Discussing his love track that was shot in Paris, Armaan chronicles his journey as an English pop singer, and wanting to create an EP
Armaan Malik
Armaan Malik makes a transition to an English pop music career appear seamless. And yet, several unsuccessful attempts by artistes before him suggest otherwise. As he discusses “returning home” to the genre of love ballads with You — his latest lilting pop rendition — he opens up on how his seemingly overnight success as an English singer was a “master plan”, a decade in the making.
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Edited excerpts from the interview.
How did the concept of creating a love song in Paris, in the middle of a pandemic, come about?
You has been with me since two years. It was recorded and produced around the time I had released my debut English track, Control. Recently I was in Paris for a show, and decided that since I was in such a beautiful place, I should record a song. The entire team thought that since You was ready, and we were in Paris, the love capital, it was a no-brainer that we should film it there. The whole thing was conceptualised and shot in 48 hours, even though it may not look like it has. As soon as I came back, we saw cases rise again. I feel, God was looking out for me. I managed to go there, shoot and come back with such a beautiful product. Also, when I began my English music career, I did so in a different zone when pitted against what I was doing in Bollywood. People didn’t relate to me. People know me as this romantic singer who has his way around ballads. So, with You, I felt like I was coming home.
There is only a small chunk of your major fan base in India that also consumes English music. As a singer with a fine business acumen, who is your target audience then?
I am an Indian singer with a body of work in Bollywood and in the Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada [industries]. The ability to do what I did in that market came from the push that I got from here. I am a mainstream artiste trying to make it internationally. My ultimate goal is to develop and create a global audience. For them, I am a new artiste. Some of them could be NRIs who know me through my Bollywood work, and are now discovering me with my English music. I hope they say, ‘Wow, he can sing Bol do na zara, and something like a Control too.’ I am a multilingual singer. I can’t stop singing in all these amazing languages that I know. India is a very big market for [international music labels]. Just the way Korea’s music exploded across the globe with K-pop, I think it is India’s time. This changes how Indians have been perceived so far — which is a country that primarily consumes Bollywood music. I want to make a dent in the international scene.
Surely that has to do with the entire packaging of the product that you put out. When Control released, it didn’t seem like the work of a débutante, but one with experience in that market.
That’s because this was my master plan. Not too many people know this but my English career journey was in the making for about a decade. It may look like its just the beginning, but I have dreamt this dream over and over again as a child. Releasing Control was a mammoth task for me. A lot of Indians release English songs, but to do so with the aim of creating that impact is not easy. Which is why I went to Los Angeles, and spent time with people to learn the kind of songs that people write. I spent time in New York understanding the industry. I knew that if I wanted to make a dent in the industry, I need to understand it first. Also, while I went about my work in Bollywood, I would silently practice singing in English as well. I have 100 demos of English songs in my laptop, only four of which have released into the world. Every artiste needs to keep hustling. I had this dream at 15. It was realised at 24.
The reception to your Hindi songs was testimony that you were on the right path. But how did you judge yourself as an English singer when you had no one to guide you?
It’s not easy to sing in English the way I do. People say Indians don’t sing in English correctly because it is not polished. But I’ve consumed it since I was nine. It is as engrained in me as Hindi ragas. Just as much as [I’ve listened to] Mohammed Rafi sa’ab, I have heard John Mayer, and Bruno Mars. It’s part of my DNA. It’s been a silent journey, and now people are seeing the results. I didn’t have anyone to brief me. Vocally, a lot of the training was self-taught. But, the knowledge of being in the right direction came from the reception I got from an acclaimed [music label head] who wanted to sign me. That came as a seal of approval.
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