of Bollywood in the year 2011 – male and female. Hope to make this too an annual affair from here on. The choice of songs has been more on quality – both of the rendition, and of the song – than on the number of songs. And considering just this year of course, with no bias towards the artist’s general repute. For each singer I have also provided the link to one fav song of his/hers from the year.

Top Male Singers

1. Mohit Chauhan – One word: Rockstar. The man who owes his first inning in Bollywood to ARR who gave him that lovely song in Rang De Basanti, was of late being extremely typecast with the regular melody tracks. And once again ARR appeared to deliver him salvation, casting him as the voice of Ranbir Kapoor for the movie. The choice worked big time, Mohit delivering the songs with finesse and giving us the soundtrack of the year. But apart from Rockstar the singer had other songs too, in Tanu Weds Manu (Yun Hi), Aarakshan (Achcha Lagta Hai), Chillar Party (Chatte Batte) to name a few. Hence he is our top singer of the year. Fav Song: Jo Bhi Main (Rockstar)

2. Vishal Dadlani – As composer Vishal had a so-so 2011, just the one standout soundtrack being Ra One, but as playback singer this was quite a productive year for the man – in at least four soundtracks the best song was delivered by Vishal. There was Aitbaar (No One Killed Jessica), Aadat Hai Woh from Patiala House, Ek Junoon in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and a handful of other songs, including that ultra whacky Dheaon Dheaon where the singer was almost unrecognizable! Good enough for the number 2 spot. Fav song: Aitbaar

3. Roop Kumar Rathod - Roop Kumar has been extremely choosy when it comes to Bollywood songs.  As a result he has had an almost 100% strike rate in terms of quality. This year too he sang just two songs (I have not considered the brilliant O Saiyya from Agneepath due to release date) – Piya for Tanu Weds Manu and Saaware in Shor In The City, but both of them were mindblowingly awesome. Ergo, he is our singer no. 3 for 2011. Fav song: Piya

4. Papon – The Assamese singer with his “dhaai kilo ka voice” made his Bollywood debut this year in Dum Maaro Dum, and then went on to sing two more songs for MPKK in Soundtrack. Excellent consistency he has displayed so far, and his pop album, though I am yet to hear it, is apparently a musical treat. So here is looking forward to much more from Papon in 2012. Fav song: Jiyein Kyun (Dum Maaro Dum)

5. Mohan – Agnee’s frontman had made his Bollywood debut in 2010, singing two wonderful songs for SEL and Amit Trivedi, last year he followed it up with two more top quality songs – Shor (Shor In The City) and Saaye Saaye (I AM). Neither got noticed much, which was unfortunate, but we noticed, and that is the reason Mohan is no. 5 on our list. Fav song: Shor (Shor In The City)

6. KK – KK had quite a few songs in 2011. Not everything worked, but due to sheer numbers he had a fair share of good songs across genres to make it to no. 6 on our list. Some prominent ones were Bhojhal S3 and Issi Baat Pe (I AM), O Mama (7 Khoon Maaf), Yaadon Ki Album (My Friend Pinto) etc. Fav song: Bhojhal Se (I AM)

7. Kirti Sagathia – Kirti too had a good 2011, getting some prominent songs in soundtracks like Delhi Belly and Shaitaan, songs that utilized his classical background quite well. Hence, no. 7. Fav song: O Yaara (Shaitan)

8. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - In 2010 he floored us with just that one song in Ishqiya. 2011 didn’t yield a song as impactful as that, but Teri Meri (Bodyguard) and Isq Risk (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan) were fairly entertaining with the singer displaying his trademark soulfulness in the renditions. Fav song: Isq Risk (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan)

9. Shahid Mallya – Another prominent debutant from the year, Shahid sang some good numbers in Yamla Pagla Deewana, Mausam and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. There is a slight risk of getting stuck in the genre given the voice and style, but hope he gets more variety in 2012. Fav song: Rabba Main To Mar Gaya (Mausam)

10. Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan - Not many songs Shafqat got to sing in 2011, and even among the ones he sang very few did justice to the kind of singing prowess he has. Nevertheless he becomes our last entry on the Male Playback singers list, coz I quite liked his Dildara and Chhayee Hai Tanhayee. Fav song: Chhayee Hai Tanhayee (Love Breakups Zindagi)

Top Female Singers

1. Shreya Ghoshal – It was just a matter of deciding between Shreya and Sunidhi as to who should be given the top spot, both had such diverse spread of music last year! In the end I chose Shreya coz of the slight lead in terms of classical-based songs. From the beautiful Kaun Si Dor from Aarakshan to Ooh La La from Dirty Picture to Saibo in Shor In The City to Mehki Mehki from The Game, the lady was on fire in 2011. Even in other languages she gave some brilliant songs but that is not for this post. Fav Song: Saibo (Shor In The City)

2. Sunidhi Chauhan – So like I said above, even Sunidhi had a lovely set of songs added to her repertoire in 2011, Tu (My Friend Pinto), Ishq Sufiyana (The Dirty Picture) and Mannu Bhaiyya (Tanu Weds Manu) being my favs. Just because Shreya edged her out by a slight lead, she occupies the second spot on our list. Fav song: Tu (My Friend Pinto)

3. Rekha Bhardwaj – Mrs. Vishal Bhardwaj had four songs, Darling (7KM) and I Love To Love You (Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster) had the singer take on a flippant avatar, while in Yeshu (7KM) and Saye Saye (I AM) Rekha was at her sublime best – Saye Saye being the prize catch. And the primary reason for her being the no. 3 entry. Fav song: Saaye (I AM)

4. Suman Shridhar – One of the most unique voices I have heard in recent times, the singer made waves with the only two songs she rendered in Bollywood this year, both coming in the same movie, Shaitan, both highly imaginative remixes from Mikey McCleary. She did sing a couple more for his album The Bartender, but the reason she is no. 4 on this list are Khoya Khoya Chaand and Hawa Hawaii. Fav song: Khoya Khoya Chaand (Shaitan)

5. Aditi Singh Sharma – A lady whose career graph has been on a steady high since her debut in 2009 with Dev D, 2011 was definitely her best year so far, the singer getting to sing some major chartbusters. Dilli Dilli, Dheaon Dheaon, Choomantar and Kaun Hai Ajnabi were the best among the lot. Hoping that 2012 sees her continue on that upward trend. Fav song: Dilli Dilli (No One Killed Jessica)

6. Harshdeep Kaur – Just one prominent song the young sufi exponent sang last year, but a gem of a song. A song where Harshdeep brought out the playful side of Heer way way better than Nargis Fakhri did on screen. And that song is enough for us to put her at No. 6. Fav song: Katiya Karun

7. Shilpa Rao – Though the biggest achievement of the singer in 2011 happened outside of Bollywood, in the form of the album Rewind – Nine Lost Memories from her band The Band Called Nine comprised of Neelesh Misra and Amartya Rahut, Shilpa had quite a rewarding stint at Bollywood too. Uh Oh from Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge and Jazba from Ladies vs Ricky Bahl were quite engaging, Shilpa doing an uncharacteristically lively rendition in both cases. But the clincher was Yeh Pal for Amit Trivedi, a composer with whom she has always had memorable songs. Hence our Fav song: Yeh Pal (No One Killed Jessica)

8. Nandini Srikar – Like Harshdeep, Nandini too is on this list for just one song – the best song of Ra One, the classical-rock fusion song Bhare Naina whose high point was undoubtedly the impeccable rendition. Hope to hear more of her in 2012 and ahead. Fav song: Bhare Naina (Ra One)

9. Usha Uthup – After a long hiatus the pop legend returned to the Bollywood scene this year. Two songs – the energy-packed Darling from 7 Khoon Maaf and the sinister Hai Ye Maya which was the saving grace of the Don 2 soundtrack. Quite a comeback, no? Age has done little to the power of that voice, it was adequately proven with these songs. According to wiki she has one lined up for 2012, here’s wishing her more in the coming years. Fav song: Darling (7 Khoon Maaf)

10. Hamsika Iyer – Chhammak Chhallo might have been one of the biggest hits of 2011 and all that, but I hated it. For most part, that is. The only part I marginally liked in it was the brief Tamil portion, that too mostly owing to the singer – Hamsika Iyer. Apart from that cameo she had just one other song last year, a beauty from Amole Gupte for Stanley Ka Dabba called Jhoola Jhool. Listen to that and you will agree with me she is one of the most under-rated singers in the industry today. Fav song: Jhoola Jhool (Stanley Ka Dabba)

And that will be all. Your comments are most welcome.

