Stebin Ben is all set to have his first concert in Mumbai this month, and the singer is buzzing with excitement. “I feel Mumbai is the place where it takes the longest time for an artiste to pick up,” he says, adding, “I have performed big concerts as an opening artiste, but for the first time, people will be coming for me. So the feeling would be different.”

Ask why the long wait, and the 32-year-old shares, “I wanted to perform in Mumbai only when I could offer something different. I wanted to prepare something special for the audience where opportunity met preparation.”

Stebin’s voice is often compared to Pakistani singer Atif Aslam, and he has been accused of trying to copy him. How does he deal with it? “If someone says it in a supportive way that your voice matches his and we love it, that’s fine. But when they say it in a negative angle, like ‘he’s copying Atif’, I don’t understand that because you cannot copy a voice. It is something you are blessed with, and it’s on you how you polish it and take it forward,” he says.