Life & Live, Interview with singer Shibani Kashyap

Interview questions by Rajeshwari Agrawal and Sukiran Singh

Shibani Kashyap is a wonderful, kind person to talk to, and of course a great talent in Indian Music. Here's our Full Interview with her.

Rajeshwari (R): How was it growing up in Delhi?

Shibani (S): Not only in Delhi really, I am an army officer’s daughter, so I have actually travelled all over India. My childhood was in Kashmir. As a little girl, I had studied and lived in Srinagar. Actually before Srinagar, there was a place called Banihal. It’s a small little village and an army cantonment area; we use to live in a wooden cottage. For the heating system, we had those bukharis and all the women use to keep them under their shawls to keep themselves warm, and it was a lovely place. And just after Banihal, there’s India’s longest tunnel, 70km long, the Jawahar tunnel, which used to connects Banihal to Srinagar. So I use to live there and travel all over Kashmir through it, be it Zarina, Patnitop, Baramula, or Gulmarg. I remember, few hundred kilometres away from Banihal, we had this beautiful temple with a fish pond, where you could only see fish and not even the water.

I don’t know what’s the situation right now; I haven’t been there since long.

R: So how long have you been staying in Mumbai then?

S: I have been living in Mumbai ever since I got married. Before that, I use to shuffle between Delhi and Mumbai, so since 2013, I’ve been living in Mumbai.

R: One thing for each- what do you love the most, hate the most and are terrified of the most? Could be a person or a commodity.

S: Love: Ok, my guitar.

Hate: I hate lies and fake people.

Terrified: Snakes.

R: Was anyone involved in music from your family?

S: My mother is a classically trained musician and a singer and she did take it up as a profession but as an educationalist, although, she taught me first in classical, then of course she put me up through various gurus. I am still learning, still training. I did the best in classical music from the Delhi School of Music.

R: Which era of music do you prefer the most? And who are your muses in the singing world?

S: The era of music, I would say right from the 60’s, the 70’s, and from the 80’s to the 90’s. I think from the late 90’s and early 2000, music became a bit confused all over the world.

My muses are people like The Beatles, Eagles, and that kind of music; melodic with organic sound, and some songs that give out a message - some cryptic and some with very obvious messages; that type of music is missing now. Now music has become very mechanical and robotic and I think the new age music can be fused with melody, but the melody is missing. There is not much happening in Bollywood, but there is this thing called item or the club or the party number, which is completely mind-lead.

R: Who are your muses in the singing world?

S: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Asha Bhosle , R.D.Burman…

R: Where do you find your inspiration? And which legendary Sufi Singer or poet influenced you the most?

S: It could be a situation, it could be a place, it could be the weather, the mood, it could be a feeling, or could be anything. But yes, if I am sitting with my guitar and I am strumming all by myself, that’s where I am inspired the most.

S: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parvin and I love poetries of Bulleh Shah, poetry of Firaq, Majas. I have heard a lot of Majas, because one of my very close friends, Murad Ali, has really opened my mind, heart and soul to this kind of music. He actually told me that he is going to take me to the dargah and listen to some nice kawalis, which was many many years back, in 1999. Till then, I had just come out with an album ‘Ho Gayi Hai Mohabbat’, which was very up-tempo (it’s still of course and people love it), but I was not exposed to these kind of music. In 1999, he took to me to dargah in Nizmuddin and whenever possible, we would go together to listen to the kawalis, sitting on the parapet… very soulful. A lot of people say that Islam doesn’t promote music, but that’s not the case. Some of the best music comes from there and their poetry. So then, he introduced me to Abida ji, when she was recording an album for Muzaffar Ali. He was directing in fact. I used to sit near her feet and listen to her sing and I made her my guru. I know it’s a very difficult state to achieve, but slowly as you sing and go on stage and you are performing, you get connected to the Almighty, and your music becomes divine.

R: Tell us the sensation you felt, when you entered the recording booth for first time?

S: There was a studio called Ad Camp; when I entered for the first time, there was Shankar of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. He was the one who recorded me. The first thing I thought was that - How will I reach the mike, it was too high for me. There is a lot when one learns, but I was very very nervous, like shaky nervous.

R: How does it feel to perform live in front of a crowd? And describe your first experience of singing live?

S: Always like my second home! I feel it very empowering, exciting, and engaging with the audience, which is something I love. For me, live performance is heavenly.

My first experience of singing live was not performing live like Shibani Kashyap, but it was when I was participating in an all India vocal singing competition and even though I came first, (I don’t know how I came first, astonishing then), I sat on the seat with my eyes shut as I could not bear to look at the people as I was nervous. And I remember, the judges were Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh, and I had my eyes shut while singing.

R: Did you ever face a negative crowd? How do you deal with negativity?

S: Too many times. That’s the part of the game, of course. Initially, whilst first seeing the negative crowd, you want to walk off. But, the whole idea is, if you believe in yourself, and do your thing and try, you can win them over with music, so that’s the attempt I always try -to win them over by music and not by shouting on the mike saying ‘come on, shut up!’.

R: Is there a major difference between the audiences you have performed live in India and Abroad?

S: Not really. Everywhere it’s the same energy, the taste varies sometimes but I feel proud whenever I get recognised that I am from India, per say, when I performed at Commonwealth games. There were 63000 people; It is my biggest performance till date in terms of number. Then Mauritius, on their Independence Day celebration, I had gone as a part of the president’s contingent and there also it was fantastic and amazing. The stadium was full with a lot of Mauritians.

