One is at his raw best during a live performance: Prateek Kuhad

Believe it or not this songwriter and singer who studied math and economics at New York University and created a stir with his first EP the selftitled lsquoPrateek Kuhadrsquo and lsquoRaat Raazirsquo in 2013 never thought that music would be a fulltime career for himHe always conceived it as a passion and something he would indulge in as a hobbyldquoThen one thing led to another and the more I immersed myself in music and wrote songs the more I realised how much I loved it After finishing college I decided to give it a shot in India thinking I would give it a year and see how it goes If things went well I would keep doing it And then I never looked backrdquo Prateek Kuhad best known for his album lsquoColdMessrsquo 2019 tells IANSAs he gets set to perform in 10 Indian cities Kuhad who learnt to play the guitar at age 16 and started writing songs soon says that his latest single lsquoIrsquom Someone New was written earlier this year over two different sessions in New York with producer and writer Greg WattenbergldquoWorking with Greg was an incredible experience We wrote the song together and then produced it It is about the transformative power of love and how it can intensely change a person Considering it is a single we wanted to create a different experience for our fans other than the usual music video So we recently shot a live version of the song and my entire band performed We wanted to give a glimpse of the song at the tour this year it is part of my setlistrdquo says the Jaipurborn KuhadAsk him to rewind when his first album was released and compare it with current times and the singer smiles that it has been a great decade of putting out musicRecalling that when he started the independent music culture in India was not this big and even the concert culture was quite limited he adds ldquoToday an entire ecosystem thrives The fact that I get to perform in countries across the globe and the audience is always receptive is extremely rewarding It has been a great decade of putting out and writing music and I am honestly excited for the next decade nowrdquoStressing that performing live has always promised a peculiar high the singersongwriter remembers his last long tour in India in the year 2022Adding that he is excited to get back and will be performing in several cities including Delhi Bombay Bangalore Jaipur Guwahati Kolkata Indore Ahmedabad and Pune this timeHe says ldquoIt is always an enriching experience visiting different states and meeting people across India There is so much to take away each time Performing live one is unfiltered raw and honest self to the audience I believe the audience has also evolved over the past few years they recognise the effort and reciprocate The energy at my concerts is pure and there is always warmthrdquoThe songwriter and singer who has also worked on film projects like lsquoKho Gaye Hum Kahanrsquo and lsquoKarwaanrsquo admits that right now his focus is on his own projectsldquoFrankly it is never about the medium as I enjoy writing songs that are personal to me I have enjoyed the movie projects I did and am happy to do more but surely writing music for myself gets preference in the scheme of thingsrdquoGiving lsquoColdMessrsquo one of his biggest hits a ldquofair amountrdquo of credit to his popularity he feels his career has been built over the years through diverse elementsldquoA lot of touring and different songs that while maybe not as big as coldmess have been important Take for instance lsquoTum Jab Paasrsquo lsquoTune Kaharsquo and lsquoOh Loversquo are tracks that built my community and fan base in small ways But they didrdquo he stressesCurrently in Los Angeles and working with musicians based here he is trying to write songs to pick from for the next album and hopefully get it ready for release this yearldquoBut no promises mdash Im still working on it and we will see how it goes Besides that theres lsquoThe Silhouettes Tourrsquo happening This year is all about touring The US and Canada are done There is Australia Europe the UK Singapore Dubai and then Indiardquo concludes the first Indian artist to be signed by the American record label Elektra Records in 2020This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever