JOIN USI want to put out quality content: Nikhil D'Souza
Singer and songwriter Nikhil D’Souza has had a busy couple of months since the pandemic. From releasing two EPs ‘People’ and ‘Waqt’, he’s now collaborated with singer Nikitaa for ‘Tum Aur Main’ which is making the rounds online.
“I am very picky when it comes to collaborations,” he says. “But when Nikitaa contacted me with this project and I heard the track, I knew immediately that it was a good song. I’m happy that a song like this has come out this year. Every artiste wants to put out good work and I just want to make sure that the quality matters than quantity.”
Despite his scepticism to collaborate, Nikhil had a lot of fun working on ‘Tum Aur Main’. He says, “I didn’t have to compromise on anything. For me, it’s about good melody. Nikitaa is someone with a lot of talent. She was someone I was looking forward to working with when I first heard her voice. But with the melody for the song, I felt there’s a lot of potential. In fact, if given a chance, I would have it as a solo track too.”
Apart from working on the EPs, Nikhil also started doing live sessions on Instagram. “But I realised it’s free and wasn’t really helping me. So my team and I were figuring out ways to also have ticketed live shows,” he explains. On the personal front, he utilised the lockdown to improve his cooking skills. “I know more than just the basics and why things are done the way they are now,” he says, proudly.
From being a Geology major to finding his niche in music, Nikhil has come a long way.
He recalls, “I went through three jobs in three years before I took up music fulltime. All the three jobs served to show much how much I didn’t want the corporate life.”
Having said that, he’s glad he went through that phase too. “It was around 2007 when I finished college. There wasn’t much outside the music industry apart from Bollywood. The choices were very restricted so I probably wouldn’t have had the chances I have now. I took up the jobs I did out of necessity,” he says.
“I’m glad that I have the chance to put out independent music now and the lockdown really helped artistes like me.” Streaming platforms have been a great service, according to him. Nikhil says, “There are particular playlists created for indie artistes. Looking at the growth of it, I can see many upcoming artistes wanting to make it to that list too.”