Initial setbacks made me emotionally, mentally stronger: Armaan Malik

Singer Armaan Malik, a fairly popular name in Bollywood, says that his initial years in the industry were anything but easy as he faced numerous setbacks and had a hard time making an impact. He, however, feels that the challenging experiences made him mentally and emotionally stronger. He also opens up about being a part of Vh1 Sound Nation League and says that it gave him an opportunity to connect with fans.

(Edited excerpts from an email interview with DH)

What encouraged you to take part in the Vh1 Sound Nation League? How are you preparing for the musical showdown?

Vh1 has been really supportive of the new phase of my musical journey and have never shied away from showering love. I have been fortunate enough to partner with them on multiple occasions and the Vh1 Sound Nation League turned out to be an amazing opportunity for me to interact with my fans and their appreciation is something I cannot put into words. VH1 has already got all my #Armaanians hyped up about the showdown. I don’t need to worry much. I have all the support I need!

What type of impact has Bollywood had on the independent music scene in India?

Bollywood music has been a staple for music listeners in this country. You can still hear a lot of non-film songs inspired by Bollywood tracks. Even though there’s a lot of potential for indie-pop music, it’s very important to keep the sound different from Bollywood. Non-film music should have its own distinct sound and approach. The way I am going about it is that I’m making sure I’m doing things differently and trying to introduce new sonics in the independent music space.

How did the music bug bite you?

When I was three or four years old, my parents recognised that I had musical talent and immediately made me take music lessons. It’s unreal how fast I started to learn music and singing. By seven, I had made up my mind – I wanted to be a singer and take up music as a full-time career. My professional journey began when I was nine, I started singing for advertisement jingles and dubbed for feature films. That’s where it all started for me!

Your toughest song to date?

The most challenging song for me to deliver was Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon. It’s a single that Amaal (my brother) and I released in 2015 as a dedication to our grandfather – Sardar Malik. It sounds like a very simple straightforward melody but is definitely not an easy song to deliver. It has these intricate emotions that someone only twice my age could bring to life. It was a huge challenge, being 20 something, to extract that level of emotion out and make people believe in each line that I sang.

How do you deal with professional setbacks?

I faced quite a lot of setbacks very early on in my career and those experiences really made me mentally and emotionally stronger. Now, I take things in my stride and believe that whatever hurdles come my way, I will overcome them and move forward undeterred. Onwards and upwards, no looking back is my forever mantra

How was the experience of working in the Tamil and Telugu industries?

Butta Bomma is my most popular song to date and it’s in Telugu! I love singing in different languages. It gives me so much freedom to explore different styles of music. Again, this is something I have been doing since the age of 10. Doing ads and jingles in multiple languages was something I am very used to. So when I sing in these languages now as an adult singer, I find the preparation very easy. Of course, pronunciation, enunciation, and understanding the meaning of the song are three very important factors while delivering a song in any of those languages.

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