Platform Artist Aloud that supports and promotes independent content, launched independent music artist Shalabh’s latest single, ‘Tooti Footi Kursiyan’. Known for his wide breadth of music repertoire, Shalabh’s music includes beats that are a mix of alternative and popular rhythms. His originals hold a deep connection and express the underlying philosophies and sentiments that hold immense relevance in one’s immediate surroundings.

To know more about the track, we got in touch with Shalabh who narrated his experience.

Could you tell us more about the song? What does it mean to you?

"Tooti Footi Kursiyan" is a light-hearted way to deal with your blues. It is a melancholically romantic approach to telling a story about one's own life-situations. The song will transcend you to a beach on a hammock enjoying a sip of your favourite drink on a warm day or take you down a road-trip. It will take you to a place of calm and peace and joy and bring a smile to your face. Not for passive listening though- the lyrics will stimulate and tickle your imagination as much as the music will make you sway your head in a light rhythm. 

What does it mean to me: Composing and finishing the song helped me deal with a difficult phase in my life (and continues to do so) - this song is very close to my heart. It is also my first song with Urdu infusion. I have written in pure hindi, mixed hindi, English, street inspired language- and now this song has a Urdu poetry influence- so that was new to me and I enjoyed the poetry writing process.

How was your experience working for the track?

It took more than a year from conceptualising to songwriting to releasing the music for "Tooti Footi Kursiyan". I composed the leading guitar riff for the song, wrote the lyrics, directed the music, composed the song, rendered the vocals and even had the album art designed (as with all my songs)- so this was hard work but very satisfying and as personal and as original as a song can get. We recorded the song in studios in Mumbai as well as in Singapore. I wanted to have the 'cozy' live feel in the song as much as possible so the production is minimum- acoustic guitar with a percussive feel, congas and light percussion, melodica- and those give a really warm, personal vibe to the song. At the same time, big thanks to my producer-engineer Ambar and guitarist-arranger Nilanjan for closely matching what I was aiming for.

Originally, I had four verses in the song and all of them my favourites but the song was already getting long- so we decided to keep 3 verses. I will include the fourth 'unheard' verse on my YouTube or Insta/Facebook channels when livestreaming, so check out "/ShalabhMusic" on social media.

What message does the song convey?

The best poetry, songs, and stories are the ones that allow the audience to make the content their own, interpret it in the context of their own life-scenarios. This song is that.  It is a light-hearted way to deal with your blues by telling your life-phase story with a song. When life is not all hunky-dory, take out that guitar or conga, imagine yourself in front of a campfire and sing your heart out to this song. It will all get better, I promise.

Are there any upcoming projects and plans?

There's a lot of music planned-for in 2021. I am hoping for people to connect with me and especially those who prefer all-original songs and music. There will be songs to touch your heart, tickle your imagination, make your foot tap and make you smile and even bring a tear to the corner of your eyes.