So here are the top 25 Bollywood songs of the year. As I said in the roundup before, it was quite tough to bring it down to 25, lot of favs having to be cut out and all that. In any case, below is the end product. In the format: Song Title (Movie) – Composer(s)|Singer(s)|Lyricist(s). Click on the title to watch the song.

1 Kun Faya Kun (Rockstar) – A R Rahman|Javed Ali, A R Rahman, Mohit Chauhan|Irshad Kamil

2 Rangrez (Tanu Weds Manu) – Krsna|Wadali Brothers|Rajshekhar

3 Jo Bhi Main (Rockstar) – A R Rahman|Mohit Chauhan|Irshad Kamil

4 Saibo (Shor In The City) – Sachin Jigar|Shreya Ghoshal, Tochi Raina|Sameer, Priya Panchal

5 Aitbaar (No One Killed Jessica) – Amit Trivedi|Mame Khan, Vishal Dadlani|Amitabh Bhattacharya

6 Tere Liye (7 Khoon Maaf) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Suresh Wadkar|Gulzar

7 Kaun Si Dor (Aarakshan) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Prasoon Joshi|Pt. Channulal Mishra, Shreya Ghoshal|Prasoon Joshi

8 Bhare Naina (RA.One) – Vishal Shekhar|Nandini Srikar, Vishal, Shekhar|Panchhi Jalonvi

9 Piya (Tanu Weds Manu) – Krsna|Roop Kumar Rathod|Rajshekhar

10 Dilli (No One Killed Jessica) – Amit Trivedi|Aditi Singh Sharma, Shriram Iyer, Tochi Raina|Amitabh Bhattacharya

11 Tumba Tumba (Patiala House) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Hans Raj Hans|Anvita Dutt Guptan

12 Saigal Blues (Delhi Belly) – Ram Sampath|Chetan Shashital|Chetan Shashital, Ram Sampath

13 Baatein Shuru (Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge) – Raghu Dixit|Joi Barua, Shefali Alvarez|Anvita Dutt Guptan

14 Tu (My Friend Pinto) – Hitesh Sonik|Sunidhi Chauhan|Amitabh Bhattacharya

15 Nanhi Si Jaan (Stanley Ka Dabba) – Hitesh Sonik|Shankar Mahadevan|Amol Gupte

16 Isq Risk (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan) – Sohail Sen|Rahat Fateh Ali Khan|Irshad Kamil

17 Jiyein Kyun (Dum Maaro Dum) – Pritam|Papon|Jaideep Sahni

18 Nasha (Shaitan) – Prashant Pillai|Prashant Pillai, Bindu Nambiar|Sanjeev Sharma

19 Saaware/Teri Justajoo (Shor In The City) – Harpreet Singh|Roop Kumar Rathod|Sameer, Priya Panchal

20 Soundtrack Theme (Soundtrack) – Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale|Instrumental

21 Khaabon Ke Parindey (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) – Shankar Ehsaan Loy|Alyssa Mendonsa, Mohit Chauhan|Javed Akhtar

22 Bhojhal Se (I AM) – Rajiv Bhalla|KK|Amitabh Varma

23 Awaaz (F.A.L.T.U.) – Sachin Jigar|Jigar Saraiya|Sameer

24 Chhayee Hai Tanhayee (Love Breakups Zindagi) – Salim Sulaiman|Shafqat Amanat Ali, Salim Merchant, Shruti Pathak|Javed Akhtar

25 Darling (7 Khoon Maaf) – Vishal Bhardwaj|Usha Uthup, Rekha Bhardwaj|Gulzar

And another five that just missed making it to the top 25.

26 Katiya Karun (Rockstar) – A R Rahman|Harshdeep Kaur|Irshad Kamil

27 Tere Siva (Delhi Belly) -  Ram Sampath|Ram Sampath, Tarannum Malik|Amitabh Bhattacharya

28 Dildara (RA.One) – Vishal Shekhar, Ben E King|Shafqat Amanat Ali|Kumaar, Ben E King

29 Haal-e-Dil (Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap) – Vishal Shekhar|Amitabh Bachchan|Swanand Kirkire, Anvita Dutt Guptan

30 Poore Se Zara (Mausam) – Pritam|Rashid Khan|Irshad Kamil

Finally a list of my fav film songs outside of Bollywood. Like last year, almost entirely composed of songs from the South. And since I happened to listen to a lot of Malayalam songs this year and a lot of them happened to be good, I have raised the number to 30, to have a fair representation from other languages too. And this is from the songs I managed to hear this year, so please excuse any major miss.

1 Santhikkaatha (180 – Tamil) – Sharreth|Unni Menon, Chithra, S Sowmya

2 Chembaavu (Salt N Pepper – Malayalam) – Bijibal|Pushpavathi

3 Theeye Theeye (Chaappa Kurishu – Malayalam) – Rex Vijayan|Saju Sreenivas, Sayanora Philip

4 Sara Sara (Vaagai Sooda Vaa – Tamil) – M Ghibran|Chinmayi

5 Bahu Manaratha (Memories In March – Bengali) – Debojyoti Mishra|Subhamita Bannerjee

6 Male Bandaga (Aidondla Aidu – Kannada) – Ouseppachan|Sithara

7 Nee Akaleyaano (City of God – Malayalam) – Prashant Pillai|V Sreekumar, Sayanora Philip, Preeti Pillai

8 Thekko Thekkorikkal (Vellaripraavinte Changaathi – Malayalam) – Mohan Sithara|Poornashree

9 Paattil Ee Paattil (Pranayam – Malayalam) – M Jayachandran|Shreya Ghoshal

10 Naatu Vazhiyile (Rathi Nirvedham – Malayalam) – M Jayachandran|Nikhil Raj

11 Pirai Thedum (Mayakkam Enna – Tamil) – G V Prakash Kumar|Saindhavi, G V Prakash Kumar

12 Chandra Choodha (Karmayogi – Malayalam) -  Navaneeth Sundar, Purandaradasa|Anoop Shankar

13 Nee Korinaal (180 – Tamil) – Sharreth|Karthik, Swetha Mohan

14 Chinni Chinni (Urumi – Malayalam) – Deepak Dev|Manjari

15 Aavani Thumbi (Snehaveedu – Malayalam) – Ilayaraja|Shreya Ghoshal

16 Chirakengu (The Train – Malayalam) – Srinivas|Alka Ajith

17 Kuthikkira Kuthikkira (Azhagarsaamiyin Kuthirai – Tamil) – Ilayaraja|Ilayaraja

18 Pranaya Nila (Tejabhai & Family – Malayalam) – Deepak Dev|Shaan Rahman

19 Ennamo Edho (Ko – Tamil) – Harris Jayaraj|Alaap Raju, Prashanthini, Sricharan, Emcee Jesz

20 Anjana Anjana (Vandhan Vendraan – Tamil) – Thaman|Alaap Raju

21 Mazhaneer Thullikal (Beautiful – Malayalam) – Ratheesh Vega|Unni Menon

22 Oore Oore (Aravan – Tamil) – Karthik|Krishnaraj, Mukesh, Periya Karuppu Thevar, Rita, Priya

23 Aah Ko Chaahiye (Makaramanju – Malayalam) – Ramesh Narayan|Hariharan, Sujatha

24 Senga Soola Kara (Vaagai Sooda Vaa – Tamil) – M Ghibran|Anitha

25 Aaraanney (Urumi – Malayalam) – Deepak Dev|Job Kurian, Rita

26 Makka Madeenathil (Adaminte Makan Abu – Malayalam) – Ramesh Narayan|Shankar Mahadevan, Ramesh Narayan

27 Ee Puzhayum (Indian Rupee – Malayalam) – Shahabaz Aman|Vijay Yesudas

28 Payasa (Aidondla Aidu – Kannada) – Abhijit Shylanath, Jyothis Balakrishna|Nithya Menen

29 Aaru Tharum (Makeup Man – Malayalam) – Vidyasagar|Madhu Balakrishnan

30 Vaanam (Vaanam – Tamil) – Yuvan Shankar Raja|Yuvan Shankar Raja

My sincerest apologies for not being able to sort out the best from the non-film category due to time crunch. But search youtube for Dewarists, MTV Unplugged, Shankar Tucker, Rewind – Nine Lost Memories by Band Called Nine, and Ganaraj Adhiraj. There are some excellent songs to be heard!

