'Relationships seem to break easily these days'
In his latest original track, ‘Silver and Gold’, Nikhil D’Souza sings his heart out about the crumbling relationships and how people are not willing to make it work.
12 May 2018 11:22 AM GMT
Ever since he was a little boy, Nikhil D'Souza dreamt of being a singer, but was discouraged from taking up music because his family believed that "there was no such career in the field" and thus, he decided to do a masters in geology and worked three different jobs in three years – which, he never enjoyed. "It was in the process of doing the stuff that I didn't enjoy that I understood how these jobs were just a means to an end. When I didn't enjoy doing those jobs, I embrace what I really want to do, which is music," said the 36-year-old singer. A decision made right, Nikhil D'Souza's every song – in a short span of time – is a massive hit; be it 'Sham' from Aisha, 'Mere Bina' from Crook, 'Anjaana Anjaani Ki Kahani' from Anjaana Anjaani, 'Main Jiyunga' from Break Ke Baad, 'O Gujariya' from Queen or the most recent, 'Aate Jaate Hanste Gaate' from Golmaal Again. In a freewheeling conversation with Shreya Das, the multi-talented singer shares some moments of his journey, his independent music and his latest track, 'Silver and Gold'.
Excerpts:
How did your journey begin?
After realising my true passion, I quit my job at an Oil company in Oman and came back to India in late 2007. I researched how to make my own music, record it, produce it, put it on a CD and give it to people. And I was really lucky, because later in that year, Blue Frog opened up in Bombay – it was a new venue where people can play their original music. After I put a band together, I ended up playing in late 2008 there. At the same time, I was also singing for advertisements. One of the ads that I sung for was the Airtel ad with Saif and Kareena featuring in it. Fortunately, Amit Trivedi noticed in that ad and called me to sing for 'Shaam' in the film Aishaa. Suddenly, the other music directors recognised my voice and wanted to use it for their songs.
So, when you left your job, was your family supportive of your decision?
Yeah, they were, but they knew they couldn't stop me from doing what I was doing. My dad was a little upset about me leaving a good, settled job and he kept sending classified ads (in the oil field industry) to my sister, but I had made up my mind. So, with time, they got used to it. I think validation came when we were going to a cousins' wedding to Mangalore. Over there, everyone treated me like a celebrity. So, suddenly my mum was looking around and saw the way I was being treated and there she got it (laughs). Until that moment, I was still their little boy who was doing music.
Was it difficult without a classical background?
I was not a trained classical singer so my command of pure Hindi and Urdu was quite limited. It was a challenge to step into that role and be a playback singer who actually sounded legit, but also, at the same time, the challenge was about keeping my independent music alive. I did whatever I could to not be completely slotted as a Bollywood singer; I wanted people to know that I am an Indie musician who writes his own music and also, someone who can do Bollywood.
What's the story behind your track 'Silver and Gold'?
I remember I was sitting down to write a song with a friend of mine, with whom I have been writing since 2013. We were talking about how, these days, when people get into relationships, it's more a question of 'will this workout', because relationships nowadays seem to break pretty easily. We just have to look two generations back, when our parents were together and how they made it work. Their priority was just to stay together and they made their relationship work. So, the song came from that point: in a relationship, you need to have a view that you are going to stay in it for the long run.
Why did you decide to shoot the song in a fort?
It wasn't entirely my decision, but the director came out with an interesting idea. The theme of the song is about staying together, despite knowing that sometimes the feeling can diminish over time. The idea of that old abandoned palace is that even though its really old and by all measures it should be crumbling, but manages to stand strong. So, it is kind of a symbol of a relationship.
Many people are critical about Indian singers' accent when they try their hand at English songs, and quickly dismiss such songs and singers by saying that the accent sounds fake. What are your views on this?
I think its a little overrated...being critical about accents, because if you listen to say, Australian artists, who by all means should sound Australian, actually sound American. If you listen to some American artists, they sound very British. I think its more about influences – your influences dictate how your accent is. If you have been listening to Sting or Jeff Buckley, they will sound somewhere between English and American. Hence, your singing voice can be slightly different from your speaking voice.
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