Singer- musician Adnan Sami has been romancing melody from the age of five and all his non-film songs, he says, are inspired/borrowed from chapters in his life. His latest album Press Play is an eclectic mix of different genres. Excerpts from the interview:
The album includes a Punjabi and a Sufi track — both are something you’d never done before…
Deep inside I’m a highly spiritual person. I didn’t want to force myself to do a Sufi song but wanted it to come naturally. And with the kind of turmoil I was going through, I was actually seeking God’s grace and that’s how the song Ali Ali happened. I speak fluent Punjabi and for the longest time my Punju friends used to tell me, ‘You’ve sung in Tamil and Malayalam, but never in Punjabi.’ And it just happened that I was in a whacko mood one day when I wrote the song. It was a lot of fun.
Why the name Press Play?
It is precisely because there are so many different styles and genres that the album encompasses. If I’d have called it Ali you’d think it’s a Sufi album. So I thought let the people just put the CD in the system and press play. And that became the name (laughs)!
The album comes after almost a five-year hiatus. What took you so long?
I needed a story to tell about myself. I always use music as an expression of myself. It is a way of telling my story to the world. Maybe I’ll write a biography too one day… But also I’m writing my biography through music.
So what tales does the album tell?
A lot happened to me in the last five years. I lost my father — a loss that I’m still trying to deal with — which made me write a song called Baba, dedicated to him and to all the fathers in the world… Roya (my wife) came into my life — that was a lovely change. The first single of the album is called Roya and I’m glad that people are receiving it so well.
What makes your songs so popular?
Simplicity! The success of a song depends on whether or not the listener is able to relate to it. My songs are projections of the situations I’m going through in my personal life. Be it a heartbreak song or a Lift Kara De. But when I sit down to write it I write in a way that anyone can relate to them.
What’s next in store?
A promotional tour in the US and Canada, few film projects; also in a next couple of months I’ll be acting in a film.
