One is at his raw best during a live performance: Prateek Kuhad

Prateek Kuhad

Believe it or not, this songwriter and singer who studied math and economics at New York University and created a stir with his first EP, the self-titled ‘Prateek Kuhad', and ‘Raat Raazi' in 2013 never thought that music would be a full-time career for him.

He always conceived it as a passion and something he would indulge in as a hobby.

"Then one thing led to another, and the more I immersed myself in music and wrote songs, the more I realised how much I loved it. After finishing college, I decided to give it a shot in India, thinking I would give it a year and see how it goes. If things went well -- I would keep doing it. And then... I never looked back," Prateek Kuhad, best known for his album ‘Cold/Mess' (2019) tells IANS.

As he gets set to perform in 10 Indian cities, Kuhad, who learnt to play the guitar at age 16 and started writing songs soon, says that his latest single ‘I'm Someone New' was written earlier this year over two different sessions in New York with producer and writer Greg Wattenberg.

"Working with Greg was an incredible experience. We wrote the song together and then produced it. It is about the transformative power of love and how it can intensely change a person. Considering it is a single, we wanted to create a different experience for our fans, other than the usual music video. So, we recently shot a live version of the song, and my entire band performed. We wanted to give a glimpse of the song at the tour this year, it is part of my setlist," says the Jaipur-born Kuhad.

Ask him to rewind when his first album was released and compare it with current times, and the singer smiles that it has been a great decade of putting out music.

Recalling that when he started, the independent music culture in India was not this big, and even the concert culture was quite limited, he adds: "Today, an entire ecosystem thrives. The fact that I get to perform in countries across the globe, and the audience is always receptive is extremely rewarding. It has been a great decade of putting out and writing music, and I am honestly excited for the next decade now."

Stressing that performing live has always promised a peculiar high, the singer-songwriter remembers his last long tour in India in the year 2022.

Adding that he is excited to get back and will be performing in several cities including Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Jaipur, Guwahati, Kolkata, Indore, Ahmedabad, and Pune this time.

He says: "It is always an enriching experience visiting different states and meeting people across India. There is so much to take away each time. Performing live, one is unfiltered, raw, and honest self to the audience. I believe the audience has also evolved over the past few years; they recognise the effort and reciprocate. The energy at my concerts is pure, and there is always warmth."

The songwriter and singer who has also worked on film projects like ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan' and ‘Karwaan' admits that right now, his focus is on his own projects.

"Frankly, it is never about the medium as I enjoy writing songs that are personal to me. I have enjoyed the movie projects I did and am happy to do more, but surely writing music for myself gets preference in the scheme of things."

Giving ‘Cold/Mess' one of his biggest hits a "fair amount" of credit to his popularity, he feels his career has been built over the years through diverse elements.

"A lot of touring, and different songs that, while maybe not as big as cold/mess have been important. Take for instance, ‘Tum Jab Paas', ‘Tune Kaha' and ‘Oh Love' are tracks that built my community and fan base in small ways. But they did," he stresses.

Currently in Los Angeles and working with musicians based here, he is trying to write songs to pick from for the next album and hopefully get it ready for release this year.

"But no promises - I'm still working on it, and we will see how it goes. Besides that, there's ‘The Silhouettes Tour' happening. This year is all about touring. The US and Canada are done. There is Australia, Europe, the UK, Singapore, Dubai, and then India," concludes the first Indian artist to be signed by the American record label Elektra Records in 2020.

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