Back in Calcutta after almost six months, singer-songwriter Nikhil D’Souza rocked Someplace Else, The Park, on August 4 (as part of SPE’s birthday celebrations) with songs like Blind, Silver and Gold and Take Me Home, A-Ha’s Take On Me and Love Is a Liar. What really got the crowd cheering and dancing were Bollywood tracks like Anjaana anjaani and Har kisi ko. A t2 chat...
You have signed with East West Records of Warner Music UK recently. That must be a huge step for you…
Ya, for sure! For an Indian artiste to get that kind of recognition and be signed to a label and be considered on an equal footing as other UK artistes is a dream come true. Your music is up in the place where artistes inspire you and to reach out to that audience is big. The only problem that I face in the UK is that people can’t get my name right. They probably type ‘Nick’ and ‘Hill’. Maybe if my name was John Smith or something, then it wouldn’t be a problem.
How do you write your music?
I just put down random thoughts on paper, build the versus and the chorus in a tune. Also, when a nice melody comes to me, I put it down and I try to find what works best for it lyrically and see what it means to me.
Are you the only singer at home?
Yes, I am the only one (smiles). There’s no music in my family. My parents were never musicians. My sister picked up the guitar because she was curious and our neighbour taught her a few chords but she lost interest, so then I borrowed it and took over. Soon I convinced my dad to buy me one.
What does your family think about your music?
Haha, they think it sucks! They don’t listen to much music. Even if I play something for them, they’ll just listen, smile, nod, say it’s nice and then just go back to their stuff. But they definitely are proud of me.
Your fave artiste would be?
Jeff Buckley, of all time! When I was lost during my third job and I was questioning my life, I had come across his music. And that’s when I learnt about versus, chords... it opened a door for me. His album Grace has influenced me a lot. I’m sure it’s influenced a lot of people.
Your chill-out mantra?
In Bombay I like being at home, sit on this nice grandfather chair that I have. You can extend it out to rest your legs and I just watch TV shows. In London I throw my phone on the bed and read a storybook in a cafe for like three hours or something. I’m quite simple like that, like I wouldn’t go bungee jumping or something.
A trend you’re following?
Is Instagram Stories thing a trend (laughs)? I swore that if I ever saw one more of those ‘Ask me a question’ stories, I would shoot myself. And the next day I put up a story of a gravestone. I ended up doing it, because it keeps you more engaged with your fans. But what annoyed me were the random questions and girls asking me for information about where I’m staying and all. And there’s like 20 of them. I’m more of an anti-trend.
Tell us about one of your funniest experiences on stage...
This happened during a music festival in the UK. It was around 12.30pm and I was about to perform. Before I started, I said that it’s always nice to start the day with a beer and one person from the audience bought me one and came and gave it to me on the stage. People in the UK are quite polite like that. You just ask them for something and they give it to you (laughs).
Urvashi Bhattacharya
Picture: Rashbehari Das
