“It was a fabulous experience working with Shweta Pandit, especially because she sings so well in tune, so effortlessly. I felt that the musical versatility we both have; such as an understanding of Indian Classical music, as well as the Popular scene, was at the forefront of this piece. Whether it be Shweta’s classical vocal solo near the end of the piece, or the Tabla rhythms I crafted throughout the track. For me, the idea of a New Age Composer from Toronto, Canada, and a Bollywood Playback Singer from Mumbai, India, in itself, was quite unique. Her being from a renowned family of great musicians and singers was the icing on the cake. I’ve been blessed to work with such a humble and talented artist; Shweta, and I hope we continue to bring you more great music in the very near future.”
It was absolutely lovely to work on I’m like a bird (Desi Cover). It so happened that I have started this “Music Sharing Concept” by myself called “Mission Music” which is all about bringing new talent from different parts of the world to collaborate and share their work on my YouTube channel. This has been my 3rd project with Mission Music. The 1st being “Moondance” with Emma Mortan, a Scottish singer who has now gone on to become a Semi finalist in X Factor and “Tere Hoke Rahenge” Unplugged was the 2nd, to be shot in Switzerland and introduced Luca Giovacchini, a fabulous guitar player from Italy. “I’m like a bird” is the 3rd in the series of successfully introducing Gagan who has produced and also played tabla beautifully and worked on the song with all his passion. This song is recorded and shot in Toronto, one of the best places in the world. 🙂 Am so happy that I thought of this concept and can collaborate with some fantastic artists and they can now come closer to India this way. Emma and Luca were so new to Indian music but they did so well in adapting to my style and wanted to learn Indian Classical music after they heard my singing. Gagan is very hardworking and immensely talented. This cover really shows how he can totally change the feel of such a popular song into something totally fresh and unexpected. We had a great time working on it. He has fabulous ideas and has studied music very well and he surprised me on how well he plays the tabla. Would love to do another song with him soon. And of course Gagan is rooted to India and hence it was much easier to work on the song and we in fact finished working on it in just 2-3 days.The most important thing I take back is the love I got from his family and the parathas I ate before singing. I think music is all about this love that we share while working together.
When Shweta told us about the video concept and how it worked out – we were in awe!
Shooting it was extremely tough but fun as I was trying to be very cool in just a jacket in freezing cold in Canada. The day of shooting, Toronto was super windy and so the breeze was ice-cold. Although I didn’t show how cold it was in the video but in the shots where I am near the Ontario lake, I felt like Superman who could actually fly, it was that windy! The song was perfect coz I really felt like a bird. Haha! The idea of the video is from the moving between the country side to the city of Toronto, how “free” do you actually feel, just like a bird. I started shooting around beautiful autumn green leaves (the highlight of Toronto) and then slowly move to the city side where i am lost and amazed by the shift of living but eventually walk back to the country side in the end, showing the freedom and enjoyment there was something else! It is more felt than literally explained with the visuals. Maybe this would explain what really the thought behind the video was! I chose to do Nelly Furtado’s song coz she is Canadian too and it was more like a humble tribute coz i love this song and her voice. Gagan gave it a great Indian twist and made it all Desi with the tabla and I added Indian classical aalaps to it. The interesting thing is we made a completely new song in the start with Hindi lyrics by my sister Shraddha who wrote it over the phone from Mumbai. She must have written “Dilchasp hoga, ab jo bhi hoga, koi shikaayat, na rahegi khuda se” is exactly 15 minutes and Gagan and I were blown away instantly. I wanted to compose a new song with Gagan but the short visit to Toronto didn’t allow that. So I wrote a new verse that would lead to I’m like a Bird so it sounded almost like a new song with the chorus being popular so people could sing along as well. I composed “Khush hain ye lamhe” and it sounded perfect with the way it connected to Nelly’s song. We recorded it and were happy the way it sounded!
So tell us what you think and let us know if this made you feel like you were in a different world like we did? Drop us a comment and let us know!