Well that’s that. To 2012 then! Happy New Year, all!

He has been in the business of making wonderful music for over 15 years now, first as part of Instant Karma, and then as part of the legendary Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, even earning a national award for best composer in the process. We proudly present to you our interview of guitarist-composer Ehsaan Noorani, where he speaks of his musical journey.

Let us start at the beginning. So when did you pick up the guitar for the first time? I remember hearing once about rapper Ravi “Rags” Khote being your school senior, you jamming with him in school et al.

I got interested in guitar while at school towards the 8th or 9th grade Rags was in the school band and the guitar was a common meeting ground for us . we sit and discuss guitar and music in general
Your first step to a collaborative effort was the formation of Instant Karma with Loy. Could you tell a bit about that? About how you hit upon the idea of coming out with remixes, a concept pretty much unheard of at that time?

Well Bally Sagoo had done the first Bollywood flashback or whatever it was called, Farhad Wadia thought that re-recording these songs and making new versions of them would be interesting, sort of bringing the songs to the 90′s . The Dance Masti albums were not re mixes so to say but were new contemporary versions of the songs.
Would it be right to say that Instant Karma sort of led to the formation of SEL, considering among the singers you employed in your Dance Masti album the most popular was Shankar Mahadevan with his classic Saamne Yeh Kaun Aaya?

Well Mukul Anand’s Dus was already recorded before the 1st Dance Masti album released so it has nothing to do with SEL. But yes we were all working together and Shankar was the first choice.

How do you go about composing a song? Curious to know, given that there are three minds from diverse backgrounds at work, trying to converge upon a tune. And do you have a regular percussionist on-board? Given Shankar Mahadevan is an established percussionist as well, does he do percussions too, at least once a while?

We sit and jam and come up with ideas it is an interesting exchange of musical ideas and a learning experience for the 3 of us everytime we sit to compose a song . We use percussionists as and when required and do not have any fixed percussionist so to say. Shankar’s sense of rhythm makes him adept on percussion but he is not a professional percussionist so to say.

Your music for Rock On primarily followed a riff-based classic rock template. Have heard that you were part of a rock band while in the US. Did Magik’s music in any manner echo your rock band days?

Well the story of Rock On would reflect on any musician’s life especially if you played rock n roll or in a band, some are lucky to make it a career others have to give up on it due to external pressures.
The Indian rock scene is currently burgeoning, with a lot of new singers coming out with bands of their own, some even going on to make it really big. A process that I would say was helped on its way by Rock On too. Your thoughts? Have you noticed any promising bands?

The Indian rock scene is developing in a big way irrespective of Rock On. But yes, the film did encourage a lot of kids to take up an instrument and that is a good sign. There are some good bands like Avial , Taksha , Motherjane , Them Clones etc.
Continuing on the above note, I remember reading on Milliblog some time back about your plans to start something called “SEL Sounds” to promote new talent in the country. Is the plan still on?

Well SEL Songs does exist we need to get it rolling soon.

Shankar Mahadevan is pretty active on the fusion scene, with Remember Shakti, Mynta etc. Even Loy was part of the fusion ensemble called Shraddha alongside Shankar, Mandolin Srinivas and Sivamani. Are you engaged in any such group outside of SEL? And have you considered revisiting the private album scene as SEL?

We have a band called Faces in The Dark which is a bluesy funk band and have recently formed a band called ” Fuzzy Duck ” which is a blues rock band . Well the non-film album with SEL will happen when it is fated to
What kind of music did you grow up listening to? Who were your child hood idols? Did they endure the test of times?

I grew up listening to primarily Hindi Music on the radio . My father listened to a lot of Latin music like Los Parguayos and instrumental stuff like Mantovani and Paul Mauriat . I later heard the Ventures and The Shadows . Then I was exposed to lot of music my sister would listen to like Santana , The Beatles , Carpenters , Abba etc Then of course Deep Purple got me into rock and then I progressed in music listening choices from rock to blues to fusion etc.
How much of the guitar portion of SEL’s music do you handle? The playing part I mean.

I do all the guitar parts for SEL except like in an upcoming film some Spanish and Bossa style guitar was required which is not really my style so we hired some guitarists to play that .
We have heard that you are into collecting guitars. Can you tell us more about this hobby?

Well it is a hobby that enhances my profession I have a bunch of guitars and am the brand ambassador for Fender guitars for India. My signature model Fender will be launching soon.
And finally, what music would we find in your ipod?

Ah am currently listening to Kings of Leon , Robben Ford , Michael Landau , John Mayer and then there is tons of stuff which is on the ipod but will fill up an entire page !!!!

Pic courtesy: Varun Thotathil

“Naveen has given the flute a new identity, creating extraordinary music with his unique genius.” – A R Rahman‘s quote for the cover of Naveen’s debut fusion album called Fluid. Rahman couldn’t have summed up in better words the man who has represented a paramount part of his music, from Roja to Raavan, and is even as I write this, with him as part of his World tour somewhere in Europe. Not many know however, that Naveen has been in the industry much before Rahman came in, and over the nearly three decades he has been around, has played for almost every major composer from South to North, and even outside of India. Kal Ho Na Ho‘s instrumental theme, Zara Zara from RHTDM, Talvin Singh‘s Butterfly (Veena) – if you happen to like any of these tracks there isn’t a chance you would miss Naveen’s woodwind magic in each of them. So here is a nice way to engage your lazy Sunday afternoon as we take you through Naveen’s musical journey in an exclusive interview. For best results play some of Naveen’s classics in the background. We would advise you not to miss the videos at the end, especially the last two.

You have been in the film industry since 1983. But not much is known about your career

before the point when Roja’s music took everyone by storm. Can you tell us a bit about your

works till then? How did you happen to join hands with A R Rahman for Roja?

Mr.Ilayaraja introduced me in his film Thaavani Kanavugal. With him I played for many hits like Raasathi Unnai and the movie My Dear Kuttichaathan. I made use of Chinese flute for the background music of My Dear Kuttichaathan. Also played for a flute-oriented film called Sirivennela. I composed music for 7 Telugu films and 35 devotional albums. Being a free-lance musician I used to work in those days with the Telugu music director Mr. Ramesh Naidu. It was there that I met A R Rahman. He then invited me to play for him. I am proud to say that I have been working with him from his commercials stage.

Lets talk about your 2 private albums, Fluid and Cafe Fluid. Both of them had a lot of classical

influence to them. For instance Mohanam or Fantasyflute is a pure ad-lib sort of a track. So

how much of the albums were pre-composed and how much of them were sort of like live

jamming sessions?

Actually my working style when composing is slightly different. I draw inspiration from simple things. And try to sound more natural. Giving it a little storyboard and then putting tune. Being a self taught musician I am influenced by different kinds of music, so I am able to express myself easy with the music I compose.

How has the response been so far to Cafe Fluid? What do you think of the direction in

which fusion music, more specifically classical fusion, is headed?

