There was a time when I had completely shut myself from music, says singer Aditya Jassi. His recently released single 'Jaanejaan', featuring Orvana Ghai has garnered more than 1,57,000 views on YouTube.
Released by music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman’s Merchant Records, the song is about myriad feelings of love. Conceptualised and directed by videographer Karan Sidhu, the song was an instant hit with the music composer duo. Jassi says, “I had a different idea for the video but Karan brought life to it and made it extremely beautiful. Orvana too has done a wonderful job, she looks fantastic in the video.”
As for Jassi, he had composed a couple of songs during the lockdown between 2020-2021 when his live gigs were halted. “My last album came out in 2013 and after that, I got completely involved in live gigs. A live audience gives you a different kind of high. I made Salim-Sulaiman hear the songs I had composed during the lockdown, and they selected this one to be released on Merchant Records.”
Jassi began his career in 2003 with a band and in 2006, went on to participate in the reality show FAME-X where he was among the top 10 finalists. He later sang for the 2007 film Strangers and the 2014 film Dil Kabaddi. However, there was a time between 2009-2013 that he had completely given up hopes of a musical career. “I was living on vada pavs and had given up hope. There were a few professional setbacks. I come from an affluent background and could call my father anytime for support, but I wanted to hang in there and see where the journey takes me.” After the release of his debut album ‘7’ in 2013, he immersed himself in live gigs.
"Today I have so many well-wishers — Shahid Kapoor, Maniesh Paul, Shankar Mahadevan, Salim-Sulaiman—who have guided me through everything." He believes this is the time for independent artists to come up. “Social media and music streaming platforms have made the process transparent. You can upload your songs and they can go trending in few hours. If a filmmaker likes them, they will buy it from you. There is no scope for stealing songs, not giving credit where it is due or plagiarisation now,” he says. He plans to release his singles every one-two months either independently or through labels and as part of OTT web shows.
An avid watch collector and a sneakerhead, he says he grew up listening to gospels, old school rock, The Beatles, Elvis, RD Burman, Asha Bhonsle, Kishore Kumar and so on and hopes to collaborate with music composers to create songs for the film industry.