Only if the current song is popular, they will turn up and judge you! So here, I feel the audience is prejudice. But again, if your performance is great, if you get a chance, then the audience becomes very determinant and intelligent.

R: You recently did a concert with Rabbi Shergill and other artists. Would you ever want to collaborate with Rabbi, for an album or a single?

S: Rabbi is one of my dearest friend and we have done an eight - city tour, that’s when I became even closer to him as a person, as a musician; I really relate and I connect with him, more than any other musicians because he is a very soulful and a sensitive human being, a sensitive artist and of course he is strict to his drum. He is a very non-compromising artist. I would really love to do a collaboration, for a simple reason that he relates to his music and I think, he really needs to make a come back. My request to him is come and make a move to Bombay, but he does not want to leave Delhi. See, soulful music is always in demand, one just needs to modernise it and not change themselves to new trends.

R: So, you did this really peppy number called “Soneya” with Mika Singh. How was it working with him?

S: He, again, is a very dear friend. He is too funny! He is a very wacky guy, as in he has got a great sense of humour. It was great working with him. Interestingly, he was done with the vocal within half-an-hour to 40 minutes. So he is really quick and is extremely talented and of course, shooting with him was super fun!

R: How was your transformation from Hindi to Punjabi? Was it difficult for you?

S: I am a Punjabi, it’s just that I never attempted to sing in Punjabi; so as my first attempt, I think it has come to be a very handy.

R. With all the ‘liquor-pop’ coming into India suddenly, what is the future of Indie or Sufi music?

S: I think that can not decease the popularity or the demand, as they (Indie or Sufi) are eternal, but all this liquor-pop are kind of songs that are three months wonder or max six months wonder. I don’t think any body would want to listen to such songs for a long drive or just sitting at home. But yes, if you are in the mood of dancing, then you listen to mindless music, because you are just dancing! So, that kind of music also has its own place.

R: We’ve never heard of any derogatory lyrics from you. But there’s a trend of duality in lyrics these days. What do you have to say about this?

S: I would not comment because, you know, sometimes those kind of lyrics are needed for a particular situation. So you can’t just stop that, maybe because that’s something people would relate to. Also, I mean, that’s the trend. I have never tried it personally though I sang a song for Rakhi Sawant called “Bhoot Chad Gaya Re” once, but I don’t think it was derogatory; it was a fun type except, there was a word we used called “Kaminey”. I would never do an aggressive song. It suited her personality and the swag that she has.

R: Tell us about your experience about winning a national award?

S: I won’t say that I won the award totally.. as it was an award for the film “1971” which we all got, as a team - I sang the title track of the film so I got awarded for that, Manoj Bajpai for his acting and of course, the director Amrit Sagar and his brother Akash Sagar. It’s a great honour winning a national award!

R: You sang this song for Pakistani serial. Do you think this kind of initiatives bridges the gap between both the nations?

S: I have sang for many Pakistani serials.

Yes I think! The only unfortunate thing is that, they don’t get visa to come down here and we also think twice before taking a flight and going all the way to Pakistan because of the you know, safety issues. But, because of the technology, the gap is bridged. So, Skype is how I record with them and on Skype ,they teach me the song and then I record my vocal in a recording studio here and email it to them.

R: It must be old Urdu, right?

S: Yeah.

R: So how do you manage?

S: My grandparents are from Pakistan; so our accent, our language is Urdu Punjabi. So, Urdu is my heritage.

R: What is your individual style of Fashion?

S: I like bright colours and I like to experiment, I like to wear gowns and dresses and something fusion, maybe the “Lehenga” with the crop-top or maybe like a jumpsuit. I like to experiment with the types of clothing, but it’s mostly bright in colour and bohemian in style as its in trend.

R: What are upcoming projects?

S: Ok, so there is a horror film coming up called “Shrap” and the shooting is on right now. And then, I am working on my album, which is going to take time, and the whole concept is to revive Indie Pop, where I would also be featuring artists like Indian Ocean. I’ve spoken to all of them, but we haven’t started the actual work yet. Apart from that, I am working on the covers, singles, currently doing a beautiful jazz popular song called “Ajeeb Dasata Hai Yeh”.

R: Let’s talk politics. What made you join BJP? And what are your political aspirations?

S: I didn’t really join BJP, I was invited to launch their online membership drive because I am from Delhi and I am a popular face in Delhi, and they wanted a popular face in Delhi to actually launch it so that we could encourage others to become members with BJP. Then Rajnathji formally invited me to become a member, but I am not an active working member or anything. I do like the online thing because BJP is really strong on social media, and hence once in a while, I keep tweeting about issues and social causes. That’s how I work.

R: Are there any political aspirations or anything?

S: No, not at all. Because what is on the task, is my academy which starts next year, I don’t think I have time for politics. All the time I have, I want to teach music with difference, you know, so that will be my focus and of course, my music and my singing.

R: So you are only focusing on the Indian classical?

S: No, because I am not a purist musician, I don’t really believe in that because music should have no boundaries and should count out all barriers and not limit you to one thing. So it will basically be an academy for performing and how to set yourself through your music, the art of performing live.

R: Do we see Ms. Shibani Kashyap as a big political name in the next 20 years?

S: You never know! Never say never, lets see…