Tales of love emerging from the lockdown

Zaeden

Had it not been for the (very) early success that he received as a producer and DJ, Gurgaon-based musician Zaeden would have done then, what he's only beginning to do now. In 2014, his rendition of popular English tracks brought him into the good books of revered international artistes, and eventually led him to secure spots at festivals like Tomorrowland and Marenostrum, and gigs in the concerts of David Guetta and Justin Bieber.

"Singing comes naturally to me because my father is also a singer. Since I received success early [as a producer], singing took a back-seat. Now, I decided to give this a shot," says Zaeden, who had grown increasingly despondent with his career as a DJ, a craft that failed to offer the challenges that he was seeking as an artiste.

"There's not much happening in the [craft]. I was essentially mixing two records, and with each day it kept getting monotonous and boring. I began to ask myself why I was doing what I was, and was in a sad space."

Months later, he is already juggling multiple hats, with his focus trained on his upcoming album, Genesis. "Most of the songs are romantic numbers, and all of them have been shot during the lockdown. The Wednesday release, Socha na tha, was written for my girlfriend, and is the fourth single of the album. We wanted to create something simple for the video under the current circumstances, and decided to involve our fans. I asked couples who have been dating for a while to reach out to us and we were delighted to feature them. Intezar is another song that is set to release in a while. I have also written some parts of the album because I wanted to explore the craft after [being inspired] by Kunal Verma, who wrote Tere bina for me. Kya karoon was the first song that I wrote. [The tracks] have an uplifting vibe, which is essential in the current circumstances."

Genesis will be Zaeden's Christmas gift to his fans, and includes a bunch of collaborations with Indian artistes hand-picked by him after a fair share of research. Asserting that being a good listener is essential to being a good producer, he says he heard an array of Indian artistes before approaching a few for the album.

"There were some songs that had already been recorded and then we felt that they would sound better if they were duets. Thus, we subsequently reached out to other artistes." In order to provide some respite from the Hindi singles, he is now keen to add a few English numbers to the list "if we meet the deadline". "I would love to mix Hindi and English music, [like] Jay Sean and Rishi Rich have done in the past. Nobody does that anymore."

Keep scrolling to read more news

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news