Shalabh Independent Artist Releasing His New Single “Reboot” Soon

Shalabh is an independent artist and releasing new single “Reboot” soon.

Shalabh says,

My new single is called ‘Reboot’. I conceptualized this over a decade ago and got around to completing it only now. This is a song that stuck with me all these years and a few friends brought it up – as they recalled me doodling on my guitar all those years back. The fact that they still remembered a song after so many years and wanted me to do a full-fledged production- inspired me to work on it.

Not only that- the song is about how we as people, due to our excesses, have overexploited the planet. No other time is as relevant as this time when we are witnessing the impact of the absence of usual human activities on the World around us. We probably don’t need all that we consume. The greed, the loot, the exploitation, the destruction has to go. We need to Reboot the world.

This is a modern rock ‘anthem’ – with melodic guitar solos, loads of attitude, and sung/written with a lot of heart. The audience who love good lyrics will get a pleasant dose of lyrical goodness. The surprise element is the use of Sanskrit shlokas infused with English lyrics. That is something very unique and how the two elements gel together in a guitar-heavy rock song.

Please tell us a little about yourself:
I am a dreamer, a storyteller. I believe that the dreamers are saviors of the World. Originally from New Delhi, India, I live in Singapore as of now. I work as a consumer insights and enterprise digital marketing professional during the day and transform into a bedroom rock-star by night. I am not a full-time musician yet, but music is one thing that’s always on my mind. I am constantly thinking about transcribing my thoughts into expressions of poetry or prose or melodies.

Are you a self-taught artist?
Sadly, yes. Apart of me feels that it is a good thing- in a way that- everything I create is straight from the heart, no formulae, no techniques- just the purity of emotions within my self-taught world. Yet another part of me feels life would’ve been so much easier with a good teacher- the learning curve would be much smaller, and my repertoire would be much broader. I still keep on looking for good mentors or good books or good videos and am constantly learning and growing

What does music mean to you?
Music is a part of my identity. I am known-as and introduced to other people as an original music artist since childhood. Other than that, Music and writing have helped me immensely in my life journey. I have had extended periods of difficult situations in my life related to profession or relations. In these times, writing and creating music kept my spirits intact and my act together. It helped me reflect, helped me cope, find solace, gave me hope. If there was no music, I would’ve given up long ago, I think.

You have many wonderful songs such as, ‘Baatein kisko’ ‘Tum se milke’ and most recently A.I. ka tadka: what inspires you to stay creative?
Thank you for listening to songs. It takes a lot of time, energy, resources to create something original and relatable, and it is always wonderful to hear about your creations from someone else.
To me, there’s no better feeling than to be able to express myself through a song or poetry. That feeling keeps me going. I also listen to and get inspired by other artists and their music. I perceive differently than others and if there’s anything appealing – a movie, a play, an advertisement, a TEDx talk, a good poem, or an Instagram post- any of these can inspire me. I also feel that I have a unique way of musical expression. It gets me excited that we don’t have songs like these even in the indie scene- and these are songs that I myself would like to hear.

You are a triple threat with your abilities to produce, write/compose, and sing! Are you self-taught and if so do you have any advice for upcoming artists?

Ha Ha. Thank you again for noticing this. I hope that’s a triple threat.
I think it helps because the audience gets to experience the artist’s wholesome expression. It is one thing when one person composes, someone else writes lyrics and another person sings Vs when a single artist delivers their complete expression.
To be honest, I love working with other producers- they can bring in a different perspective, are usually more experienced, have better sound libraries, and have access to better equipment. But other than that, I really think that today’s music is too much a group effort. I believe that the artist should drive all the aspects of the music- even album art. So as a matter of fact, other than the ‘triple threat’. I have also written scripts for my music videos, directed videos, acted in them, bought my own equipment, and even learned video editing – all on my own. I don’t mean to say that everything should be done by the artist- but all aspects can have an influence on the artist themselves. My advice is to try to have a viewpoint on various aspects and learn at least a bit of everything. To be able to DIY is very liberating. Bonus advise- Focus on your core strengths and practice, practice, practice.

What is your favorite song and who is your favorite artist?
Too many favorites. They keep on changing, evolving, and differ by genre. A lot of Western and Indian artists that I admire- too many to be able to list here. Right from Dylan to Kishore; from MJ to Rafi; from GnR to The Local train, from Passenger to Kuhad, from Mayer to Ustad Zakir Hussain; from Eminem to Emiway- they all inspire me, educate me, entertain me in some way, shape or form.

What role does art play in society?
Art is what makes a human. Art provides a setting for people to take them to places where they have not been or the places that they want to be in. Art is catharsis, art is culture, art is bonding, art is compassion, art is a transfer of energy. Art defines society.

What is your dream project?
As I mentioned, I am a dreamer and a restless one at that. In my many dreams, I would love to jam with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan; I would love to collaborate with someone like John Mayer and I do dream of performing live at a stage the scale of Wembley stadium or at the Grammy’s or Filmfare/IIFA.

Your Bollywood parody video is a positive approach to the Coronavirus pandemic, can we expect more original music soon? 🙂

Yes- my new original single is called REBOOT and it is ready for release on all streaming platforms and my YouTube channel https://YouTube.com/ShalabhMusic

The song is about how we as people, due to our Greed and exploitative nature are kissing our sense of existential being.  We have overexploited the planet, losing our sense of spiritual, moral direction, losing a sense of belonging in equilibrium with the elements of this World. No other time is as relevant as this time when we are witnessing the impact of the absence of usual human activities on the World around us. The greed, the loot, the exploitation, the destruction has to go. We need to Reboot the world.