By Smriti Singh
New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) Singer, songwriter Prateek Kuhad, who will be doing house gigs to promote his latest album "EP cold /mess" next month, says he prefers performing for a small group of people rather than for thousands of people at a large venue.
The singer rose to fame with the song "Kho gaye" from the movie "Baar Baar Dekho", released "EP cold/mess" earlier this month as part of Saavn's Artist Originals. Kuhad chose to launch the album in an unconventional way by keeping it fan-centric, and with house gigs across India, he is attempting something new.
Kuhad told IANS in an email interview: "I was quite keen on house gigs actually because that's my favourite way to perform shows. I would much rather play for an intimate set to 20 people in a room than to a thousand people in a large venue with a complicated sound setup. Sometimes it's nice to keep things simple."
The songs in his album tell a story in itself, and he calls it his "most genuine" work. However, he didn't reveal the real story behind the lyrics, even though each song is fused to convey a very specific and personal emotion.
Kuhad said: "So far it is possibly the most honest bit of song writing I have done. I think they are quite self-explanatory and also a little too personal for me to spell it out just like that."
The singer hails from Rajasthan and went on to study Maths and Economics at the New York University. However, he decided to pursue his career in music after completing his studies.
"After graduating, I started working at this consulting firm where the work environment was very toxic and I think it burnt me out very quickly so I decided to move back to India and give music a shot", said Kuhad, who has also written and sung songs in the upcoming movie "Karwaan", which stars Irrfan Khan.
On his experience, Kuhad said: "Experientially, it was mostly the same I feel as writing songs in general. The only difference is I had a bit of a pitch. I read through the script a couple of times to understand the vibe and characters properly. Akarsh Khurana, the director, explained to me the situations and what he was trying to go for."
How does he go about choosing projects in Bollywood?
The "Tum jab paas" singer said: "When someone reaches out to me to write for a project and if I feel like I can do justice to that project, I will do it. I enjoy writing songs which is why I do this. It's irrelevant where the said project is coming from."
Kuhad believes he is a professional when it comes to music and his song writing abilities. He was awarded the Best Pop Artist Award at the Radio City Freedom Awards 2018, The Indian Indie Album of the Year 2015 and The Best India Act at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards.
What keeps him going?
"I guess small things," said the singer, who feels while there are days of self-doubt, having a supportive family and friends helps.
"A little encouragement here and there from people you respect, a little bit of love from the fans, moral support from friends and family and a small amount of belief in myself I guess - you know, a bit of everything," he added.
Everyone goes through a bit of struggle to make a name. What's his story?
"I don't know about struggles. I mean there are days when you have a lot of self-doubts, and I still do. I guess for me that has been hard to deal with but that being said, I really have nothing to complain about. I've been doing what I love doing and actually making a living off it. I am mostly grateful."
(Smriti Singh is an intern at IANS. She can be contacted at smriti.singh20180@gmail.com)
