Prateek Kuhad: ‘I don't think too much about the emotion and vulnerability while writing a song’

Shehron Ke Raaz has four love songs but unlike cold/mess which was more of a ‘break-up album’, the vibe here is more hopeful. What was the inspiration?

There’s actually no connection to how my life was: cold/mess just happened to come out. I wasn’t with anybody at that point. Although when the song was written, I was going through a tumultuous relationship and I had a pretty bad breakup. cold/mess happened to be a song I really wanted to put out. I picked all the other songs I'd written over the preceding years on a record that worked well. Shehron Ke Raaz was kind of the same thing. I am in a relationship right now. Tere Hi Hum is the song that kind of sparked the idea of the EP. It’s a hopeful love song, and I looked through my library of songs to find ones that would all tie in well together.

Tell us a bit about your mind space while writing these songs. How challenging was it to come up with the songs during the lockdown?

The songs on the EP were written before the lockdown. To be honest, the lockdown was quite a stressful time, and I really wasn’t too productive as a songwriter. We did a bunch of other things, but not really much with respect to writing the songs.

An acoustic version of Kasoor also finds a place on this EP…

I put out the band version in 2020, with the music video by Jugaad. And before I put that out, there was a bootleg version of Kasoor (Acoustic) that I’d played on some live gig. I wanted to formalise it and put out an official version with better vibes and sound quality.

The music video of Shehron Ke Raaz has a fantasy quality. Tell us about the idea behind this video. How much thought do you generally put into the music videos for your singles?

It totally depends on the thought and the song. I try to be always involved in the video-making process, depending on how busy I am with other things. Many times I have a vision of a music video. For instance, for cold/mess I had the idea of showcasing a couple going through it in a toxic manner. So, we had that underwater sequence, to show certain metaphors of what it feels like to be in a relationship that's not the easiest.

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With Shehron Ke Raaz, I did have an idea. I wanted the couple to be in a public place, in a restaurant or a bar, just getting so lost in their own world of love and that emotion that it sort of becomes a bit of a fantasy.

The songs are relatable, and also quite vulnerable - a quality that listeners associate with your music. How difficult is it to lay bare your emotions in front of your listeners?

I don't think too much about the emotion and the vulnerability. I just write without thinking too much, and probably that's why the songs turn out the way they do.

You have been composing for films and web shows. Is that something you have come to enjoy? Anything in the pipeline?

I’ve been writing for film since I became a musician. I haven’t done too many projects as I’ve been selective - a lot of things have to fall into place with the song or the series - about what they want me to do. I also like to do projects where I feel I can do justice to the project and I can also bring to the table what I’m really good at, especially on the production and song-writing aspect. I haven’t done a tonne of work and I definitely enjoy working on my own records a bit more. However, it's also fun and challenging to write for film, so I’ll do them every once in a while.

You figured in former US President Barack Obama’s favourite songs playlist for cold/mess. Do you consider that as one of the high points of your career?

I think it was definitely one of the high points of my career; 2019 was a special year, in terms of touring around the world, selling out shows everywhere (including USA, UK, EU and India). It was nice to see the big crowds. In India, we had close to 9,000 people in Delhi and 7,000 in Mumbai along with some amazing shows in smaller cities across the country, so it was a pretty cool time.

(Photo by Prashin Jagger)