Weekend Exclusive | Performer first singer later: Kailash Kher

He debuted with his soulful voice in an unconventional movie. Though his screen presence lasted for a few minutes the small guy with a guitar and a very folk feel to his voice has lasted for a lot more than just minutes. He has not only brought a pathbreaking change in playback singing but also affected the country's music industry in a big way. Yes, we are talking about none other than Kailash Kher.

Small though he might seem given his height, he is a powerhouse performer and his stage presence like his voice drives the audiences' energy very high. From making it big in Bollywood, Kailash moved to forming a band called Kailasa with musicians Paresh and Naresh Kamath. The band's first track Teri Deewani was a huge success, which went to make the band's first self-titled album a very successful one. While the album had music for all the emotions the underlying thought of unconditional love remained constant through all its tracks.

Recently Fever 104 FM had organised Fever Unplugged where Kailasa performed and mesmerized the music lovers. Fever Unplugged is a series of concerts organized by Fever Entertainment.

Fever Entertainment has signed on Kailash and Kailasa to create a series of Fever Unplugged concerts. The first in a series of Fever Unplugged initiatives to celebrate pure and unplugged music was held in Mumbai in December 2010.

Adgully caught up with the man himself to know more about his soulful journey and his "love" for music.

Talking about the show and audience expectation from the band, he says, "Audience can expect us to perform some songs which we have not really performed elsewhere. We have composed these tracks for our album but we have never really performed them much because we mostly have played our famous tracks. We do not always get an opportunity to sing the lesser known tracks of our albums but at Fever Unplugged concerts we are looking forward to perform those tracks."

Further talking about the band Kailasa, he adds, "We formed the band in the year 2004 and from then to until now we have performed in over 500 concerts across the globe. We are one of the busiest Indian bands and we perform in many major international festivals. However at times we have not been able to take up a few invites because we are constanly performing and hence there have been date issues owing to prior commitments."

Kailash says that the band does not believe in classifying the band as a Sufi or Pop band. "We do not recognise ourselves with a particular genre. We believe in calling ourselves Kailasa. If you ask me which genre of music we perform, I would say we perform Kailasa. And Kailasa means heavenly," he adds.

He further adds that the Indian music industry now has opened up to a lot of different genres of music other than just Pop or Bollywood. "We ourselves never thought of being so successful and making it big. But our music was much appreciated and we got our due recognition," Kailash humbly adds.

Kailash's soulful voice has not been limited to just Bollywood or the band- Kailasa, but he has sung many songs for the South Indian movie industry and which have been very well received. "It was a very good experience to sing in a different language. I think it was just by fluke that I delivered a hit initially, following which I got many offers," he says light heatedly.

Kailash believes it is very important for a singer to be a performer, he quickly adds, "I believe I am a performer first and a singer later."

When asked what he thinks about the talent shows that are being telecast on TV, Kailash says, "It is a very good initiative. Over the five years the music industry has gone through a lot of change and the reality formats have only added positively towards the change."

While signing off, he smiles and as a message for young talents, says, "Be focused. Be honest." | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]