"Every artiste has a distinct flavour; you could call it their essence. If they are true to themselves, it won’t be difficult to make songs that are different from each other,” shares Pitampura-based musician Udbhav Acharya, who goes by his first name.
For the 24-year-old, music is a way to cope with the loneliness of being a single child. Having been introduced to various genres by his father, Udbhav—he is also part of the artist trio Teesri Duniya—has been creating music that he feels is a reflection of the “intense phase of transformation and spiritual evolution” that people his age go through.
Udbhav’s latest EP Milansaar is about a ‘protagonist’ who is accepting themselves and their place in the grand scheme of things. This EP can be called a musical amalgamation, blending genres including rap, hip hop, and flamenco music with melodious bandish (composition) and heartfelt lyrics.
In this week’s Soundscape, we speak to Udbhav about the making of this EP, his inspiration, songwriting process, and more. Excerpts…
Are there any artistes who have inspired your current EP?
The project is a nostalgia trip for me. I grew up listening to a lot of music of the early 2000s—Rishi Rich, Pharrell Williams as well as AR Rahman and YoYo Honey Singh from India. The 2000s sound, I feel, is classic and I wanted to bring it back. It is a reflection of my childhood.
How would you describe your songwriting process?
I make the music first, it is what comes to me most naturally and drives my creative process. I try to make it talk. I write the words that the music would want to say. The tune and lyrics come hand in hand.
While it can be said that your main genre in music is hip hop, it blends with traditional Indian music. Is this your way of talking about your roots?
There are certain elements of hip hop that I incorporate in my music. It sounds so cool; it makes me feel bigger and stronger than I really am. The beats and the unapologetic vibe of hip hop have always been strangely attractive to me. Guitars and Hindi tunes, you could say, are universal elements of modern music. There are no melodies like Indian melodies. It is my way of creating the next generation of Hindi music, while also keeping it appealing to an international audience.
In comparison to the other three songs, Sangam is melodious and almost spiritual. Tell us about composing it.
A big part of the creation of Sangam is Rashim Anand [singer-songwriter]. She sang a Bhimpalasi raag-based bandish to me sometime back. While making the music for ‘Sangam’, I felt it would be the perfect place for that bandish. I called her up at 4am, begging her to send a recording of it to me. She did, and when I put it together, I was floored. For a few hours I just kept listening to it on repeat. I also got in touch with Sitarsnub [musician]. He recorded and sent me his sitar [compositions], and the song was birthed.
The songs have pure Hindi/Sanskrit lyrics along with a few Urdu/English words added seamlessly. How easy/difficult is it to be multilingual in an album that already plays with multiple tunes?
No matter how much of a purist someone is, I doubt we’d have people in our generation who could speak one language perfectly and fluently. I’d say it’s just my flavour; the kind of person I am. Most of us are, I’d say. Someone told me the other day that I rhymed “ashcharyachakit” with “futuristic”. I had not given it much thought before this and realised it’s kind of cool.
Any new projects in the pipeline?
I am focused on an album with my crew Teesri Duniya. I have a lot of songs; I just don’t know how to put them out. This year seems exciting.
‘Milansaar’ EP by Udbhav is streaming on all leading music platforms
EP - Milansaar
Artist - Udbhav