Believe it or not, this songwriter and singer who studied math and economics at New York University and created a stir with his first EP, the self-titled ‘Prateek Kuhad’, and ‘Raat Raazi’ in 2013 never thought that music would be a full-time career for him. He always conceived it as a passion and something he would indulge in as a hobby.
“Then one thing led to another, and the more I immersed myself in music and wrote songs, the more I realized how much I loved it. After finishing college, I decided to give it a shot in India, thinking I would give it a year and see how it goes. If things went well — I would keep doing it. And then… I never looked back,” Prateek Kuhad, best known for his album ‘Cold/Mess’ (2019), tells IANS.
As he gets set to release his latest single ‘I’m Someone New’ and perform in 10 Indian cities, Kuhad, who learned to play the guitar at age 16 and started writing songs soon after, says that his latest single was written earlier this year over two different sessions in New York with producer and writer Greg Wattenberg.
“Working with Greg was an incredible experience. We wrote the song together and then produced it. It is about the transformative power of love and how it can intensely change a person. Considering it is a single, we wanted to create a different experience for our fans, other than the usual music video. So, we recently shot a live version of the song, and my entire band performed. We wanted to give a glimpse of the song at the tour this year; it is part of my setlist,” says the Jaipur-born Kuhad.
Reflecting on his past, Kuhad smiles when asked to compare the time when his first album was released to the present. He recalls that when he started, the independent music culture in India was not as big, and even the concert culture was quite limited. Today, an entire ecosystem thrives.
“The fact that I get to perform in countries across the globe, and the audience is always receptive is extremely rewarding. It has been a great decade of putting out and writing music, and I am honestly excited for the next decade now.”
Kuhad stresses that performing live has always promised a peculiar high. He fondly remembers his last long tour in India in 2022 and is excited to get back on the road, visiting cities like Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Jaipur, Guwahati, Kolkata, Indore, Ahmedabad, and Pune this time.
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“It is always an enriching experience visiting different states and meeting people across India. There is so much to take away each time. Performing live, one is an unfiltered, raw, and honest self to the audience. I believe the audience has also evolved over the past few years; they recognize the effort and reciprocate. The energy at my concerts is pure, and there is always warmth,” he adds.
Having also worked on film projects like ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’ and ‘Karwaan’, Kuhad admits that his focus is currently on his own projects. “Frankly, it is never about the medium as I enjoy writing songs that are personal to me. I have enjoyed the movie projects I did and am happy to do more, but surely writing music for myself gets preference in the scheme of things.”
Giving his hit album ‘Cold/Mess’ a “fair amount” of credit for his popularity, Kuhad acknowledges that his career has been built over the years through diverse elements. “A lot of touring, and different songs that, while maybe not as big as ‘Cold/Mess, have been important. Take, for instance, ‘Tum Jab Paas,’ ‘Tune Kaha,’ and ‘Oh Love,’ these are tracks that built my community and fan base in small ways. But they did,” he stresses.
Currently residing in Los Angeles and working with musicians based there, Kuhad is focused on writing songs for his next album and hopes to have it ready for release this year. “But no promises — I’m still working on it, and we will see how it goes. Besides that, there’s ‘The Silhouettes Tour’ happening. This year is all about touring. The US and Canada are done. There is Australia, Europe, the UK, Singapore, Dubai, and then India,” concludes the first Indian artist to be signed by the American record label Elektra Records in 2020.
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