Asees Kaur has carved a space in the music industry with chart-topping hits such as Bolna (Kapoor & Sons), Chogada (Loveyatri), Teri baaton mein aisi uljha jiya, and Raatan lambiyan (Shershaah). The singer who moves seamlessly between romantic ballads, devotional music and peppy anthems, was getting ready for her concert at St. Xavier’s University as part of the Myntra Glamfest tour when t2 caught up with her.

Your son Harfateh was born on World Music Day. Was that a happy coincidence?

A very happy coincidence. To tell you the truth, it was a horror story! It was the eve of World Music Day. I went for a regular check-up at night as I was busy all day. But my doctor said: “We have to operate right away”. So we had no other option.

You had once posted a picture with him in the studio.

Yes, yes, that was the first time I took him. He was very small, so I couldn’t leave him at home. He behaved really well. He’s growing up in the perfect environment to be an artiste. (Laughs) Now he stays home when I go for shows. He knows mama will come back. Maza aa raha hai, balancing work and motherhood.

You brought out an EP recently, titled Broken.

Yes. It’s basically a heartbreak EP with four songs but it concludes with a very beautiful song, Kaindiyaan, which is a love song. So it has different emotions of love.

In this era of singles, how excited are you to bring out an EP?

Actually, people are starting to work on albums. EP is a short album, so I started with an EP. But I might come out with a full album this year. I am totally enjoying this independent zone of music. It’s a good time to bring out your own music.

And when you say EP, does that mean it is coming out in vinyl?

No, it’s digital only. It’s just that if there are four or five songs, we call it an EP. If there are more, we call it an album. EP still stands for extended play. Only you don’t have it in a physical form.

Has digitalisation democratised the music scene? Earlier, playback was the only showcase for a singer. But now with YouTube, independent music has a platform.

Yes, there are a lot of independent artistes now who do not have a dependency on Bollywood. There’s a young audience which enjoys independent music. So that dependency has decreased, but Bollywood still has the largest audience.

There’s this trend of bringing back old songs by assigning them to new composers. You have had quite a few reprises in your repertoire, like Palki mein hoke sawar, Tu miley dil khile and Jaane jaa tu kahan. What do you think about this trend?

Dekhiye, pehlewale dhun hai hi itni khubsurat ki agar younger generation ko naye format mein sunney ko mil rahe hai, then we’re just increasing the life of the song. And a lot of composers are doing a great job with all these songs. There is my recent release Bijuria, which is a re-release song. It’s still with Sonu Nigam, but it’s a new take. People are loving it. So it’s good to have old songs — as remake or reprise.

Earlier, the whole song used to get remixed, but now you have another composer coming in and adding a mukhda or a new verse in between.

That also works very well. Usse aap puranawala retain kar rahe hai aur abhi ka jo chal raha hai uss hisaab se bhi kuchh add kar rahe hai.

The Bijuria reprise was a special case because Sonu Nigam’s voice was retained. Did you exchange any notes with him since Bijuria was an independent song that he made big?

It is really a privilege to be a part of such an iconic song and especially with Sonu sir. We exchanged pleasantries after the release of the song. The female part is new. He really liked my take and we had a great time chatting about the song.

Your YouTube video for Ve Kamleya has 150K likes already. Even if your version is not used in a film, you can upload a video of yourself singing it. So it’s not a complete loss these days, right?

No song is ever a loss. It’s always a gain. It’s adding to my discography. People are loving it and there’s a separate fan base for that song, so it’s a win-win situation.

You are in Calcutta on the Myntra Glamfest tour. Do you change your setlist when you sing on campus from what you present for a mainstream audience?

Of course, I change my set list depending on what the concert is about. College and corporate shows have separate set lists. If it’s a Calcutta audience, I might add a Bengali song. I have sung one song, Piya re, with Jeet Gannguli sir. It’s a beautiful song.

How much do you focus on your appearance when you are appearing in front of a live audience?

See, it’s all about being confident in what you wear and being happy on stage. So if you’re wearing comfortable clothes you’re feeling confident in, it’s a win-win because you don’t have to keep thinking “Am I looking good”, or “Or is this suiting me?” So I always take care of what I’m wearing.

What would be your comfortwear when you are not on stage?

A nice T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

These days, a lot of songs in Hindi films have Punjabi lyrics. Does being a Punjabi give you an advantage?

Yeah, of course, because it’s very easy for me to understand the lyrics and emote them properly. So it really gets fun and exciting for me to sing in my own language. It gives me an edge over others.

Who is the most fun to record with in the music fraternity?

I think the most fun would be Tanishk Bagchi, because there are a lot of songs we have done and all the songs are big hits.

With audience attention span decreasing to 30-second Reels, is it a challenge to compose songs now?

Nobody makes three-and-half or four-minute songs any more. The duration has already decreased. Obviously this Reelwala thing has impacted the music industry, and we are coping with it. So now the songs are timed within two-and-a-half minutes, and there is a very catchy hook to attract the audience in 30 seconds. This is the scenario right now. There are very few people who are making four-minute songs. But a lot of composers still focus on making a great song. Pritamda always does justice to the script and whatever the director and the producer needs. Mithoon, too, is like that.

One of the Meet Bros had once told t2 that there are only two situations now where the audience actually listens to a song. One is on the dance floor and another is while driving. Do you agree?

Yeah, actually, because people are busy right now. And half the time, our generation is stuck in traffic. So that is the best time to absorb new music, listen to new artistes. That’s what we do in Mumbai.