Cafe Fluid is doing wonderfully. It has found a place in the music charts and I am very happy for it. Nowadays people are more open taking in different forms of music and interacting with it. Its great that we are able to understand the beauty of music. Music has no langauge, so whatever comes from the heart with pure elements will definitely be accepted, whether it is classical or world. Specially in case of music like classical, people like it because that is their tradition. So its fun to make such music.

A lot of your compatriots, like Sivamani, Louiz Banks, Mandolin Srinivas etc are part of a lot

of fusion ensembles. Are you part of any such group? Or are the film assignments keeping

you too busy for all that?

I am performing with the title Fluid in public. Have done a couple of shows locally, Jaipur and Delhi. Also being a free-lance musician I have also played with Mr. Sivamani, Louiz Banks, Sultan ji, Mandolin Srinivas etc. We have done a show with Mr. John McLaughlin. I have also performed in places like Blue Frog Mumbai. But I am mainly into sessions with composers, working in main stream Bollywood and commercials.

Tell us about the experience of performing live with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

It was a wonderful opportunity to be playing along with them. With our music (ARR’s compositions), and the Symphony playing with a lots of dynamics and different variations being introduced by them it sounded so..ultimate! I was so thrilled to play, felt a sort of happiness equivalent to coming back home.

You have worked with almost every leading composer in India over your long career, though,

your best contributions almost always happen for ARR. How would you compare the

experience of working with ARR and with others?

I am so well branded as ARR’s musician that whatever I play gets likened to ARR’s tunes. Of course I always try to give my best output with every one. All my work with Pritam, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sajid-Wajid, Salim Sulaiman and others have been very good. Dhoom,Veer Zaara, Taare Zameen Par, Rab Ne Banaa Di Jodi, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi..lots..
Not many people know that I have also sung seconds for about 20 songs in Tamil, for ARR, MM Keeravani and Deva. Songs like Kaadhal Sadugudu from Mani Sir’s Alaipaayuthey and Deva’s Salam Gulamu from Hello.

Flute is an instrument which is highly expressive and capable of portraying a complete range

of emotions. How much of the same depends on the skill/technique and how much on the

instrument itself?

It needs a personal touch for any instrument, the way you play. An instrument is an instrument at the end of it. Unless you try to put ur heart on it it will never sound its best. This requires a lot of practice, and belief in God and his works.

Following from the above question, from the vast array of flutes that you use, which is

your favourite and why?

I like the bamboo flute the most, because that is the one I have had from the beginning. It was presented to me by my dad Sri. Dharma Chari. And whenever I have a very sorrowful or very happy time in life I play it and get comfort from it.

What was the inspiration behind “The Naveen Flute”? Are you working on more sounds/flute

structures?

Once in studio while I was doing riyaz I noticed a sort of vibrating sounds, some kind of reverb. I found that it is coming from a guitar. So I thought why not introduce a string by the side of the flute. Thats how it started. I also invented a glass flute and an overtone flute. A lot more are coming up.

Could you tell us a bit about the current/upcoming projects you are engaged in?

Right now I am travelling with ARR for his world tour. Heading to Europe this week. Have done a couple of sessions for Pritam n SEL. Other than that I am doing a devotional album. And also my 3rd flute album. I am in fact looking forward to Hollywood, and have been getting a few offers.

Which are your favourites from tracks you have played for?

Some of my favourite tracks are Bombay Theme, Meenaxi movie album, Veer Zaara, Kal Ho Naa Ho title track, Harris Jayaraj‘s Zara Zara from Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein and Jab We Met

Just out of curiosity, is there any ARR project that you have had to miss?

Actually I have missed some of his projects, though very few. My last work was for Raavan, Khilli Re. I moved to Mumbai 7 years back, so whenever I go to Chennai I record projects for him if thats manageable, or at times when there is urgent requirement. For movies like Couples Retreat I played from Mumbai and he recorded me sitting in L.A. Having said that I am sure he doesn’t miss me. Whether I play for him or not he will complete his projects with full satisfaction.

Born in a German musical family, he became an established flautist-cum-saxophonist at a very young age. A record playing a Ravi Shankar performance, combined with his search for spirituality, led him to India at the age of 18. To spend a fair number of years learning Sitar under Ustad Usman Khan and spiritual lessons under the great Osho. Today, he is one of the best-selling World Music artists around the world. We present to you Music Aloud’s interview of Prem Joshua.

Starting off with a question on something I’ve often wondered about, is Prem Joshua your real name? How did a German happen to have a very Indian-sounding name?

We are conditioned in such a way that the name we received from our parents is considered our “real” name. But we were babies at that time, nobody asked us if we like that name, now we are older, we are completely different persons, why should we always stick to the same name? We change! If you want so, “Joshua” is my “real” name and I added “Prem” in front and dropped my family name. I think this world needs more “Prem”, love! And this name reminds me of the essence of love.

At the age of 18 you migrated to India, to learn Indian clasical music. Quite a daring feat for someone that young! Could you tell us a bit about the experience here?

Yes, that was quite daring – but India had such a pull over me! I had no choice, the call was so strong! Life is full of mysteries! Believe me it was not easy. One might want to argue about past lives and reincarnation but I strongly had the feeling that I was coming back home. Learning classical Indian music felt like I was continuing something I had started in some other life.

You have come out with over 10 albums over the 2 decades that you have been in the industry (my personal fave being Water Down the Ganges!). But your last original album came in 2007. Why no album since then?

I recorded and released about 17 albums worldwide. 12 of them are released in India with Music Today. My last release in India in 2009 was Prem Joshua & Band – In Concert, a live album with interpretations of some older songs plus some new tracks. At the end of this year I will be releasing a brand new studio album that I recorded with my band. The reason for the longer gap between my last studio recording and the new one is due to the fact that we were touring so much and giving many concerts all over the world.

Your 2010 calendar is packed with concerts. Considering your music is so deeply rooted in Indian classical music, whats your opinion on the attitude that people from various countries have towards Indian classical music?

My music is rooted in Indian classical music but I do fusion, it is also rooted in rock, jazz, funk, and it has Middle Eastern and African influences. But of course the Indian element is the strongest, sitar, bamboo flute and tabla are the trademark of my sound.
The world is changing fast, it seems that nowadays more western people listen to Indian classical music than Indians do. Today Indians in general listen to Bollywood, full stop! OK, I am exaggerating as some Indians still listen to Prem Joshua, hahaha!

Who are the classical music veterans you have collaborated with? Anyone whom you long to work with and haven’t been able to as yet?

I have not collaborated with any classical veterans so far and I don’t long to collaborate with them. I love what they do because I love good Indian classical music. But I passionately do something else! Fusion to me is an art form! It needs tremendous sensibility and respect! You cannot just mix anything and call it fusion, it will be only hotch potch. To create intelligent fusion music you have to be really at home in both musical worlds! You have to be respectful to the cultures that you fuse and at the same time you have to have courage for the new. I am collaborating with young and excellent Indian musicians who bring some fresh air into the world music scene.

Do you follow Indian film music? What is your opinion about the same? Any favourite composers/artists you have?

Music as such has a tremendous power. It is an international language. It is a channel to our soul, to our truth. Every human being has a connection with music in some form. But of course this channel can be used for other things, can be exploited for only commercial reasons.
Older Indian film music was very connected with folk traditions. But now Indian film music is more or less commercial western music with lyrics in Hindi or other other Indian languages. Most contemporary Indian film music composers have simply learned how to translate western pop music into a noisy Indian version. To me there is rarely a good and original song. Most modern Indian film music is just re-using a certain formula that has only one aim: commercial success, there is hardly any artistic musical content left!

What kind of music do you generally listen to? Who are your favorite musicians?

I listen to any kind of music, Indian classical, western classical, fusion, jazz, heavy metal, trance, African, South American…. there is only one condition: I have to be moved, my soul wants to be stirred, it has to go under my skin! I can listen to classical sitar by Nikhil Banerjee and go straight to Mozart, followed by Miles Davis, then Led Zeppelin, then Lata Mangeshkar, then Mongolian folk music, no problem! And then I switch of all music and just listen to a nightingale singing into the deep dark night, ah, what melody! Ah, what silence!

