Powerhouse singer KK opens up about music, its changing world and future plans
Priya Sugathan (BOMBAY TIMES; March 4, 2016)
His reputation as a singer is as formidable as the fact that he is elusive. Not this time though. We manage to catch up with Krishna Kumar Kunnath aka KK in his studio, a place that's bursting in colours - vivid and muted in turns. Just like the singer, whose self-effacing demeanour can transform completely behind the mic or on stage. Completing 20 years in the industry, the 46-year-old says that he wants to explore more, even as he watches his son Nakul (21) and daughter Taamara (17) unleash their musical genes in their own studios. Looking back at his journey from Delhi to Mumbai, KK gets candid about life in the music lane...
Two of your songs have caught on well - Yeh Nasha (Rhythm) and Tu Bhoola Jise (Airlift). Why do we not hear you singing more often now?
In the 20 years that I've been in the industry, I must have hardly done 10-15 songs in a year. I like to pace out my songs. I haven't consciously done anything to reduce my work. I do travel a lot for my shows though - it could be for 15-20 days a month. When I came in to the industry, there were only a handful of artistes. But the playfield is huge now. If you think of it that way, the workload obviously reduces for everybody. So if I was doing 10 songs earlier, I may be doing five now (laughs).
But don't you think the entry of new singers has also put seniors at a disadvantage?
There's a reason they are there. The old always makes way for the new. Besides, music is a universal space, where everyone can co-exist peacefully. If you go abroad, Billy Joel shows sell out fast, even when there are new singers like Adele now. That's how life is - when I came to the industry, there was someone else moving out.
Does live performance come easier to you, compared to recording in a studio?
I expend a lot more energy in recording a song than at a show. It's like food - doing a gig is like eating and having a party, but recording is like cooking, where you're putting all things together and the ingredients need to be right. My wife Jyoti tells me that I come from the studio more tired than I do after a show. I don't take on shows for more than three consecutive days. More shows are often taken up for money or out of insecurity. And the word 'insecurity' has never been a part of my dictionary. God has been kind enough to not overload me with a lot of work.
You don't have formal training and yet you came into your own with a difficult song like Tadap Tadap Ke from the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
From the beginning, I was able to earn a song by just hearing, it is something that I've been blessed with. My father was very fond of music, my mum was a performer and her mother was a music teacher. So I think all that has passed on to me. My teachers told my dad to put me in a music school, so I went to one for exactly two days. I later learnt that Kishoreda had never learnt music, so I had even more reasons to not go to a music class.
Do you now regret not learning classical singing?
I have friends and colleagues who are into classical singing, but I don't feel any less for not having learnt it. Maybe I can't do the alaaps, but I am called to do light classical. In fact, when I first heard Tadap Tadap, it was a completely different song for a rocker boy like me. It made me delve within me. Another factor was that Ismail saab (Darbar) and Mehboob had a lot of faith in me as a singer. Today, when I do shows, there's not been a single concert where I have not sung this cult song.
What do you think of actors turning singers?
Some of them can hold a note.
Like?
Farhan (Akhtar) is a good singer. He's got an unconventional voice. If an actor who can sing wants to have a go at it, he must. Irrespective of sycophants, he will realise it sooner or later if he is cut out for it or not.
What about singers turning actors?
Shekhar (Ravjiani) did a good job recently. If an actor can try singing, then why can't singers try acting?
Would you?
No. I'm good behind the mic.
Which actor do you think is best suited for your voice?
I have never understood how my voice can suit anybody. I just go and sing my song - whether it's Tu Jo Mila (Bajrangi Bhaijaan) or Ajab Si (Om Shanti Om), Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai (Gangster) or Ding Dong (Kucch Toh Hai), or Awarapan (Jism) or Alvida (Life in a Metro) - there's never been a conscious decision to sound like anybody else.
What are you listening to now?
A lot of silence. My father passed away last month, so I've been in a different frame of mind. I am listening to a little bit of classical now and it helps me calm down. Also, I am trying to work on my own album - not exactly an album, but on some material that I am writing. I feel that what I have done till now is just a little bubble in the music world. This feeling has been there for some years, but it's leading to something definite now (smiles).
Two of your songs have caught on well - Yeh Nasha (Rhythm) and Tu Bhoola Jise (Airlift). Why do we not hear you singing more often now?
In the 20 years that I've been in the industry, I must have hardly done 10-15 songs in a year. I like to pace out my songs. I haven't consciously done anything to reduce my work. I do travel a lot for my shows though - it could be for 15-20 days a month. When I came in to the industry, there were only a handful of artistes. But the playfield is huge now. If you think of it that way, the workload obviously reduces for everybody. So if I was doing 10 songs earlier, I may be doing five now (laughs).
But don't you think the entry of new singers has also put seniors at a disadvantage?
There's a reason they are there. The old always makes way for the new. Besides, music is a universal space, where everyone can co-exist peacefully. If you go abroad, Billy Joel shows sell out fast, even when there are new singers like Adele now. That's how life is - when I came to the industry, there was someone else moving out.
Does live performance come easier to you, compared to recording in a studio?
I expend a lot more energy in recording a song than at a show. It's like food - doing a gig is like eating and having a party, but recording is like cooking, where you're putting all things together and the ingredients need to be right. My wife Jyoti tells me that I come from the studio more tired than I do after a show. I don't take on shows for more than three consecutive days. More shows are often taken up for money or out of insecurity. And the word 'insecurity' has never been a part of my dictionary. God has been kind enough to not overload me with a lot of work.
You don't have formal training and yet you came into your own with a difficult song like Tadap Tadap Ke from the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
From the beginning, I was able to earn a song by just hearing, it is something that I've been blessed with. My father was very fond of music, my mum was a performer and her mother was a music teacher. So I think all that has passed on to me. My teachers told my dad to put me in a music school, so I went to one for exactly two days. I later learnt that Kishoreda had never learnt music, so I had even more reasons to not go to a music class.
Do you now regret not learning classical singing?
I have friends and colleagues who are into classical singing, but I don't feel any less for not having learnt it. Maybe I can't do the alaaps, but I am called to do light classical. In fact, when I first heard Tadap Tadap, it was a completely different song for a rocker boy like me. It made me delve within me. Another factor was that Ismail saab (Darbar) and Mehboob had a lot of faith in me as a singer. Today, when I do shows, there's not been a single concert where I have not sung this cult song.
What do you think of actors turning singers?
Some of them can hold a note.
Like?
Farhan (Akhtar) is a good singer. He's got an unconventional voice. If an actor who can sing wants to have a go at it, he must. Irrespective of sycophants, he will realise it sooner or later if he is cut out for it or not.
What about singers turning actors?
Shekhar (Ravjiani) did a good job recently. If an actor can try singing, then why can't singers try acting?
Would you?
No. I'm good behind the mic.
Which actor do you think is best suited for your voice?
I have never understood how my voice can suit anybody. I just go and sing my song - whether it's Tu Jo Mila (Bajrangi Bhaijaan) or Ajab Si (Om Shanti Om), Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai (Gangster) or Ding Dong (Kucch Toh Hai), or Awarapan (Jism) or Alvida (Life in a Metro) - there's never been a conscious decision to sound like anybody else.
What are you listening to now?
A lot of silence. My father passed away last month, so I've been in a different frame of mind. I am listening to a little bit of classical now and it helps me calm down. Also, I am trying to work on my own album - not exactly an album, but on some material that I am writing. I feel that what I have done till now is just a little bubble in the music world. This feeling has been there for some years, but it's leading to something definite now (smiles).