While surfing through Youtube this track came up “Tukda”, the name itself was ‘hatke’. After listening to the song I realised, it is something that every person goes through. In the hustle and bustle of life, we forget to enjoy our life itself. So let me introduce you to Aditya Kambhampati, the person behind the beautiful track of ‘Tukda’. Let’s have a look at what he has to say about ‘Tukda’ and his passion for life.
1. Can you give a brief about yourself?
This is almost like a cool version of a job interview. Reminds me of the days I sat for campus placements.
Aditya is just your guy-next-door, a regular Bombay guy, who loves eating all sorts of foods, hanging out with friends, have a couple of drinks at times and yeah also likes music. So, music and football have been the two main driving factors in my life since childhood.
Unfortunately, I can’t pursue football as a practical career option, so I’m trying my hand in music.
2. Tell us about your new song. What is ‘Tukda’ all about?
‘Tukda’ is actually a piece of your life — a piece of your world. You obviously can’t have the world, so relishing the piece in your hand is what tukda is all about.
- Inspiration
The inspiration is clearly from my life experiences. I see and hear many people saying I hate my job, and I want to quit my job, wow you’re so lucky you have something to fall back upon, you can follow your passion and what not–what hit me is that they never realise where they are and what it truly means. To be very honest ‘Tukda’ is about being grateful for what you have in life and still try to thrive for more. I am very grateful to my days in the corporate bank job, and I have no shame in admitting it. So that’s it. - Motive
Motive, as I said, it’s just to talk about how relevant the world around you is, and one should always relish it. People spend a lifetime cursing their lives. - Message
Very clearly, I didn’t want to disrespect the corporate desk job or the working-class. I have immense respect for the people who work hard to earn a living and support their loved ones. So the message was to take a break, get away from the grind and peep into your soul. That’s all.
3. Passionate about music, then why still in corporate life?
That’s a tough one — I don’t know for sure, but as of now, I think I am still learning both sides. I’m still working on my musical skills. Also, as of now, I am able to maintain a balance between both the worlds and trust me; it’s not that difficult. The avenues in music for me as of now are limited, so I am working in a bank. The bank job helps me to be on my toes and helps me to be disciplined. No matter how many open mics I’ve attended, no matter how long I’ve been working on a song and mixing it in the night, I have to wake up at 6.30 and hit the office at 9. I think that helps. Plus it gives me a lot of content and inspiration to go back home and work on songs. Besides, the bank job helps me pay my bills for sure as of now.
4. I have noticed an odd alarm time in the song, why so?
It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t even there when we were shooting the indoor parts of the video. However, yeah my alarm also is set on some random time and it snoozes that’s why I guess it’s odd–I can’t say for sure.
5. How is this song related to you?
If you have noticed, the guy in the video (Ayaz Merchant) is doing many things, which I usually do every day. Moreover, as I’ve already said it comes straight from my life.
6. In the song, you are missing someone. Are you really missing someone?
No, I don’t think so. I am a pretty content soul as of now, touchwood. The only thing I miss is, maybe some good sleep. I should really be getting more hours of sleep regularly.
7. Why are shoot locations essential for any song?
To make it clear, everybody need not go to scenic landscapes to shoot their songs. It’s just that while composing this one, I always had a road trip in my head and hence we went to Tahmini ghats and shot it. It was one hell of a ride. We woke up at 5 in the morning and literally shot it the whole day till we felt we had enough footage material to edit. Lal the director of the song, I’m sure is still not happy because he didn’t get a few shots in daylight. However, you can’t have it all. I think the output turned out to be pretty decent.
8. Why Indie song?
In the past couple of years, I’ve heard many Indie artists, and after listening to them, I felt wow this is something I want to try. I think Indie gives you that extra bit of a room to experiment and to be imperfect, which is incredible. Also, to be honest, no music label has approached me. Being Indie is also an attempt to reach out to the world and help them have access to my stuff which is really good. Indie is empowering in many ways.
9. Will you go for a Passion driven life?
Yeah yeah of course! I don’t see a reason why somebody wouldn’t. However, again depends on what is one’s idea of passion? Passion, I think, is a misused term for the sake of drama and always associated with arts and sports. Also, the term passion is too romanticised. People can be really passionate about anything, and they don’t need to pursue it as a career option necessarily. The most important thing is, to be honest to it and keep in touch with it every now and then.
10. How do you manage work-life with music?
As I said, it’s not as hard as people make it sound. My work at the office ends at 7. I literally have at least 6 hours before I sleep. I use it to perform at open mics and get feedback on my songs or spend time alone composing, playing around with notes, figuring out what works what doesn’t and maybe program a track on my laptop. It’s enjoyable and consumes a lot of me and helps me sleep well in the night. It’s all about having a good night sleep in the end, you know.
11. If given a choice to pick between music and job, what you will choose, and why?
My goal is to make a living out of music and performing arts. I’ve been very clear about it, and I will do whatever I can in my capacity to achieve it. However, I need to be calculative and not go all out.
12. Music is life, true or false? If true, then what is a job?
That’s subjective. For a musician who pursues it professionally, it may be life. For someone who doesn’t, it’s just a good source of entertainment. Moreover, then there are few who appreciate art and are passionate about it but as listeners or somebody who has a life besides it. For me, I grew up listening to music and singing songs and want to have a life doing original songs; eventually, I could as well say music is an essential part of my life.
13. Any suggestion for our readers, who wants to pursue their goal, how and what can they do?
I don’t think I would be the ideal person to be telling someone what to do with their lives, but all I can say is be honest and invest time in doing what you like. However, also smartly detach yourself from it as and when needed. You can’t be obsessed about something, especially your own craft. That’s a curse if you ask me. Once you’re done with something, you should get going. Detaching helps you make your essence sharper and fresher.
14. Lastly, the real reason for anyone to listen to your song.
To get chill feels. The song is also like a warm hug, and frankly, it would work in many setups, like – house parties, long drives, holidays, alone time late in the night and more. It’s also not too loud, so yeah it makes for a decent listen especially amongst all the hustle in the outside world. I won’t get into the technicalities and lyrics part of if because that’s subjective and I want people to have their own interpretations because it’s their song and not mine anymore. So I don’t want to lead them into something; they can have their own stories about the song and I would love to hear them.
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