Who made Akshay Kumar sing?
Sukhbir was part of the early 1990s Indipop revolution when artistes like Daler Mehendi and Alisha Chinai made a splash on the music scene. After having been out of the circuit for a long time, Sukhbir is back in India to launch his new album. We catch up with Bhagra singer to find out more about his music.
You have been out of the Indian music scene for a while. What were you up to all this while?
I haven't had a release for more than five years now. That's because I was busy working on my father's Kirtan album. It's been a childhood dream. So last year we finally released it and I even got my good friend Akshay Kumar to sing a track for us (Nirgun Raakh Liya). Later I moved on to my new album, which is now ready for release.
Tell us something about the sound in your new album?
It's called Tere Naal Naal. Basically it's again a mix of Punjabi and electronic. But for the first time I am singing a Hindi song as well. Also I have collaborated with artistes from Canada, USA and Pakistan. One of the songs is co-produced by Rishi Rich. My music has evolved but the sound will be what Sukhbir fans can relate to.
What do you mean when you say 'your music has evolved'?
I have been living in Dubai for quite some time now. Before that I was in London and Africa. Once you are exposed to international sounds it does influence your own style. So I would say despite being Bhangra, the songs have a contemporary sound and feel to them.
Why did you move to Dubai?
When I was operating out of London, a friend and I set up a recording studio. Later we decided to move the studio to Dubai as we got a lot of tax benefits. You can do business there without any questions being asked. And you don’t even pay tax.
A lot of artistes are quite frustrated with the record companies and are looking at other avenues such as the Internet to promote their music. What's your take on the situation?
I have been talking a number of labels and they are unanimous about one thing. Sales of music are down by 90 per cent. It makes sense because when you can download music for free at the click of button why would someone pay? That's why companies are cutting marketing budgets and can't promote albums as aggressively as they used to. In fact many labels are asking artistes to pay for their own promotion. So for an artiste the only source of income is shows. But shows are also only seasonal.
