Singer Songwriter Nikhil D’Souza

EASTERN PROMISE

Nikhil D’Souza’s soulful songs and versatile voice are earning him an army of fans in the uK, thousands of miles from his main home in Mumbai. Karen Dunn meets the songwriter to find out about finding his own style and why he now considers East London home from home.

From Mumbai to East London via country music capital Nashville, Nikhil D’Souza’s path to finding his own voice has been a long and varied one. While all musicians graft hard to make it in the music business, the singer/songwriter who describes his music as, “a happy love child between Jeff Buckley and Ray LaMontagne” has had a more varied career than most.

From working as geologist on offshore oil rigs, to becoming a playback singer in Bollywood, Nikhil could have stopped there and cashed in on his fame singing songs

for the multi-billion film industry. But Nikhil wouldn’t settle and set out to pursue his dream of singing his own songs inspired by the songwriters he grew up listening to in his apartment block in Mumbai.

With a string of successful gigs in London under his belt, over one million streams and a summer spent playing the festival circuit, we caught up with Nikhil to find out what inspires his heartfelt lyrics and uplifting melodies…

Hi Nikhil, how would you describe your sound and influences? I’ve always been

into the voices that emote, so for me Sting and Jeff Buckley have always been my biggest influences.

When did you first start performing? The area that I grew up in would also organise talent contests, which would pitch one apartment building against the other and everyone was very enthusiastic and competitive about them. I won first prize singing Unchained Melody at one of those and that’s how it all began. I had a band when I was in college performing songs by people like Bryan Adams and Eric Clapton.

You had an unusual career before turning to music full time, tell us more… I studied geology, because I thought it would be the easiest of the sciences! When I finished college I got a job on the oil rigs. I did that for about six months until I nearly lost my hand trying to fix a machine that was jammed. It was a real wake up call for me. I realised I was wasting my life. It all changed for me when I chanced upon Jeff Buckley’s music. When I heard him for the first time I was like, “How the hell do you do that?!” It brought a spark back and I started recording my own demos. One thing led to another and I came back to Mumbai to give it a shot.

You became a Bollywood playback singer, can you explain what that involved? As a playback singer you sing the songs in Bollywood films and an actor mimes it, which is quite surreal. In the first one I did the actor looked totally different to me – he was a big, beardy guy with short hair. I was looking around the theatre at everyone watching thinking how can’t you tell that voice does not belong to this man! In the first year I did it, I sang four really big songs, but I wanted to sing my original material. It was a bold move as you can earn a lot of money singing those songs all the time, but I needed to play my own music.

Did you feel there was a point where you would have to leave India to pursue music? It was very clear to me that if I wanted to make it I had to move. I had a manager in Australia and she got me some festivals and encouraged me to go to Nashville to grow as a songwriter. I worked with the songwriter Jeff Cohen, and travelled out there regularly for the next few years. People think it’s all country music but there’s so much more that happens there. The vibe is different, even the air is different. I learned to express my emotions in my lyrics.

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How do you find life on the road? I love it, to be able to sing and play my guitar to an audience of people who are listening to every word, mostly, although maybe not London so much! The UK feels like a second home now. I’ve been living here on and off since 2016 and it’s the only other city I’d consider staying in apart from Mumbai.

What’s your favourite song to perform? I love performing Take Me Home. I also do a cover of Take On Me and I enjoy pretending that I wrote it!

What’s the biggest misconception about you? That I have fake hair! No, I’m kidding. A lot of people think there should be sitars on every track, but I feel an instrument should be in a song because it belongs there and not to force the issue.

What music are you working on at the moment? I’ve just put out my EP Simple Kind Of Love, which I’m proud of. I’m really excited about a new song I’ve written with David Sneddon and Will Hicks who produced Ed Sheeran, which will be out early next year. I’ve also got a gig on 3rd

December at St Pancras Church, which will be just my guitar and me. I can’t wait.

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@nikhilmusic