The ‘musical genius’ wants to swim against the currents of norms and trends to keep soulful music alive
Nishad Neelambaran (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 10, 2019)

A singer, composer and record producer, Amit Trivedi, is known for his soulful compositions and has always managed to win hearts with his performances. The music director, who has films such as Dev.D (2009), Udaan (2010), Queen (2014) and Udta Punjab (2016) and Manmarziyaan (2018), to his credit, will be performing at the upcoming OnePlus Music Festival. Though he remained tight-lipped about his views on the current trend of remixes and covers, he speaks about how budding musicians have become social media conscious, how melody is fading away in the music industry, and more. Excerpts:

How do you think has the digital world influenced the music industry?
I would say digitisation has done good, as well as, damaged the industry. The good part is that any talented musician sitting in any corner of the country, can now put up their work for the world to see. It has become that easy. And there are enough opportunities these days. We have seen a lot of examples of people becoming overnight sensations. This is the great advantage of the new era that we are living in now. The bad thing is that there is no filter. The biggest problem according to me, is that there is too much bombardment happening on these digital platforms.

Are you saying we are spoilt for choice today?
When I was a kid, we never had these many options. Whatever limited options radio and TV had to offer, we settled for it. Our choice during those days were to buy cassettes and later, CDs. We had to pick and choose back then. And now, everything is at our fingertips and we can just scroll. And this, after a point, is dangerous. Because we have so many choices, our attention span has reduced to just eight seconds. This is not great news for an artiste or the industry.

Do you think budding artistes are getting a bit too social media conscious nowadays?
Yes, I do think they are. And this is not a good thing at all. I suggest, they should all throw their phones away. I feel, people are getting addicted to their phones and they don’t realise how it affects them.

What do you think is the current state of music in India?
Musically, India is in a good space. The only thing I wish happened is, like we had Gangnam Style from South Korea, Despacito from Spain, the singers have come from different parts of the world and become global icons. But I feel, nothing from India is meeting that global standard. I don’t know what the reason is. But I want that to happen and I will do it one day.

Do you think melody is fading out from songs today?
Yes, I do think it is fading out. I don’t know the reason and I am also searching for it. But I can guarantee you that I won’t let it fade.

How would you say you have evolved as an artiste?
It has been a roller-coaster ride. Evolving is a wonderful process and I have learnt a lot. Till date, I am learning and I still feel like a beginner. Even now, when I go for a film briefing and when a situation is presented to me, I still go blank and eventually, take baby steps and reach there. Musically, I think, I am only getting better by the day. I have evolved as an individual. One big thing is that I am now able to talk during interviews. I am better at handling stress now.

Tell us about your participation in the upcoming OnePlus Music Festival?
The first reason for me to agree was that Katy Perry and Dua Lipa are performing at the event and I am huge fan of both of them. They do some great production during their concerts. Secondly, I was very excited that I was getting to be a part of the same event. We are dealing with different genres at this festival. I am doing my regular one hour set. However, this time we are doing it completely live. We have done tracks before but not this time. I don’t want to reveal the songs but it will be a combination of fan favourites and some of my personal ones, too.