Bollywood playback singer Stebin Ben was the special guest at Spirited Saturdays in association with The Telegraph on August 20 at The Spirits, in Sector V. Fans from the city came out to hear him perform his new song, Kaale kaale chashme, and old favourites like Thoda thoda pyaar and Pyaar karte ho na. There was resounding applause as the performer sang his classics, posed for photos and interacted with his enthusiastic audience. We caught up with Stebin to talk about his career, upcoming projects and some surprising announcements in this exclusive chat.
Stebin Ben posed for the The Telegraph camera
Welcome to Kolkata! What would you like to say to your fans here?
All my love! I would like to give them all my love! Because I have experienced such a high level of enthusiasm and commitment to music on my visits to this venue, I would love the opportunity to keep playing my music here. In addition, I find the city and its culture to be quite interesting, and I find that playing for an audience here always fills me with a sense of delight.
Have you had a chance to visit any touristy places in Kolkata during your visit?
Not really, but one day I would love to visit all the places that are famous here and roam around the city. So far I have visited a lot of hotels and I have enjoyed staying there so much! I loved the ambience, the food, the decor, everything! I really would love to go out and explore everything.
Just look at the happy people jamming away with Stebin Ben
Let’s talk about your new song Kale kale chashme, how was it conceived?
Kale kale chashme is a new song, it’s a new release and to me it is one of my best work. I loved making the song, shooting it.... The thing about me is that it has been two years since I started my music career and my songs have raised billions and I really love to take inspiration from my experiences and turn them into a lovely production. I really hope that my fans and people from pretty much everywhere will enjoy this.
Being a musician, these couple of years what are some changes you’ve seen, for better or for worse, in the industry?
Well, it has not been that long, but ever since I entered, there have been certain hindrances like the pandemic and lockdown, but the change that I can see clearly now is the rising importance of the indie music industry. More old-school music is coming back and I am enjoying it because we were previously dependent on movie songs and now independent albums and singles are ruling every where. This is the change that I have noticed and really liked because old-school music needs to come back, we need to visit our roots and delve more into it.
“It was a full house at The Spirits this weekend. The sensational artiste surely knew how to woo the crowd with numbers like Thoda thoda pyaar. We will surely host more events like this in the future — Sohon Saha, Owner, The Spirits
Are you working on any new project?
So, I just announced my collaboration with Jaani. According to me he is the best songwriter now. I am excited for this collab and I would love to work on more new projects with eminent artists. Our song, Jaana, might be the new hit for 2022 and might be the best in the year! I am really looking forward for my fans to enjoy this!
Spirited Saturdays at The Spirits was a packed house with Stebin’s fans
You have shared some milestones from your music career on social media. What is your favourite among them all?
I think all of them are my favourite, really, but when the songs reach the target audience... for example Thoda thoda pyaar has reached 1.5 billion views, it really makes me so happy that the vision behind my songs which was targeted to reach the target crowd has been accomplished and that my music is played and sung by so many people. From a creator’s aspect it makes me content. I think, one of my songs with Akshay Kumar, was the title track for the movie, Raksha Bandhan, along with Shreya Ghoshal. I was so happy for that. A little reveal, my next song is coming out with Salman Khan for his next movie, so really excited for that! But the song that will come out on August 24 is keeping me on my toes, and I hope everyone along with me will enjoy it.
Pictures: Rashbehari Das
Fast five:
Someone you would like to listen to?
Parineeti Chopra; I think she should sing more! She sings really well and I would really love to hear some work from her.
Favourite instrument?
Well, I love guitars, it is my favourite instrument of all time. Other than this, I love to play the piano!
Who would you like to collab with?
I would love to collab in the future with A.R. Rahman and Pritam.
Which artiste would you like to do a cover of?
I would love to do a cover of all Atif Aslam songs.
