All by herself: Singer-songwriter Kamakshi Khanna embarks on her first self-produced India tour

Earlier this year, singer/songwriter Kamakshi Khanna, unveiled her sophomore EP, Heartbreak 2020, which is an exploration of modern loneliness and heartbreak. She recently lent vocals to the song Tere Jaisa from the second season of Kota Factory and her singles Qareeb and Duur have made quite the buzz in music circles. Now, this talented artiste is all set to perform in Bengaluru as part of her eight-city Heartbreak 2020 India Tour. She has performed live across the country for almost 10 years now but this is her first self-produced tour, which makes it even more special. We get into a quick chat with Kamakshi to uncover what she has planned for her show in Bengaluru, the challenges she faced working on this self-produced tour and lots more…

You begin your eight-city tour in Bengaluru. What have you planned for the audience here?

The purpose of the tour is to promote and share my EP, Heartbreak 2020. Most of the songs are emotional and heart-felt. All the songs in the EP are the ones I had been working on for the past four years, which is why the name Heartbreak 2020. The songs that I released were raw and homegrown versions and I will be performing them live for the first time with my band. All the songs that I wrote during the lockdown and worked on, finally come to life in an orderly way, in a set that I’ve always wanted to play. I thought what better way to do it than to do my own tour and plan and go to as many cities that I can possibly go to.

How did the preparation or the idea for the tour begin?

The idea was always there. It was something that I really wanted to do for a long time, but I think I needed to have that confidence and this EP has given it to me. It has a concept, it has a flow and each song ties very well into the other in terms of the story. I want my entire set to be like that. There’s going to be a lot of storytelling and it’s going to be very narrative-driven. I am looking forward to meeting the people I have been sharing my music with because that kind of connection goes way longer than anything else.

What challenges did you face while working on the tour?

Firstly, it was the logistics. My manager and I went through all the cities that we really want to go to and called up various venues there. In Delhi and Mumbai, I would be doing a nine-piece set up and both the bands are different. So, it’s triple the number of rehearsals that I would otherwise do. There has been a lot of preparation and a lot of detail oriented work. But it was an amazing learning experience. It’s the first time I’m doing something like this independently, so I’ll be relying on ticket sales to make ends meet.

Most of your music is in English and Hindi. Do you plan on venturing out and exploring more languages?

I would love to. In fact, I recently sang my first Tamil song. It was a really great experience. I have sung in Punjabi a lot. Growing up, I learnt a lot of languages because our school had a music festival every year and each house had to learn a song in a different language. Since then my love for learning and listening to songs in different languages has been consistent.

What next, after the tour?

I’m actually going to be writing a lot of new music. Generally, I always have an answer for this question but right now, my plan is to be spontaneous with my art and write a lot. In the future, you can expect songs that are outside of my comfort zone as I want to push my boundaries and work on my skill set and just become a better songwriter and producer. I have a lot of collaborations lined up that I’m really excited to share.

INR 499 onwards. August 23, 8 pm. At Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, Koramangala.

Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com

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