Indian classical music is going though a transition, most of the masters are ageing, do you think the future of this tradition is in safe hands?

Yes, there are many extremely talented young players, Indian classical music is in good hands. To me the question is less about the lack of classical musicians but more the lack of Indians being interested in classical music.

Indian music has so far broken into international fusion and lounge scenes so far, do you think there will be takers of Indian Music in a pop format?

As far as I understand your question, you mean will there be an Indian born star in the international pop music? Sure, why not? It is just a matter of time. But to me it brings up another question: what is so great about being Indian? Why Indians are so identified with being Indian? What is so great about being Indian, German, Chinese, American, any national identification? Nothing! Why do we love to identify with small boundaries, limitations and conditionings when we can just be free human beings living together in a great beautiful world? The days of nations are over! It is just a matter of time! The concept is out-dated. Let’s grow up! World fusion music does its small contribution towards a better world by bringing traditions and cultures together rather than separating people and nations.

You can listen to Prem Joshua’s out-of-the-world music and read more about him and his band here.

He arrived on the Bollywood music scene with Aamir, an album that received rave reviews from critics with its imaginative tunes. If anyone had failed to notice him then, he ensured even their attention the next time, by following Aamir up with a brilliant 18-song soundtrack called Dev D! And the man hasn’t looked back ever since. We present to you Amit Trivedi, the next big thing in the Bollywood music industry! Read on as he talks of his upcoming projects, Emosanal Atyachar, his idol A R Rahman, and more. Before the start of the interview, we express our sincerest gratitude to Amit’s ex-bandmate and composer Amartya Rahut, without whose help this interview would never have happened.

We have heard about OM from your bandmate Amartya, so won’t bother with questions on

that. But was OM the first musical ensemble you were part of?

Yes, OM was my first musical ensemble. I started with live shows for stage and theatre,then moved on to advertising with Amartya.

Dev D.. Your biggest and best project to date.. 18 tracks spread across an array of genres.

How long did it take you to make such a big album? And what were the sort of preparations

you did for the same?

It took me more than a year to complete that album. There were no preparations as such. I just went with the flow of the script and Anurag Sir’s brief.

One of the major success factors of your music has been the lyrics by Amitabh

Bhattacharya. And your association with Amitabh has started from your OM days itself if I am

not wrong. Please tell us about that. How has the experience been with Amitabh?

Yes my association with Amitabh goes long back starting with OM. It is a pleasure working with him as he grasps the thought of the song very well. He is gifted as a writer and we share a comfortable working rapport.

I have read multiple articles touting you as the next A R Rahman. Apart from the quality and

diversity of your compositions that is suggestive of such a comparison, another similarity I

have noticed is the way both of you have been building a pool of new singers to be used in

most of your projects. Like you have Neuman Pinto, Joi Barua, Tochi Raina etc. Your

thoughts on that? Why have none of the conventional established singers featured in your

music so far? And how did you get about building this brigade?

It hasn’t been a deliberate attempt to work only with new singers, but I like to experiment and that’s why I try out new voices. If I like a voice and that suits the song, then I go ahead and use that. Having said that, I have worked with established singers like Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Benny Dayal and Javed Ali in an upcoming project.

Your take on A R Rahman, whom you have admitted in the past as being a big fan of? Have

you met him personally? Incidently Dev D came out at the same time as Delhi 6 hit the

stands. How was the experience of being pitted against a giant of our times?

I really don’t know how to react to that. I am a huge fan of AR Rahman and I have idolized him for the longest time. He is the reason why I am here, so when people compare me with him or pit my music against his I feel honored but at the back of my mind is always the thought that I have a long way to go before I can even come close to him. He is way too ahead of everyone else and he is one of a kind. Unfortunately I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him in person.

Wake Up Sid was one of those rare occasions when the background score for a Bollywood

movie got officially released as a separate soundtrack. Tell us about your work for Wake Up

Sid. Did you interact with SEL while doing the score, or was it done independently?

Wake up Sid was a fun and light hearted film to work on. I did not interact with SEL while doing the background score for this film. I have done it on my own. The male version of Ik Taara did become a huge hit and people have appreciated that song. And that probably was the deciding factor for having it released separately. Besides it is actually a song that was part of the background score.

We happen to know of two of your upcoming works in the immediate horizon, Aisha, whose

promos are already on TV, and one Agnee’s Mohan had told us about – Onir’s I Am. Could

you tell us a bit about the music of these two movies? And what else do you have in the

pipeline? We hear about an international project coming from Anurag Kashyap-Danny Boyle

and featuring biggies like Aamir Khan and SRK?

Aisha is a very youthful film. The music was done keeping that in mind. There is also a romantic track as the film is essentially a love story. Onir’s I Am is slightly more serious and deals with reality hence the song has been made accordingly. There is one track for I Am. Other than these I also have Udaan, directed by Vikram Motwane. It’s a film very close to my heart. Then next is Chillar Party, a kiddies film directed by Vikas Bahl and Nitesh Tiwari, No One Killed Jessica Lal directed by Rajkumar Gupta of Aamir fame. At the moment I have no update on Anurag Sir’s international film and so I can’t comment on that.

Your latest release Udaan also has some excellent tracks. How has the response been so

far?

The response has been very encouraging and people have liked the soundtrack.

Every artist would have a dream project, so to say. Do you have any such project that you

long to execute? Or was that already done with Dev D?

Hmmm…frankly I haven’t thought about it as yet.

Your start was from the private album scene. After OM you worked for Junoon, Ramanasia

etc before making it big. Any plans of doing a revisit to the old hunting ground?

Not in the near future.

An interview with Amit Trivedi cannot be complete without a question on Emosanal

Atyachar. Although it is difficult to pick the best song from Dev.D, this was certainly the

most popular and the most radical. Tell us how the idea of using a brass band came about.

Also tell us more about your experience while composing the song, working with the elusive

and interestingly named Rangila and Rasila.

. The entire concept of doing a song as such was Anurag Sir’s. Even the term emosanal attyachar was his. We had a blast recording the song as we had actually called a wedding band to play for us. And this indeed was a unique experience as it’s not every day that one gets to record with a wedding band. Also band masters Rangila and Rasila are none other than Amitabh and myself. At the time we didn’t want to reveal that as we thought band master Rangila and Rasila seem more authentic and also to generate curiosity around the song.

Rock music followers from the South would remember him as the erstwhile bass guitarist of the Malayali folk-rock band Avial. And the rest of India would recognize him as playing bass alongside his brother and Kailash Kher as part of Kailasa. As our latest entrant to the spotlight series, we present to you one of the leading bass guitarists of India, Naresh Kamath. And believe me, this is as comprehensive as an interview could ever get! If you don’t, read and see for yourself.

It must be fun to have a brother at home

whom you can jam with. So how did you

and Paresh get into music? Could you take us through your upbringing?

Well I’d have to say that my brothers( Harish is the eldest.. not a musician though!) have been a big influence on me in my child hood. They’d be hearing music on the radio since when I was a toddler. Harish knew all the hindi songs and used to sing them whenever there was a party. We all went to Boarding school in Panchgani( Hill station near Mahabaleshwar) called St Peters high school.There we had a music teacher that taught us the western style of music, like how to sing in a choir and sing harmonies etc. They taught us songs of the Beatles etc. We started making our own songs even before we knew how to play an instrument. So basically we were pretty deep into music by the time we got out of school. Paresh picked up the guitar right about the time he got out of school and soon he was part of a band and basically there was no looking back! For me, living in a house with an elder brother, who was already in a band and with me as deep into music as he was, I was destined to do the same. After playing separately in different bands for a while, we found ourselves trying to learn Jazz and fusion music under the guidance of Dinshah Sanjana, in a legendary band called  ‘Divya‘. It was quite a steep learning curve for us rocker boys at that time, but we realized that our hunger for musical knowledge could not be jailed by any particular genre of music and so we found ourselves playing jazz fusion music with Divya at international music festivals!

