My singing style is based on what the youth likes: Sukhwinder Singh

It’s been almost 20 years since Sukhwinder Singh released a non-film song. His private album Nasha Hi Nasha came out in 2000 while his single Aa Mujhe Chhoo Le was released in 2001. But today, the Jai Ho singer is dropping a Holi track, Rangon Ka Atom Bomb. “It’s a typical Holi song. There are colours, naach-gaana, lots of laughter and fun,” he tells us. The singer talks to After Hrs about his plans to release more non-film music this year and how he stays relevant.

The new singles

Sukhwinder broke the almost 20-year-long dry spell of non-film music because he was goaded by people to release non-film songs. “I recorded one called Do Teen Peg produced by Salim-Sulaiman’s studio. While working on that, a friend asked me if I had ever made a track for Holi. Since I hadn’t, I created this just for fun. But, if you do something fun with sincerity, it turns out good,” he says. He plans to release about five more non-film numbers in the next six months. About the long gap between private music, the singer says, “I was constantly singing in films and it didn’t occur to me that I should release a single.”

Tons of Bollywood songs

This year, the artiste has more than 20 songs in Bollywood coming up. “And it’s only about the third month of the year,” Sukhwinder points out, adding that he has sung for Thugs of Hindostan, Zero, Ummeed, Vishal Bharadwaj and Abhishek Chaubey’s film Son Chiraiya, and for Ajay-Atul among others. “If I get good songs, I can sing 100 in a year or then I won’t sing many. Like, I rendered only eight tracks in two years in 2007-08 but they included Chak De (Chak De! India), Haule Haule (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), etc,” he says, adding that he cannot compromise on the quality of his songs. “Composers these days approach me to sing two notches higher than my already-high original pitch. It sounds more like screaming and aggression. I avoid such numbers. I’d rather dedicate that time to doing riyaaz,” he emphasises.

Still learning

Even though he is a seasoned singer, Sukhwinder says that he takes notes from other musicians. “I like being around geniuses like AR Rahman, Gulzar, Vishal Bharadwaj, Vishal-Shekhar, Ismail Darbar, etc. I ask them questions about music and I’m always happy to hear their words of wisdom,” he states. He believes in moving ahead with the times instead of resisting change. “Every six to seven years, I self analyse by listening to my singing. Then I listen to songs that are popular and study why they’re working. My singing style is based on what the youth likes. I don’t live in the past,” he elaborates.

New breed of singers

Sukhwinder rues that most singers sound the same today. “Another common thing in the past five years has been the auto tuner. Ninety nine per cent singers rely on it. If you mute it, the entire 99 per cent will be out of tune. Honestly, I’m not against it and I myself use it regularly but I don’t rely on it completely,” he says. The vocalist adds that the rest one per cent is ruled by female singers these days. “There’s a classical singer Kaushiki Chakraborty who I think is among the best we have today,” he says, “But, for me, Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan will always be number one.”