MUMBAI: LA based music engineering and mixing wizard Nikhil Suresh, who’s worked with artists like Joshua Bassett for ‘Lie Lie Lie’ and ‘Only a matter of time’ and Carmen Deleon for Juegas is all set to release his upcoming track ‘Lets Get it’ created by his new band ‘Grihastha’.

Being associated with some of the most popular tracks recently, Nikhil’s career graph as an music engineer also boasts of a grammy nomination for ‘The Lost Boy-Cordea, where he was the assistant engineer on the track.

Nikhil has over the past few years amassed a wealth of knowledge and expertise in sound engineering. He has been the chief engineer at Clearlake recording studio and Fever recording studio and has mastered the art of mixing. He is also currently the chief engineer at 91 sound studios.

Apart from the aforementioned, Nikhil Suresh’s major engineering projects include ‘Love for Summer’ by Loren Gray, ‘Bum Bum’ by Dirty heads and ‘RIP’ by Berner, all of which have crossed millions of hits on Spotify alone.

With ‘Lets Get it’ which released on 30th July across all music streaming platforms, Nikhil hopes to add another feather to his hat.

Check his interview below to know more about his projects and a lot more.

What can listeners expect from 'Lets Get It’?

Energy, excitement, and enthusiasm. The song was written as an inspiring song,  it holds a core idea that can be viewed from two different perspectives:

1) is for anyone who’s chasing a goal to go for it and make it happen,  thats in a bigger picture view of things.

2) a very specific view is for gym goers who want the right soundtrack to motivate them  to push through that extra set or rep.

Hence, the title, Lets Get It.

How did you and your band Grihastha come up with the track?

Well honestly, I initially wrote it for a car expo, as a background track for the showcase,  but then when I heard it a couple of times, it has this high energy feel to it, and I’ve been  wanting to write a song like that for quite some time— having the instrumentals done,  I thought, lets just try some vocals to it and, it all just came together.

I had a vague idea for the lyrics, especially for the chorus, and for the theme of the song,  but I thought vocalist Alessandro [Medri] (who’s based in Italy),  the guy who I collaborate with for most of my songs, could probably write better stuff than myself for it.

So I sent him over the idea, and he came up with some killer lines for it.

The song was actually done around the time lockdowns were still on an off, and also I was based in the US and Alessandro in Italy, so it wasn’t in-person songwriting session, but thanks to this wonderful thing called internet, we were able to make it happen!

You have worked with popular artists like Joshua Bassett and Carmen DeLeon, how was the experience?

Well, the experience was great— they’re both absolutely amazing performers and have incredible voices.

Joshua is also super talented overall and a multi-instrumentalist. He’s a killer songwriter too!

He always came in prepared, and we had a good workflow going, so we’d just get in the zone and  knock out tracks. Also just a chill dude in general.

Carmen is definitely in my list of top 5 female vocalists I’ve worked with.

She just came in and knocked out songs very quick. Also one of the most energetic people I’ve met,  which was awesome.

They’re both fairly young as well, so it’ll be awesome to see them progress through their careers as performers! 

Tell us a bit about your Band 'Grihastha', how was it formed and what kind of music can we expect?

It was formed as most things in 2020 were— during lockdown, ha.

The name suggests it as well, although its has a couple of meanings:

1) I’m always curious about spirituality, ancient ways of living and topics concerning it,  and of course as many may know already, in the Indian tradition, one of the age-based  systems of living was divided into 4 parts, Brahmacharya (here not referring directly to celibacy,  but rather to the period as a student, where certain rules and self-regulation may be prescribed),  Grihastha, the house holder stage, where one dives into social responsibilities of having a career,  being married, having a household and carrying out social duties to benefit and continue the human race.

Vanaprastha, the retirement stage, where a person handed over household responsibilities to the next generation,  took an advisory role, and gradually withdrew from the world.

And finally Sanyaasa, the stage that was marked by renunciation of material desires and prejudices.

Having chosen to be in the Grihastha stage of life, I thought this was a good name for the band.

As for the music that can be expected, high energy hard rock — if you were to toss Rammstein, Megadeth,  Metallica, Carcass, Slayer and Trivium all into one blender, give it a few spins, and you have the recipe for what we make. 

You have been associated as a chief engineer in Clearlake Recording Studio, Fever Recording Studio and 91 sound studios. Tell us about the same and what prompted you to start on you own? Plz throw some light on your journey.

Yes, being an engineer at established studios was great. Of course it was hard work getting there, as everyone, I started as  an intern and moved my way up to runner then assistant then engineer, and finally chief engineer! Just typing all that out was long, imagine how long actually living it felt :)

But once I had gotten a “couple of laps" of the "studio circuit” I decided it was time to actually branch off as I had a vision  for a recording studio that was slightly different than what some of the other places were offering and had in mind.

My main focus is on helping bands and musicians achieve amazing results and not have to worry about budgets.

Most of the greatest musicians we know today started off with very humble beginnings, and yes, of course I’ve been blessed to work with many of them as a part of these institutions; but instead of waiting till they’re big and they can afford these places, I wanted to provide a place where they can start their journey, and build that relationship and help them grow. To me, its more exciting to help an upcoming artist grow, who may potentially take over the music world,

over wanting to work with someone because they’re already big.

Also, everyone wants to work with the big names, but not many people want to help others become one, so there is a gap that needs to be filled.

You will be releasing 'Lets Get It' on major streaming platforms, are there any plans to release a music video of the same?

Yes, Spotify, Deezer, Pandora, Tidal — all of them! No official music videos, but if anyone wants to make an awesome rocky style workout montage to it, more than welcome :)

A message to the audience.

Be good to each other, stay creative, stay motivated, and lets get it!