How did Meherbani happen?
I did a scratch of Meherbani 6-7 months back. Music director Arko liked the way I infused Indian classical with western notes. He's a chilled out music director. When I met Arko, we connected immediately. He's also a singer-songwriter. We jammed together on our own compositions. Jam sessions are more constructive. In a meeting, there is a lot of ego involved but while jamming he was silently gauging my vocals while I was determining his music. We recorded in a humble environment in a matter of 30 minutes. He asked me to give different variations for different lines. I got a surprise later when I heard that Akshay Kumar wanted to use it in The Shaukeens. It was a dream come true since I've grown up watching his movies. Meherbani was supposed to be my debut song but Ek Mulaqat from Sonali Cable came out first. Music directors Amjad-Nadeem gave me complete freedom with it. The song's arrangement is rock and western, but the soul is ghazalana.

How did your musical journey begin?
My musical education started when I was a kid. My dad loved singing. He used to collect a lot of cassettes. He taught me a film song and liked the way I sang and that is where my musical interest began. I went to Welham Boys' boarding school in Dehradun where I had music as a subject. I ended up becoming the music captain. Back then too, I used to love being on stage. I am self-taught as far as instruments are concerned. I used to fiddle around with the guitar and piano. They were like toys for me at that age. The technicalities came at a later stage. Even today, I still play largely by ear.

Did you also train in Hindustani classical music?
It was a subject during my boards. I got interested in ragas then. My first teacher was Vandana in Dehradun. I travelled to Benaras to learn light classical from Chandulal Mishra since in my heart, I always wanted to be closest to it. Light classical fits beautifully with playback singing and world music. After school, I came straight to Mumbai and enrolled in Mithibai College as an 18-year-old. I was told Bollywood is in Mumbai and this is where you could take your music to a national level. I started taking classes from 2-3 gurus here. Approximately one year later, I was lucky enough to meet A R Rahman sir.

How did you meet A R Rahman?
I managed to get a 10-minute meeting with him through a chain of contacts. I still remember going with my mother to meet him in a studio's green room. I performed a song for him that I had written myself. He said that the tonal quality of my voice was still developing and suggested that I continue my vocal training with the same teacher. He said, 'Mumbai is not a place for raw material. It's a place for finished goods. I see a good future for you. If you try entering this line right now, your originality might get tampered.' I took his advice and spent four years learning music, travelling and jamming with different musicians. I trained in Indian classical and western vocals, and took a course at a music academy in Chennai where I had the opportunity to study under veteran guitarist Prasanna.

What are you currently working on?
I have sung and composed Hindi songs in various genres for an upcoming film by Rocky Khanna. I am born and brought up in Dehradun but I belong to a remote region called Jaunsar Bawar in the Himalayas. I want to bring the flavour of my local dialect Jaunsari into Bollywood, singing Jaunsari songs with a western touch, using local instruments like rubab and rannsingha (horn instrument).

What do you dream of doing?
I am already living my dream. I love what I do and I am doing what I love.