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The Record: With your new album, you've developed and experimented considerably. Tell us more.
Shaan: The album is called Aksar, and has 9 songs - 6 of which are composed and written by me. There are 3 collaborations - the first is with Blue on their song One Love. It's very popular anyway, but I've added some Hindi lyrics to it so it adds a sort of twist, and makes it interesting. A similar exercise has been done on this Arabic song by a very popular Moroccan singer called Samira Said and the third song is of course Tanha Dil remixed with (Spice Girl) Mel C's vocals on it which is also great for clubs. It's not to be taken as a soulful song anymore, now it's a club song so you have to change your perspective on it.
The title track is a very plaintive almost narrative song, and deals with long relationships, insecurities and not-so-sure feeling that comes with it. Every song has an underlying theme or story. The second song Tumne Kiya Kaisa Jadoo is a story that says I was this cool guy and used to hang with my friends but now I've become mushy but I can't help it it's all because of you. The third song is Mujhe Na Kehna Nahin Aata. It's a typical thing we all go through often - you do things you really don't want to do but you don't know how to refuse. There's another track called Kabhi Tum Mere Hua Karte The which is a song about a relationship which you opted out of thinking it wasn't such a great thing at that point and then you look back and think 'What was I chasing that I lost out on you?'
So all the songs I think are songs that people can relate to, about things that have happened in the past or they're experiencing as we speak. There's Chand Akela Hai which is my favourite - it's about the void that you feel - you have your friends people around but there's something missing.
TR: How does the song writing process work for you?
Shaan: It's varied - there's a song that is most probably the first one I've ever written, it's called Tum Jo Mile and it really reflects my taste in music, the whole '80s pop sound. It's a very sweet song. It's actually a song I'd written for my wife Radhika when she was my girlfriend way back when. Then there's a song which I finished while recording it, so it's as varied as that. So I wrote some of the lyrics behind the mike. Basically the songs are such that the lyrics and tune is what has come to me. It's not like I sat at the keyboard trying to find a different chord or twist it a little bit. It's whatever I felt is the natural flow, be it lyrically or musically. Some songs flow quickly, some you get stuck and you just can't seem to move ahead. And you can't even drop it because it's so right.
For me the toughest part was writing the lyrics. For me the lyrics, the opening thought needs to come first and after that I can design the song around it. It sets the mood for the song.
TR: Has your new role as songwriter affected you as a singer?
Shaan: I hope it's affected me to the better. I try even when I'm singing another song, I wouldn't want it to be very typical. Certain singers have a way of making all the songs sound like it's their song. And they do certain things that are common in all their songs, maybe it's a stamp thing. But I on the contrary feel that's not the way one should approach a song. A song dictates how it should be sung, it tells you how it should be treated and it's the song first. I try and create variation in my styles. When I heard the whole album together properly, I was really happy. I think God's with me on it. It all fell into place.
TR: And now here you are doing all the things involved in promoting it. What is your take on that aspect of it?
Shaan: It's a necessary…[pauses]
TR: You were going to say 'necessary evil' back then!
Shaan: [Big laugh] It really feels silly to go from being a creative person to become the salesman and go and market it. It should sell itself, but it's important. You have to make people aware that this product is in the market and it's something that I like and believe in. Earlier I could never get down to doing this. But later I figured it's all about making yourself bigger than you are and then you get bigger than you are. It's something that I figured out but I don't adhere to it, I wouldn't want to do that because then it really kills the soul in you, you just become an impersonator of something that you want to be next.
Coming back to promoting the album, it's something that you have to do, but I hope the result is more than the effort. [Laughs].
You can read the rest of our exclusive interview with Shaan in the November 2003 issue of The Record Music Magazine available at your local newsagent.
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