Armaan Malik: "English pop music is going to run parallel with my Bollywood and regional music"

Singer-songwriter Armaan Malik.

Armaan Malik recently dropped his fourth English solo track ‘You’. The 26-year-old singer-songwriter who sings in a dozen different languages, became the first artist to top the global Billboard’s charts twice in a year in 2020. With an MTV Europe Music Award for his debut English track ‘Control’ and an international collaboration under his belt, Malik tells us that he wants his English pop music journey and Indian music career to run parallel. Edited excerpts:

‘You’ is an out-and-out love track. How did you arrive at this song and what is it trying to convey?

‘You’ tries to convey a simple emotion. Universally, every individual has that someone who they feel is their person and the song is dedicated to that person and the emotions they make you feel.

How organic was it for you to sing in English after all these years?

I have been singing in English since I was a kid. It’s just that now I have been able to put out songs that are in English and the world can see that side of me which has already existed. I had a short stint in Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2011 when I received a scholarship for their summer programme. That is when I honed my skills in songwriting and vocals. When I returned, I released an album in Hindi and then the Bollywood career took off. It was in 2018 that I started working on the dream I had as a teenager. From 2018 to 2020, I was travelling between LA, London and New York and making a bunch of English material. In 2020, I released my first English track ‘Control’, and I want to be consistent at it. It’s not about one or two songs but a sustainable career in English pop music which is going to run parallel with my Bollywood and regional music.

You have an established career here. Were you apprehensive about this new journey and were there people who doubted your ability?

I don’t listen to people outside of the people I love, and they were very supportive. Yes, there were a lot of naysayers too but that happens when one tries to do something new. For me, it was a dream that a 15-year-old Armaan had seen and I owed it (to) myself.

You don’t put out too many songs in Bollywood. Is there a strategy to choose quality over quantity?

I have never consciously thought about that. There have been songs that have come my way which I have not sung, maybe because I have not been convinced how they add to my discography. I have also got replaced in many songs. I do space out my work, but I work across more than ten industries and different languages. I like to do meaningful projects, be it film or non-film work. I am very happy being in the space that I am. As an artist, I have always maintained that I want a long career, something like what Shreya Ghoshal enjoys today. There is no novelty when you are in people’s faces all the time. It’s always good to have the space between your projects so people are curious about what you will come up with next.

You’re performing live again at your USA Tour in May…

I can’t wait to get back on stage and perform all these songs I have sung in the last few years. For singers, live shows are about connecting with our fans but it’s also a huge source of our income.

Nothing beats the feeling of singing live in front of an audience and that euphoria of being on stage. I am also excited about the USA tour because I have put out five English tracks and it will be really cool to sing them live.

There is a varied mix of audience there and my show is going to be a mix of Hindi, South Indian, English and Bollywood classics. It will be me singing everything I am known for.