It is rare to witness someone who understands the music algorithm in a way that once you hear their track, it continuously plays in the back of your head. Well, Kabeer Kathpalia, aka OAFF, a music composer and producer, is one of them. Be it drinking coffee, taking a shower, working on your desktop, reading a book, having ‘me’ time — his song, Frontline, that released in 2018 has been one of those scores. In fact, the song still remains close to my heart. What if I tell you that the anthem of the year — Gehraiyaan title track is actually a Hindi recreation of that beautiful piece? Yes, before Gehraiyaan there was Frontline and we got in conversation with the man who created both these soulful pieces. Excerpts from an interview:
Your stage name is quite unique, what’s the story behind it?
First, I think I need to explain to people how to pronounce it. It is pronounced as ‘oaf’ (pronounced as “Loaf” but without the “L”). It comes from the English word ‘oaf’, which represents a silly, awkward, foolish person. I relate to it and that is where the name comes from.
How did this movie happen to you?
An acquaintance introduced my indie music to Shakun (Batra) and one day I got a message on my Instagram saying ‘Hey, this is Shakun Batra, love your music, can we meet.’ We met and we started chatting and having conversations about his vision, what the story and the script were about. My music partner, Savera, and I both read the script and started creating music pieces based on it. It just kind of went ahead from there.
When it comes to background scores, what goes into your mind while creating them?
The most important thing is how the music is serving the film, its characters and the story. First, every decision is made from that point of view — is this what the character or the story wants to say or do that we need to convey through the music? Second, the overall soundscape of a film has a specific vibe. So, we used a lot of electronic elements and western classical arrangements with strings and pianos. Thus, it is this modern electronic world meeting this classical world. Those are the main things we thought about.
From indie music circuit to commercial space, how different has the experience been?
I don't think there is any difference in the way we create music. For us, music is music and we create what excites us the most. But once the music is done, that is when you feel the difference. When I and Savera release our indie songs and we get about 100,000 views on YouTube, we feel wow, we have done so well. And here, I went to sleep and woke up and saw 10 million views in 24 hours. It is a drastic difference in terms of the platform and reach. Sony Music helped push the songs in getting them to the people who might be interested and that is the main difference.
A still from Gehraiyaan |
How did you venture into the world of music?
I studied maths and physics in college and have always been scientifically inclined. But I was also always interested in understanding how music works. I was into music theory and playing the guitar, which was my primary instrument initially. It is funny because Savera, Lothika and I are from the same school in Ahmedabad. Savera and I were in a punk rock band in high school, so I picked up my guitar just to be in that band and we were having fun. So, we started our journey together and now we are making music for films together.
How do you think indie music is doing in India and among the listeners? What is its future like?
During the pandemic, there weren’t too many films releasing and indie music has always been a small but vibrant scene. That’s when people realised, during the pandemic, that hey, we want more music but there are no films, so let’s check out these indie artistes and see what’s happening there. And, that is when people realised that there is so much good music in this indie world, why don’t we explore more of that. Now, if a big movie like this, a big production house like Dharma and a director like Shakun are encouraging artistes like us to create music for their films, it’s very heartening. Thanks to Ankur Tewari, as well, who has been the supervisor on this. He encouraged different artistes to come into the mainstream. I see that there are going to be more interesting crossovers with the indie world and hopefully there will be a lot more interesting music for us. At some point, the distinction between indie and commercial will decrease. It will become one big spectrum and more open.
When it comes to creating music, do you have a rule book or guidelines that you swear by?
I wish I did, but I really don’t. Savera and I are the kinds of people that if something excites us, we just want to make something from it. The one thing that must always be there is a sense of excitement and if you find that, it will always be interesting. If you go into it too much and try to find a plan, I don't think the end product will be as interesting.
Not many people are aware, but the track is an adaptation of your track Frontline, the Hindi version of it, how did this happen?
Lothika and I wrote Frontline in 2018. It is a personal song about something Lothika was going through at the time. Her grandmom had just passed away, so we made this song sort of as a way to deal with grief more than anything else. It wasn’t really thought of as let's make a pop song. It was more like using music for therapy. Cut to now, where somebody from the team took the song and put it in the promo of the film and Shakun loved the feeling of the song and the visuals. So, he asked us to try and make a Hindi version of this song, which was tailor-made for the characters. Ankur Tewari wrote the lyrics, Lothika sang it again and that is how we got the female version of Gehraiyaan. Now we also have a male version of the song sung by Mohit Chauhan, which is a slightly different take on the song.
Do you think audiences and makers are finally accepting non-filmy tracks?
I think so. If you just look at the numbers, Doobey was No.1 in the country on radio and Gehraiyaan was No.2, so I think people just want music they can relate to. I don’t think it matters whether it is filmy or not as long as it is something people can connect to.
What’s next in the pipeline?
Next in the pipeline is more independent and film work. There’s a lot of new music coming out hopefully in the next few months.
Rapid Fire:
Which is your fav track from the movie?
Doobey
Music on your playlist that you love listening to?
I love listening to 90's and 2000's throwback music which I grew up listening to.
Your favourite indie singer?
I like this artist called Ditty, who’s an indie singer in India.
Who do you wish to collaborate with next?
Zoya Akhtar
Which is your favourite and evergreen track?
Yeh Haseen Vadiyan by A.R. Rahman.
Your favourite thing apart from music?
Science. Physics to be specific.
Which is your favourite music genre?
I can't answer that, I am a music producer so I love all kinds of music.
Tracks you would want people to love music to hear?
Check out this Icelandic composer called Ólafur Arnalds. You might find it interesting. Then there's Easy Wanderlings, a great band from India; they are friends of mine. One of their songs is used as a track playing in the car in Gehraiyaan.
If not, a composer you would be?
Physicist.
