On the day that singer-songwriter Raghav Meattle was busy gearing up for the Bacardi Weekender Happy at Home online music festival, he spoke to us from Mumbai about his brand new song City Life. Known for his soulful voice that will tug at your heartstrings and memorable lyrics that you are bound to remember, his latest song poignantly captures his relationship with the Maximum City. This is a song for all those who might feel slightly displaced in their city lives, struggling to belong and feel a little lost. Only a couple of days old and it has already garnered more than one lakh views on YouTube. “I felt there is no better time to release the song, as we all are taking this time to pause and think,” said Raghav, who spoke to us after winding up his day at 5.30 am! Here are the excerpts of the interview:
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Tell us the story behind the song, City Life?
City Life is about how we have ruined our cities. It is because we don’t really get time to think about things that matter. We are all running around in our busy lives where there is no time to stand and think. So I think this is a perfect time because people are getting time to do so. Hence, this was the best time to release it. The music video is also about all the hustle and how people are leading these broken lives. It is a rather pensive thought.
What is your songwriting process like? Do you write your own lyrics and compose your own tunes as well? City Life has beautiful lyrics by the way!
Thank you! My songwriting process is fairly simple. I write my own lyrics and then compose the tunes. I have been doing so for over ten years now.
How long did it take to shoot the video? It almost seems like an ode to Mumbai!
This music video was shot entirely on the reel - we had four minutes of reel which meant that we had to shoot a two-and-a-half-minute music video in four minutes! And there were no chances of retakes. It took us really long time to get those perfect shots. So when we did shoot a while ago, we would do it either late night or early morning. The video captures different parts of Mumbai and in a way, it is an ode to the city. Even though life is so hard in these cities, we still get attracted to it. Also, I think the sea in Mumbai is really beautiful and it inspires me to write.
What can your fans look forward to in the next few months?
I am also working on a Hindi song with a Hyderabad-based music producer Shor. Next week an interesting collaboration with a bunch of my musician friends - where we sing a cover of a Colonial Cousins song - is also set to come out!