You used to be a vocalist once upon a time. Why did you drop that for bass guitar? Do you

have plans of going back to mainstream vocals in future?

My voice is the first instrument that I learned to play and later on I realized that I was pretty good at it. I remember when I was in the 10th standard, I used to practice air drumming and the first time that I sat on a drum kit, I actually played a proper beat, so I was super excited. I asked my dad if I could buy a 2nd hand drum kit, which amounted to 15 thousand rupees at that time. My dad said OK, but he asked me to take a day to think about it, to see if I was really sure I wanted to play the drums. That day Paresh told me that I was a very good singer and I should be concentrating on my singing instead of  learning drums. I took his advice and from then on I started concentrating on my singing! I started singing for various rock bands and even won singing awards at rock competitions around the country. The problem with rock bands in our country is that just don’t stick together. That’s exactly what happened to my band at the time and only the drummer and me were left. Drummer and singer are not a good jam combination, so I decided to learn the bass guitar so that I could jam with my drummer. I used to play basic chords on the acoustic guitar and could doodle around on it, so learning the bass became easier for me and I got really deep into it. I’d sometimes practice for the whole night into the morning. I became pretty good at it in a relatively short period of time. Around that time Paresh & me got into Divya and started learning jazz-fusion music which is essentially instrumental music, so singing straightaway took a back seat and before I knew it I was considered a bass player and not a singer really!

Since I had started singing Western songs in the rock bands while growing up, Hindi singing didn’t come naturally to me. I had to really work hard to be able to sing in Hindi and not sound like a foreigner! But over time as I’ve been working with other hindi singers and artistes,composing hindi songs etc. I’ve become more comfortable and confident with it. I have already sung songs in a few films like Luck (Jee le), Teen Patti (Intezaar), Pyaar Impossible (10 on 10) etc. I love to sing and singing actually helps me in composing my own tunes, so who knows I’ll come out with my own album some day !

Most Keralites would know you more as an erstwhile Avial member than a present Kailasa

member. Can you tell us a bit about your musical forays prior to Avial?

While I was in college I’d already become a roadie for Paresh’s band Witch Hammer, which was pretty well known in Bombay at the time. I ended up joining them when there singer quit, but It didn’t go too well for me,as I was new and didn’t have the experience, on top of that I was replacing a good singer with a big following and believe me, rock audiences can be really unforgiving. I then joined another band called Modus Operandi and we did pretty well in the rock scene in Bombay. We used to cover bands like Extreme, Mr.Big, Whitesnake etc. But that didn’t last too long and it ended up with just the drummer and me! At around this time I picked up the bass and withing 6 months I was playing bass on stage with my brothers band. That’s when Dinshah Sanjana spotted us and threw us a proposal to play at an international jazz festival within a year, if we joined his band called Divya. Divya completely changed my musical outlook and I was never the same again.

You were the only non-Malayali member of Avial. And if I am right in my guess, this is the

only musical ensemble you were part of without your brother being involved. How did you

end up with Avial? And why did you leave it? Have you considered a return (This is more a

hope than a query!)?

Avial has been a comparatively recent development. I used to play and make music for a dance company called The Daksha Sheth dance company and thats where I met Rex from Avial. We really got along as friends and musically. Between rehearsals we’d jam a lot and that was real fun. Rex told me that he had his own band and that they were recording their album soon. He wanted me to play on it and I agreed. It took about 6 months for things to materialize and I ended up going to Kerala to record with the Avial boys. I had a really nice time hanging out with Rex & Tony while recording the album, enjoying the Kerala experience and I also ended up eating Avial for the first time!

I was never really a part of the band Avial. The way I see it, I was invited to come and play bass on their album and so I did. Later they started getting show offers, but they still hadn’t found a bass player to play all that material, so they asked me if I could play live gigs with them too, but I was already a part of Kailasa, so it would’ve been very difficult for me to manage playing in both the acts. I did end up playing with them for a few gigs, but at the same time I asked them to find a permanent member for their own good.

How did you come to collaborate with Kailash Kher for Kailasa? How has the experience

of working with Kailash Kher been?

After our stint with Divya, Paresh & I had decided to get into music direction & production seriously, so we worked on making a home production studio. We had started producing remix albums and worked with Shaan on his album Aksar and were basically making our foray into the music industry. Thats when we got an offer to produce a new singer called Kailash Kher. We had never heard of this guy, but his representatives sent us a cd of his voice and a guide track separately of the song Piya re Piya re. They asked if we could make some music over it and send it back to them. When we heard his voice we were really impressed as it was not the typical bollywood voice and it had that raw element to it. We had not heard the original Nusrat version so we made the music we thought would work well with it and sent it back to them. Kailash loved it and wanted to meet us, from then on there was no looking back.

Working with Kailash over the years has been truly amazing and a great experience. When we started out, no one knew of him. All we had was our love for music and the mutual respect we had for each other. Now after all the success that Kailasa has had and all the fame that Kailash has achieved, those two things haven’t changed and that’s I think the secret of our success.

You had done a wonderful composing job in Dasvidaniya. And even the 2 tracks you did

for CC2C were neat. Why no movie scores after that?

Composing for movies is something that we’re really looking forward to. Unfortunately for us, after  CC2C & Dasvidaniya, we’ve had few opportunities to compose for a movies, although we have composed the title track Allah Ke Bande, for the film with the same name. Meanwhile we’re working on the material for our 4th album and along with our touring, we’re keeping ourselves busy.

Apart from Kailasa, what are your other current engagements? Do you do bass for

other composers in movies or otherwise?

Paresh & I along with other members of Kailasa have our own English band called Hipnotribe. We take every opportunity to play live, when Kailasa is not touring. Right now we’re working on recording our album, which should hopefully be completed soon ! As I sadi earlier, I do a little bit of play back singing myself, not just for movies but also tv advertisements etc. Apart from that I do music production for advertisements & tv shows. I also do background scores for movies.

As far as playing bass for other composers, it happens very rarely, as bass is an instrument that stays mostly in the background. Most music producers are happy playing bass on the keyboards, so if you are a bass player looking for studio work it’s gonna be few and far between. But saying that, I do get calls every now and then, to play bass as they want a ”live feel” to it!

You were into folk-rock fusion with Avial. Even with Kailasa there has been the

occasional sufi-rock fusion. Considering your experience in the field, what do you think

of the direction fusion rock is taking in India? What do you think of its future here? Do

you have any similar dream fusion projects you would want to implement?

The great thing about fusing folk music with contemporary sounds and music is that you can take a little of the old and mix it with the new to create something which is unique to you, which can represent your thoughts and ideas and still  have the ethnicity in appealing to a larger audience, especially in India which has such a humongous and vast repertoire of folk music. Anything that is done genuinely and from the heart has a high success rate according to me, so while there’ll always be fads or trends in music, the longevity of any genre or artiste will depend on the genuineness of their music.

As of now I don’t have any specific plans, but I have a lot of music in me which is waiting to be expressed, so I’m sure something will prop up soon enough.

Who are your inspirations? Fave artists?

As a musician I consider myself as a sponge which absorbs all kinds of music and stores it somewhere in my subconscious. All the music I heard from childhood, like hearing Pt. Bhimsen Joshi on the morning radio to hearing Lata Mangeshkar on tape singing Meera bhajans, not to mention all the film songs sung by Kishore Kumar, Mohd. Rafi etc. they stay with you. I learnt Beatles songs in boarding school, then got into western pop music, hearing bands like the Police, Duran Duran, not to forget Michael Jackson, Prince etc. After that hearing rock music in college, Guns n Roses, Metallica,Van Halen, Sound Garden, Red hot Chili Peppers, Extreme, Mr.Big etc. (and for me the biggest of them all) Led Zeppelin, all the staples of rock music, had a big influence on me. I got into jazz fusion music where bands like Tribal Tech, Trilok Gurtu’s Crazy Saints, Weather Report etc made a deep impression on me. Jamiroquai, Sting, Seal, more recently Cold Play, Imogen Heap, Jazzanova, John Mayer, Jeff Buckley… I can go on ! On the home front, R.D. Burman &  A.R. Rahman, always the path breakers, Vishal Bharadwaj, Lucky Ali‘s solo albums too, I love them.

