Karthik Iyer talks about his journey in the music industry

With Aravaan, Karthik Iyer has graduated from most-wanted singer to a promising music composer and we love him all the more for it.

DNA chatted up with the good-looker about his decade-long journey in the music industry.

How do you view your journey from a backing vocalist to singer to a music composer?
It’s been 10 years since I started and it’s been quite a long journey. I go with my gut feeling and what my gut says. I believe that everything happens for the best.

Your songs for Aravaan seem to have been influenced from various genres of music, especially Hindustani classical music.
I have been trained in Hindustani classical music and maybe it’s because of that. Aravaan was a totally different experience even though it was my first film. I had to do a lot of homework for it. I tried to bring in lot of varieties in terms of musical genres, as the movie was a period folk tale, so I could not have gone just electronic. The only option I had was different styles of the music that could contribute to a new sound. I pushed myself to explore various kinds of music genres. I also tried to bring in an Afro vocal kind of a experience. I gave it my best shot and also enjoyed while doing so.

Was it easy to choose the singers for Aravaan?
I won’t say it was easy or difficult but interesting because in most cases I can read the singer’s mind. That’s where my mind goes first as a vocalist. In a lot of circumstances it’s easy, but what I try to do is to keep the singer away when I am choosing a vocalist for a song as I don’t want to be biased. Also, I don’t look at it from a singer’s perspective. I’d rather look at it from a composer’s perspective.

What other projects do you have in hand now?
I have recorded for the next Selvaraj movie and also have a few other Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam movies. On the composing front, I am doing a Telugu film called Okkadiné and will also soon start work on a Tamil and Telugu film.

You mentioned Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi but what about Kannada?
I have recorded a few songs and they are under production. Forgive me for not knowing the names of the films. (smiles)

Would you shift your base to Bollywood if given a chance?
I would not mind that at all.

Have you received any acting offers?
Yes! That keeps happening but acting is not my cup of tea. I am really bad in front of the camera (laughs).

Ok, so you are not comfortable with acting right now. But would you consider it say, some years down the line?
I don’t really think so. Music is so much of a part of me. Shifting from a singer to a composer was manageable, but going from singing to acting is like switching from singing to choreography. It’s like a huge jump which I cannot handle. I would like to focus on singing.

And finally, what’s  your current favorite song?
There are lots of songs in my mind but the only song I can think of right now would be Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh...