The soulful voice behind the Bollywood hit like Te Amo, I Love You, Nazar Na Lag Jaaye and many more, Ash King has been ruling our hearts since ages. Having worked with big names in the music industry like AR Rahman, Lady Gaga and Amit Trivedi, it seems like Ash is unstoppable! On the occasion of this World Music Day, we caught up with him and found some super interesting deets.
Hi Ash! First of all, tell us how did music happen to you!
I come from a musical family and I have always loved music and its something which I love doing. And I guess it is the only thing which I do naturally without thinking. And growing up watching my dad singing and I really wanted to emulate his profession and I knew I wanted to be a singer always.
Great! Not many people know, but you are related to musical legend Kishore Kumar. Can you tell us about that?
Not many people know because it is something which I don’t really talk about as I didn’t know him personally. I am a fan of his like everyone and he is one of the best ever. He was not just a singer, he was a music composer, lyricist, actor, comedian and of course a singer, director. Although he is a distant relative, it’s an honour to be named in the same sentence of his. But I am just like the rest of us, the fans of Kishore Kumar.
Your latest track ‘Haaye Oye’ has become a blockbuster. Did you expect it to get so big?
Haaye Oye is the first Punjabi song I have sung and I had no idea that the song would do so well and will become such a viral trend! Now you have so many other artists doing their own versions of Haaye Oye which is amazing. Yes, I am really happy that my first Punjabi song has done really well and I hope to do more.
That’s amazing! Apart from Bollywood, you are pretty big on the British scene as well. We know you have worked with Lady Gaga too. Tell us about that.
Before I started singing in Bollywood, I was an independent songwriter in London. And I happened to get an opportunity to record a remix for Lady Gaga song ‘Bad Romance’. And they used the remix and to this day you can hear the remix playing especially when India won the world cup last time.
Whoa! That’s great. So, which are your favourite International artists you have collaborated with?
The only International artists I have collaborated is Lady Gaga for the remix. So, I wrote one song called ‘If I said’ for the backstreet boys which they have sung. So, I guess those are the two International collaborations I have done so far. I would love to do more in the future.
What would you say is your dream project? Which artists do you want to collaborate with in future?
As I said I would love to do more collaborations outside. And really represent Indian music around the world. So there are many artists and my favourite artist would Rihanna and Kanye West.
The favourite music apps on your phone right now??
Oh, it has to be YouTube. I use YouTube quite a lot. I often use Sawan and Spotify also.
Lastly, what does music mean to you?
Music is what I feel and what I do without thinking. It’s what I enjoy the most and its what which gives me an identity.
(Featured Image Source: Facebook/ashkinglive)