Having done so many live shows, is there any memorable live show moment you would

like to share with our readers?

There have been many memorable shows and some funny moments too.. recently Kailasa played at a show in HongKong for Kingfisher and it’s clients. Mr.Vijay Mallya the owner of King Fisher was called on stage to give a speech. If you have ever been on a Kingfisher flight you would know that a recorded ‘welcome aboard’ speech of Mr.Mallya always plays where he asks his guests to feel like as if they’re in his own home and if they had any complaints they could contact him “personally”. The whole band was familiar with this as we’ve travelled Kingfisher gazzillion times! As expected Mr. Mallya repeated his offer at this speech, asking all present to contact him “personally” in case they had any complaints or queries. The whole band was in splits, when we we heard the word “personally”. After the speech we gathered ourselves and got on stage for or performance, but before we started Kailash introduced himself  and Kailasa to Mr Mallya and then went on to tell Mr. Mallya that if he had any questions or complaints, Mr. Mallya could contact him “Personally” lol!

Here’s wishing Naresh besto for all his future endeavours. We shall be back with another artist pretty soon!

Naresh playing for Kailasa’s concert at IIM Lucknow’s Manfest 2010 edition

Studio version of my fave Avial song, Aadu Pambe. Naresh on the bass

Its not everyday that you get to see someone who leaves a high-paying job to go into music, a world of uncertainties. Well, Mohan did just that, and quite a good decision it turned out, considering his current repertoire includes – apart from Agnee‘s songs, SEL‘s chartbuster from London Dreams, Khanabadosh, soundtrack for Samsung Guru’s latest ad series, and a couple of songs with Amit Trivedi for Onir‘s upcoming movie I Am. We decided to catch up with Mohan and know more about the man. And here is what we found.

Before we go into the interview, a BIG thank you to our dear friend Swetha without whose efforts this interview wouldn’t have happened. This post dedicated to her!

Your profile on Agnee’s site says that you belong to a

family of Carnatic musicians. Can you tell us about your

musical upbringing? Carnatic vocals, Hindustani vocals,

mridangam, guitar.. how did you manage to master all of

these?

My mother (Smt Vasantha Kannan) is a Carnatic musician (she sings and plays the violin) and my sister (K Srividya) also plays the violin and sings. My father (Sri S Kannan) runs a musical organisation dedicated to Carnatic music and my uncle and aunts and grandparents all play an instrument or sing.. so yes, it definitely IS a very musical family. I started learning the mridangam when i was found banging tin cans in the house at the age of 5 or 6, and my parents sent me to learn from Sri S Sekhar, my Guruji who taught me everything i know (and a lot more that i probably couldn’t grasp at the time) about music. It was great fun learning the mridangam, and I really liked it. Surprisingly though, I never thought it cool to sing at the time because all the women were doing it around me, and it sounded manly to play the mridangam. A decision I definitely regret now! On the subject of mastering any of these instruments or the vocals, am sure I’m a VERY long way off from that, just enjoying music and composing and singing and playing! (Quite humble that, coming from a man who has won the Best Mridangam player of the year thrice at the Chennai Music Festival, and been awarded with the prestigious Palghat Mani Iyer award!)

After doing an MBA from a place like XIMB and landing a dream job like Deutsche Bank, it

takes courage to leave all that and go after your passion. What prompted you to take the

plunge?

Well, every bold step really looks quite stupid, naive and maybe a little TOO gutsy when it’s taken.. but I’m glad it’s worked out and I have the luxury of being able to look back at that decision and say “Thank GOD!”. I have to admit, there were times when I thought it wasn’t such a great idea… the comfort of a nice fat paycheck does take a while to get out of.. and by the time i really started missing it, we had already been signed on by SONY BMG and it wasn’t a situation anymore! The one person who made me change to music was (and will continuously be) Koco, our lead guitarist and co-composer with me on the band. He asked me to come jam with him one day and then we started composing.. and before we knew it, we had songs that we wanted to release.

Was Agnee your first musical initiative, or were you part of some other ensemble before

that?

How did Agnee come about? Why the name Agnee? Are you connected in any way with

the 80s band Agni? And how did you get signed by Sony BMG in your debut itself,

something of a dream for every band?

2007 was a watershed year for Agnee, so to say. You came out with your debut album and

gave music for the movie Dil Dosti etc.  But why did Agnee not come out with a complete

album post that? It is not even as if you have run out of creative fuel. Frankly, Raanjhan

Yaar Di is too good a song  for a show like Splitsvilla!

2007 was great for us. And thankfully, the years ahead have gone better and better. The decision to release singles and not an album is not about running out of creative fuel (at least not yet). The reasons are simple. We release song by song so that each song gets its due on promotion, airplay etc. Having an entire album out at the same time means at least 2 or 3 of the songs will have to go without videos, and sometimes that means keeping not so good songs on the album as well just to have the required playing time of 45 min. We also have a difference of opinion when it comes to selling a medium and not the product (i.e. Cd’s and cassettes as opposed to the music itself) and therefore would rather give everyone an opportunity to listen to our songs, no matter what the medium. So the decision to release the songs free as well. And as part of the promotion for each song we get the chance to look at different platforms and different methods.. one of which was Splitsvilla for the love song as well as for Raanjhan Yaar Di. Hence the release with the show! We will definitely release complete albums, but that will be only to reach those who do not have access to the internet.

It was on the release of London Dreams music there was this widespread search for the

singer named Mohan who sang Khanabadosh. Even among followers of Agnee, not everyone was

acquainted with your name (I myself being among them!). So how did Khanabadosh

happen?

Am glad there was this “widespread” search for the singer who sang Khanabadosh.. wasn’t aware of it myself! The song credits were supposed to be “Mohan (Agnee)” but that got missed in the final print unfortunately! Ehsaan called me one day and said they wanted to try out my voice for this song just as a test.. I went there and sang the first few lines and Shankar said sing the whole thing now. So I sang it and had a lot of fun doing it. There was a LOT to learn from interacting with Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.. on small things like how professional they are, how ready with their stuff, clarity on direction, they way they’re fun to be with and still such kickass musicians (or is that the other way around??) .. so it was a great experience for me.

You seem to be quite busy on the ad jingle scene as well, Samsung Guru being the

latest one. So is music your sole occupation currently?

You have worked with Amit Trivedi? Thats news! Tell us more about it.

I worked with Amit on a couple of songs.. One for this film called Udaan, which is going to Cannes now (the first hindi film in 7 years to be selected in the mainstream category).. And another for this film called Megha (part of 4 short films in the feature called I Am by Onir). Both were written brilliantly by Amitabh Bhattacharya, the first’s a solo song and the second is a duet with the amazing Rekha Bhardwaj. The Samsung Guru ad is also composed by Amit, with lyrics by Gulzar and directed by Anurag Kashyap.. So it’s been fun doing all this!

What are your current projects-in-progress? And what is the way forward for Agnee and

you as a playback singer?

We’re working on an exciting tour starting May 27th going all over India and it’s a Create with Agnee tour where we’re going to be collaborating with our fans. It’s going to be super fun.. goes on till July 10th. We’re also going to Europe to play in 4 countries there and collaborating with European musicians on some songs. We’re making music for a film called Gulaab Gang, which will be shot towards the end of the year. The future of Agnee is composing, recording and playing live shows.. we wouldn’t change it for the world! We’re just going to try and keep improving our music, have fun doing it, and enjoy meeting other musicians we like and collaborating with them. It’s a fun road.. and we’re determined to enjoy it to the fullest! I really have no plans as a playback singer, all my plans involve Agnee.. the other things happen to me rather than me planning for them or having an ambition for them. Hence, will take the playback singing as it comes!

