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...