It was in the lockdown when I discovered the melody of Tere Bina. Little did I know that the man behind the song, singer Zaeden, would take over my playlist in no time. The singer is a popular name among indie musicians and today a sea of fans attends his concert to enjoy his music while catching a glimpse of the handsome singer. In a recent interview with News18, Zaeden opened up about his growing fandom, his musical journey, and his hopes of becoming an actor someday. Here’s an excerpt from the conversation:
Your recent song Lagda Na is such a groovy track. Please tell us how did you go about making the song?
So, I think after my last album, my debut album, Genesis, I really wanted to, you know, switch up the sound, work with new collaborators, producers, and writers. I bumped into Divine at a party, and he was having a writers’ camp in Goa, and he was really kind enough to invite me. The moment I entered, he was like, ‘You have to work with Stunnah (Beatz), who’s produced Lagda Na. We started working on a bunch of songs and Lagda Na was the first idea we made. It’s something super, super fresh for me, collaborating with Rish as well on the melodies, I realized that this needs Punjabi for sure. So, around that time, I decided, let’s work with a Punjabi lyricist and that’s where Prince came into the picture. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. I think it’s sonically a very different song for me.
The lockdown was a little different for Indie musicians. Their music was crossing boundaries and helping their fandoms grow. Do you also believe the lockdown played a crucial part in the growth of the genre?
I would say any artists, not just indie artists (who witnessed growth in fandom during the lockdown). As artists, we always wish to do something. The more time you give your art, the more you own it in my opinion. So there was just always so much time to just, keep working on your craft. Since the shows weren’t happening, artists weren’t traveling a lot, you are just giving so much time to what you do. So, I think yeah, definitely. Especially for me, I feel that if the lockdown wasn’t there, I wouldn’t be able to finish an album for sure.
Which is that one song of yours that went viral during the lockdown phase, and it took you by surprise?
So, I’ve seen the biggest spike in Tere Bina, and another song called Kahoon Toh Main Bhi Kya (KTMBK). Tere Bina was released four years back, and I think it’s still everyone’s favorite, which is amazing. It’s my debut song as a singer so that song will always be very, very special to me. But yeah, we saw this sudden spike for Tere Bina, and it started trending, without any marketing without anything. A lot of people started posting like dancing videos and transition videos. So, it’s always good to see your songs trending out of nowhere.
A post shared by Zaeden (@zaeden)
Your milestones so far are impressive — Doubling up as opening and closing acts for people like David Guetta and Justin Bieber, and even performing at Tomorrowland multiple times. What is the next big milestone you want to achieve?
So, I really wish to explore the US (market). As an artist, I genuinely believe in collaborating a lot because one gets to learn so much from the people you’re collaborating with. It could be your ideal producer, your featuring artists, or it could be like even your mixing engineer. My idea is to collaborate with more people. I actually put out a song called Settled Down with Fly By Midnight and we saw a lot of streams coming in from the US since the song was in English. Now, America is my second most dream country in the world. So, I do wish to collaborate with more electronic music producers or singer-songwriters across the world and see where that goes. I think I somehow feel like, with English, I’m able to express myself a little better. So, I really want to keep that going on the side for sure.
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Is there a list of international artists you you want to collaborate with?
I would love to do a song with Justin Bieber. It’s just amazing to see an artist who’s been relevant for the last God knows how many years. He was literally selling out stadiums at the age of 13 and he’s still the biggest pop star. So, I would love to know more about his journey and the highs and lows that he’s seen in his life. I would love to do a song with him in the future as well.
You’ve also been very busy with your concerts lately. Has the experience as a performer changed after the pandemic?
It has changed 180 degrees. I’ve been touring for the last nine years as a DJ before and then when I started touring as a singer, I just had one song like I had only Tere Bina and tour on that song. So obviously, I had to do a lot of covers for 60 minutes. And at one point, it became a little boring for me because, obviously, as a singer, you want to sing your own songs and see people sing along to all your songs. So that’s what really moved and pushed me to make an album. I started touring just after Genesis (was released), and though you see the numbers on Spotify, but when you actually see that response, and that tangibility with your fans, just seeing 1000s of people singing a song that you’ve made in 15 minutes in your bedroom, it’s just a feeling that I genuinely cannot describe. And that’s something that I live for. When I started touring and heard people sing the second verse of Kya Karoon, I was like ‘What is happening here?’ So, it’s a very special feeling.
Is there a particular fan moment that you remember vividly?
There’s been like few times when people have fainted. And that and in that situation, I get so scared. So, this happened recently in Delhi. We had a meet-and-greet session right before my set. This girl came with so many gifts. Before she could even gift me the stuff, she saw me, shook my hand, and fainted. I was like, whoa. But thankfully she was stable, and it was all good after that.
A post shared by Zaeden (@zaeden)
Finally, what kind of work can we look forward to?
I’m currently working on my Hindi EP. I wanted to have a sound that is inspired by Genesis yet super different, and groovy. So that’s what I’m working on. Currently, again, even on that I have a new set of collaborators. And I am almost done with the entire EP and looking forward to putting it out in November.
Nothing from the Bollywood front?
It is something I do wish to explore. And I would love to explore that as an actor. But again, I genuinely feel that I’m not prepared for it right now. And I don’t want to do anything half-heartedly. I remember even with singing, I literally like, you know, train so much and I just wanted my foundation to be right. And that’s what I wish to do with acting. I’m thinking of doing some lessons and proper training next year. And yeah, let’s see if something works out.
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