Almost half-a-decade after he went “Classically Mild”, Sonu Nigam has returned to the drawing board to try something out of the box. The result is a collaboration with percussionist Bickram Ghosh. Together they have crafted “Music Room”, an album of seven songs which, according to Ghosh, is a “playful ground” where mainstream and experimental meet. “I think as a life long student of music it is my ethical responsibility to move beyond the constraints of the genre and be part of the movement of music. I feel guilty of not doing it more often,” says Sonu. According to Ghosh, the idea emerged when they composed for Gumshuda and the album has been in the pipeline for six years. “We got busy with our film assignments and then Sonu’s concerts take a lot of time. But if you give this much time to an album it reflects in the compositions.
Sonu holds that the album can’t be bracketed in categories like World music, Lounge or Fusion music. “We have experimented a lot more and arrived at a term ‘muddy electronica’. We have tweaked the sample sounds that exist in different software and then blended them with the smell of the soil of our culture. We have used live percussion with Bickram da coming in with his tabla, Greg Ellis with drums and I have also played a couple of instruments. The entire brass section is organic.”
“A 9-beat cycle in a pop song that is the kind of experiment I am talking about, Ghosh chips in. “It is a possible with Sonu because he comes to the recording studio and asks for something that challenges him. So I gave him a 9 beat cycle for a song called “Khamkha”, a song about a dead man who’s been murdered by his love that he himself wrote. But then I went further and challenged him to bring the kind of falsetto that Rafi sahib lent in “Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyaar Tera” within the same cycle and he just did it.”
“What I like about Bickram da is his approach towards music. He says whatever you make there should be vidwat (brilliance) in it. Even if you compose a cabaret there should be vidwat in it. You make it accessible for the layman but if a connoisseur listens to it he should say kya baat hai ,” reflects Sonu.
In “Khamkha” he continues, the 9-beat cycle will matter only for the purists. “For the layman it is a catchy number which even my seven-year-old son can sing. It is like washing powder means different things for a scientist and a housewife,” he laughs.
He holds FM channels guilty of not promoting independent music. “When they emerged on the scene we saw them as a great platform for non-film music. It should be given a chance. I don’t buy the argument that first you have to create an image of Katrina or Kareena for your music to sell. Songs like ‘Maula Mere Maula’ and ‘Zahenaseeb’ work for me without even me caring which film they belong to. And once the song picks up the video can follow. It has been the trend since the times of Michael Jackson.”
Many feel Sonu has an ambition not to be judged just as a playback singer and gets carried away in the process. “I have never staked claim to be a classical singer but I don’t want to stagnate either. I know my limitations but what’s the harm in trying to overcome them. Here people want you to stay in the safe zone and keep repeating yourself. I think that’s more foolish than experimenting and failing. I think we use the term rockstar every loosely.”
Sonu has constantly been targeted for sticking his neck out on the copyright issue. He alleges, “Many of my songs have been dubbed in other singers’ voices. In the case of “Hangover” ( Kick ), it was dubbed by Salman Khan. They were about to dub my songs in PK as well but Vidhu Vinod Chopra stood his ground. So it is not that seniors don’t appreciate my stand.”
Recently, Sukhwinder Singh told this journalist that Sonu is standing against the company which made him. “I have always acknowledged what Gulshan Kumar did for me but the family should have also appreciated what I did for the company after his death. Losing me as an artist is fine but losing me as a friend is a big loss. I have been asking only what the singers deserve by the law. I am not representing myself. I represent the whole singer fraternity as the senior member. I know there are a few opportunists who have made use of the situation but I know ki main kamal ka singer hoon. ”
When he listens to songs where he could have made a difference it hurts him. “It is a singer who makes a hit song legendary but what we are seeing now is a kind of a buffet has opened where music companies are picking and choosing.” He says now most music companies have come up with new standard contract and he is open to sign it. “If somebody still doesn’t approach me then it is a matter of ego.” As a far as acting is concerned, Sonu believes in never saying never.
From physical to virtual Bickram Ghosh says the music industry is going through a major upheaval and it will take time for a standard practice to take root. “We moved from LPs to cassettes to CDs but this time the change is much more significant as we are moving from physical to virtual space and music companies still have to learn how to monetise this change effectively. Things are falling in place and the mood is not that bad as it was 2-3 years back. The listener has to understand that downloading a song legally costs Rs.10 to 12 and the upside is that it will stay with you in great quality for life. ” |
