Rhythm Divine

What are the plans for your trip to India this October?
After my last visit to India,I’m just dying to be there again. I plan to catch some Indian food when I come to India. Indian music is amazing and it’s making waves across the world.

Euphoria is your ninth studio album. How has the response been till now?
Euphoria is very close to my heart. I was with Monte Lipman,the President of Universal Republic,listening to the album and he was like ‘You know that the minute we put this album out,you’re going to have to start working on your next album.’ And believe me,the kind of response I’ve got,I think I should start working on my next album immediately. I have not collaborated before like I have for this album. People really like all the tracks. They sing with me when I’m performing. They connect with the music. My fans absolutely love it. I feel I’ve done justice to them.

Why did you call the album Euphoria? And why did it take you three years to come up with this one?
I called this album Euphoria because I feel I was able to find four or five magical,euphoric moments that truly,truly made me happy,and made me enthusiastic,extremely enthusiastic about the album.

You have collaborated with a lot of other artists,including Akon and Usher in this album. How was the experience of working with them?
I didn’t think of the collaborations until the songs were written. Once the song was written,I would say ‘Ok,who would it be cool to do this song with?’ and in the case of Akon and Usher,I knew them from before. Usher and I had been speaking for quite some time,actually a bunch of years,and we’re friends. So we said ‘Ok,it would be cool if we could collaborate.’ The one with Akon just happened. RedOne and I were in the studio and Akon went by. He heard the song and was like,‘Let me jump on the second verse.’ It wasn’t planned.

It was a great fun experience. The only song that was actually planned is Heartbeat — a duet with Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls and I wrote it with her in mind. In case of the song that I have done with Mark Taylor,we had actually given up. We had written two other songs before that and didn’t feel that they were good for a collaboration. Once we thought the session was over,we were having a beer and started to play those chords on the piano,and the melody came out,and that’s how that song came about. That’s a funny thing,or the scary thing about making albums. You never know when you’re going to stumble upon a moment that’s magical. Also it’s scary,because when you look back at it,you think ‘That night,we could have just given up,and probably gone out to get something to eat,and never come back to the studio.’ But for some reason we just stayed there,we drank a beer and Mark sat at the piano and the tune just happened.

Which is your favourite track?
My favourite track from the album is I like it. It’s the first single. I tried not to over think the songs. I just said ‘Ok,whatever comes out,comes out,let it be about having fun. Don’t overthink it,just do it.

How do you feel about Indian Bollywood music and Indian classical music? What are you familiar with?
Any plans to collaborate with Indian artistes?
Indian music has a lot of soul. Well,I have heard the music of AR Rehman. I heard his song Jai Ho with Pussycat Dolls and I really liked it a lot.