Anuv Jain is the flavour of the season. He has been a part of opening act of several big music events in the country this year. Recently, he was a part of Zomato Feeding India concert where American singer Post Malone performed. During his set, Anuv mesmerised the audience with his ballads. This Ludhiana lad, whose only instrument in his live shows is his guitar or the ukulele, can make anyone’s day with his songs like Baarishein, Riha, Maula, Ocean.
Anuv talks about his music and serenading the audience with his moving lyrics. Excerpts from the interview:
How do you feel about the Zomato Feeding India concert where the stage is set to make India malnutrition free?
I am absolutely thrilled because this is for a good cause. I also signed a pledge to do my bit. I’ll try to support people and would like to help eradicate hunger as much as possible. In fact, I waived my artist fee for the performance.
Recently, you released a new single Mazak, which is inspired by a recent event in your life?
This song is extremely personal like all my other songs. I wrote the song quite recently for someone extremely special. It is inspired by a memory which happened recently, but I just like to keep it to myself. It talks about absurdities and how when you’re trying not to fall in love, the universe ends up making you fall in love.
So you had a girlfriend, you broke up, and then wrote a love song about it. Are you seeing someone now?
Oh yeah, (smiles) I just want to keep that to myself.
Would you like to share your process of making a song? Do you put the melody first or the lyrics?
I always put the melody first, but I hum the song and add some random words, which generally fit. I always sit with my mom whenever I am writing. So, I always have the guitar and I’m just like narrating things to her and it’s like, this idea fits here and this idea doesn’t fit here. She is there, writing down everything. She has a good idea of the kind of music I am making and the songs people like to listen to. She gives me instant feedback.
So your mum plays a major role when it comes to helping you get the right notes for your music.
I come from a creative family, but not from a family of singers and musicians. From the time I was young, my mom engaged me in a lot of creative things. Today, years later, here we are…
What inspires you to make such unique videos?
You know it’s pretty crazy because it is literally taking inspiration from my own life. All the music videos have been inspired by my life, including the songs... This is literally my life.
You seem to be quite a shy, reserved person. How do you face such large crowds? Do you get nervous before a show?
I’ve never been a confident guy. I am a shy, quiet, and reserved person. But when the pandemic struck, it helped me as I was doing online shows for 200-300 people. It was informal but that really helped ease me into the bigger league and live performances.
Was music always a career that you wanted to take up or was it something you just took up in spite of having a degree in Business Administration?
No, this was always my hobby. This was always supposed to be one I was literally thrown into this, but I am so glad that I was. I am happy that I am doing this right now.
So when are you releasing an album?
I have it on the cards, let’s see how it goes. I’ve been doing shows and, hopefully, after the year-end, I will probably just go back home, sit on it and not do shows for a couple of months. I just want to relax and work on new music. If I can make a couple of songs together, maybe an album will be released or else I’ll just release a couple of singles.
What are your favourite artistes and do you like or hate K-pop?
I am neutral about K-pop but I enjoy the way they do their shows. I would love to incorporate some of those things in my shows and make them a bit grander. They have some amazing choreography and it’s takes a lot of hard work to pull that off. For Bollywood, I’ve been listening to Kesariya, so Arijit, his songs are insane, and Pritam.
You haven’t collaborated with any artists?
Collaborations are happening, but I don’t want to talk about them until they actually happen.