As the next guest in our series of interviews, we bring to you Sanjeev Thomas. Sanjeev owns a studio in Chennai called Rainbow Bridge with its headline band by the same name. Another distinguished honor for Sanjeev is that he has been the lead guitarist for A.R. Rahman in his studio recordings as well as live concerts.

So where and how did it all begin for you?

I was born and brought up in Kuwait where I picked up the Guitar at the age of 8 after some coaxing from my dad. Although I learnt the guitar for some time, there was a lot of theory involved which got me bored and I had left it for some time. I completed my schooling in Kuwait and then moved to Chennai where I completed my degree. Although I was good at studying, I could never really see myself doing a day job.. I wanted to be a rockstar. So after playing the guitar for a few years, I started a few bands such as Buddha Blown and Buddha’s Babies. Then I started my own studio called Rainbow Bridge and the Rainbow Bridge Band started as the headline band for the studio.

How did the band come about? And what is the funda behind

the name Rainbow Bridge?

I started the Rainbow bridge studio around 5 years back.. And since the studio needed a headline band, I formed the band. The name just came from the studio’s name. Rainbow bridge basically stands for all kinds of artists coming down under one roof.

Fusion is too generic a term to classify your music. How would you describe Rainbow

Bridge’s music?

I had a couple of bands before Rainbow Bridge(Buddha’s Babies and Buddha Blown).  Rainbow Bridge started by taking those songs and reinventing them. We do all kinds of music and it would be difficult to classify it into any one genre. This is what we call the Independent or indie rock.

Where is the Indian Rock scene headed? Would it ever be as popular in India as it is in

the west?

Be it India or west, the Indie Rock scene does not have popularity. It has always been an underground movement. However, the west has the infrastructure to support upcoming underground artists. India so far does not have that. So, most of the upcoming artists find it difficult to sustain themselves and end up either going into mainstream commercial music or quit music altogether.

Playing alongside A R Rahman is a dream come true moment for any Indian musician. And

you have been playing with him for quite some time now.  Tell us more about your

experience with the maestro.

Around three and a half years ago I got a call inviting me to work with Rahman on the “Vote for Taj” campaign. It was a shocker for me. Ever since, I have worked with him on a number of projects which include studio recordings and live concerts. Live concerts with Rahman are always great fun because there are a minimum of 75,000 people at any concert. A particular concert I remember was one at Cochin. I had entered in a crane that was high above the ground and balancing ourselves in the crane while playing the instruments was a real adventure.

Being a guitarist it is quite obvious you would have your idols. Could you please name

them?

Having been brought up in the late 70s/80s, I was initially a huge fan of disco music. So I would say, my first influence were the Bee-Gees. Later on I got into heavy/death metal where I liked bands such as Sepultura. . Ony after this did I discover the 70s Rock’n’Roll with bands such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin etc.

Any plans of getting into mainstream commercial/bollywood music?

I am already into commercial music. I do production for a lot of commercial movies and albums in my studio. Although as a youngster I was against pop music, I have grown to believe that no kind of music is bad music. So now I produce all kind of music including hip-hop, bollywood etc. Although I would always have a soft spot for indie rock music as I started off with that music.

What are the future projects, both on your individual front and the band front?

The first thing I am looking forward to is the release of my album later this year. The album will have a variety of genres of music. Secondly, I am looking forward to the world tour with Rahman. I am also doing a lot of projects in bollywood with the likes of Anu Malik and Pritam. Although I have always been a guitarist, I am also looking forward to my career in singing. I am already singing for my own band but I am also recording a few songs that would be released in movies in the upcoming year.

We eagerly look forward to the release of Sanjeev’s album and wish him the best for all his future projects!

For more on Sanjeev’s music visit his myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/rainbowbridgeindia

Wake

Meherbaan – Instrumental

Freewill

It is always a great challenge for a musician to make his debut with a classic song, which has in the past been covered by many great artists, and turn out a commendable job of it. And if that wasn’t challenging enough, consider a case where the musician himself does the instruments, modified lyrics and in the end launches the song on his own label. This “all-rounder” happens to be Dilpreet Bhatia, a Delhi-based folk-rock singer/songwriter, who recently came out with his debut single, a tribute to the great Nusrat Fateh Ali. Dilpreet is our spotlight artist for the week.

Let us start with a brief about you, your

musical background and so on.

I am based in Delhi, but spent most of my childhood in a small town of Fatehabad in Haryana, Started learning music from my teachers at school there. Performed in school and college fests but never thought that I would take music so seriously. Went to Bangalore for a Software Job and suddenly I started feeling that something is missing out here…I cant live without performing, without music. I came to Delhi and started learning Hindustani Classical from my Guruji Sumitra Guha and kept on trying and trying to do what I love to do, perform where ever I could and write whatever I felt….

Trying to cover a classic, especially by someone like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, is always a

high risk venture, with high chances of the song not going down well with purists, fans et

al. Nevertheless you chose to do just that (and did a beautiful job of it, we should add!).

So why Nusratji? And why this particular song?

I must say that I am honored, and thanks a lot for your kind words. I am a great fan of Nusrat Ji…his compositions are legendary. And the simple reason I chose this song was that ‘I loved it’ and I could relate to this song. I was not thinking of any risk when i was improvising it.  I hope you would have noticed that the antra of this song is not what Nusrat Ji have sung. What he has done, is legendary. And lot of artists like Kailash Kher, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and NFAK have sung this song before.  but extending it, writing new antras and giving them a whole tune…ya it may be scary but this is how I feel one with the song and I am honored that people liked this version and I hope that if he(Nusrat Ji) could listen to this song from up there, he wont scold me after hearing it…

At a time when most Punjabi songs tend towards the cacophonous orchestration, it is

refreshing to hear purely acoustic songs which bring out the real beauty of Punjabi Sufi

music. Was the arrangement entirely handled by you as well? And who is the pianist?

Ya, I did the music arrangement, recording and mixing for this song at my home studio, and all the intruments on this song, including piano, are played by me.

Today the easiest path to fame is quite evidently reality shows, and there have been many

who got their 15 minutes (and more) of fame through this. And considering you have good

talent as well, why did you not opt for that route?

I never thought its a good option for me.

This song has been launched via your own private label, Sur & Soul Records. Do you plan

to go big on the labels front, by trying to launch albums of other artists as well, or are you

going to employ Sur & Soul for your songs alone?

Sur ‘n’ Soul Records will not be limited to my songs alone, we have plan to launch other artists as well, mostly associated with hindustani classical. But it will remain an Indie Label.

Needless to say, launching a single costs a lot of money. Is music your sole bread-winner,

or are you employed otherwise?

I am also working as Lead Software Engineer for creative software giant Adobe Systems Inc.

You have come out with your first single now. When do you plan to launch a full album? And is that going to be all covers or are you working on some own comps as well?

The full album is already ready, Its in Punjabi, and songs have been written, composed and sung by me and directed by Leslie Lewis of Colonial Cousins. I have also collaborated with 6 times Grammy Winning Mixing Engineer Ken Lewis for one of songs in this Album. We are right now showcasing it to labels and hopefully it should be out very very soon.

The staple musician question – who are your influences?

Ghulam Ali, Nusrat Ji, Pt Jasraj, U2, A R Rahman and my Guruji Sumitra Guha, have had the greatest influence on me and my music.

A lot of Indian musicians are currently collaborating with international musicians with

great success. Have you explored that possibility?

Yes, I have recently completed recording a song for UK based producer Shammi Pithia, Did one song with Ken Lewis, which is featured in my upcoming album, and currently working on a multiple song project with Canadian band Nawticks.

Next pitstop would be Bollywood we are guessing. Anything on that front yet?

Nothing on that front right now, this Single and Album have been keeping me busy for now, but ya, I am surely gonna give it a shot.
We wish you all the best, and hope your debut album happens soon indeed.
Another spotlight artist coming up your way soon!