Shaan EXPLODES: Singers Today Don’t Have Singing Sensibilities!

For more than a decade,Shaan has entertained us with songs like Chand Sifarish (Fanaa), Suno Na (Jhankaar Beats) and the man needs no introduction. A few days ago, he released his single Surili, which features Preetika Rao. In a candid interview with SpotboyE.com, Shaan talks about his YouTube channel, kids and lots more...

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Shaan EXPLODES: Singers Today Don’t Have Singing Sensibilities!

You started off with your YouTube channel quite late....
A few months ago, I released my own YouTube channel. I know it’s a bit late in the day because most of the musicians not only have a channel but also many subscribers. I was stuck in an old school thought, but nonetheless better late than never. I released a couple of songs on my channel, one of them was a peppy number and the other was for a social cause. My fans loved both the songs but they kept asking me to come up with a melodious number and that’s how Surili came up.

Tell us something about your single Surili...
Surili was made in about a week’s time. After recording the track, I relaxed for a few days and thought ‘video toh bana denge’! Days passed and I realized that my deadline was just a few days away and that’s when I called my friend Iqbal Rizvi who helped me shoot the video. Since I wanted an innocent face for the video, I thought Preetika Rao would be the right face.


 Shaan qoutes


The video has got over 3 million views till date...
I am extremely happy that Surili is getting great feedback from the fans. A lot of music companies get 3 million in a matter of a day but I think for a new channel like mine, I am quite happy with the response. (pauses)

shaan qoutes


Go on...
I get quite sacred of the dislike button but fortunately I have only got 70-80 thumbs down till now, so yes I am thrilled. Anyway I feel, today we do not have many original songs. Whatever views I have got, is solely because of the content that has been created. Post releasing this video one thing is quite clear that it is not a mandate to have a hook line or an ultra glamorous video for the song to work. If you make a good melody with meaningful lyrics, people will love your song. I performed the song in a small town like Humpy and people were singing along, so yes they have heard the track.

shaan qoutes


Sonu Nigam, once in an interview said that, back then, a song would be a hit or flop according to the number of CDs or cassettes it sold unlike now, when the views on YouTube can be bought...
I think views should not be the only yardstick because that will not help people remember your song line-by-line. At the end of the day, the number of views is more of an ego boaster. There are times when despite getting the highest number of views -- when you perform the song, people can’t even sing two lines from it. At times, I go through the comments and likes of these songs do not match the numbers. Very often I come across with people from foreign countries commenting on these tracks and that too with Hindi words. If you go by their names, they have nothing to do with Bollywood but they have, Hindi words in their comments. Ek do ho toh I can still ignore, but this is a pattern which is seen quite often. I agree with Sonuji that if there is someone who has bought a song investing his/her money, there is a value to it.

shaan qoutes


Coming back to Bollywood, it is said, that the industry does not like voices that understand playback. What do you think?
I would say the singers today lack singing sensibilities. When we recorded a song, we would try and understand various aspects including the actor who is going to lip-sync the track, his energy, when is the song coming in the film and only then we would record the song. Now, the singer just sings a song, adds a few elements here and there and the track works.

Your son Shubh made a singing debut last year. Do you mind if your kids (Soham and Shubh) take up music as a profession?
Both my sons sing very well but I ask them to think music as a hobby and not as a profession. The more you talk about the professional aspects, the more calculative you get.

 

Image Source: Instagram/shaanmusic