Musician Rabbi Shergill: ‘I do get treated more like a political activist than a cultural artist. It can get tiring’

Almost two decades after Bulla ki Jaana was first released, how would you describe your experience/journey?

The journey had its moments, it’s had its twists and turns, but ultimately I could not stray from the path that my inner momentum dictated.

You were among the first independent aristes to include Sufi in rock music. Do you think that helped you click with the masses when you started out?

I did not think of Sufiyana as a marketable commodity. I sang the kalam which meant something to me personally. What may have clicked with the masses is perhaps the fresh and heartfelt invocation of it. KJ Singh’s (audio engineer/music producer) sterling production may have also had a role in it.

And what do you think has helped you stay relevant all these years?

I tried my best to be true to my artistic perceptions and put great effort into conveying them faithfully. Perhaps that may have had a role in staying relevant.

But, we do not hear/get to see you as much as we would like to… what has kept you away from the public eye?

I trained a lot to be a decent singer/songwriter, guitarist, and producer, but post-2007 it became evident that I needed to become a filmmaker, marketer, and a social media influencer. I felt those robbed me of the innocence needed to be a true artist. Therefore scaling down the scope of my art seemed preferable to diluting its essence.

Your music is very different from the kind of music originating from Punjab these days — your views on the same.

My music has always been different from that of Punjab as I was born and bred in Delhi. Because of my distance from geographical Punjab, I was able to tap into a timeless Punjabi consciousness, bypassing some of the contemporary pitfalls.

You have always been pretty vocal when it comes to political issues and other matters of concern. Has being raw ever drawn criticism for you?

It’s not something I am aware of, but I do get treated more like a political activist than a cultural artist. It can get tiring.

As much as it is rewarding to be an artiste, the fame and limelight (and the negatives associated with the same) can sometimes take a toll on one’s mental health. How do you manage to strike a balance?

I don’ think you can strike a balance. You can try to be functional at best. To be overly balanced may come in the way of genuine artistic inspiration. I just try to cope with the aid of traditional Indian good living suggestions. Health and wellness has been always linked to our tradition, and events such as Swasthyam area great way to re-explore it.

Tell us about your performance at the Global Festival of Wellness.

I feel it’s a veritable two-way connection in that good health might produce good music and vice versa. I often find music acts like a binder of community. The kind of music a people consume can guide the kind of bond that may form between them. And Swasthyam can be a fertile land for such seeds to grow.

How challenging is it for an artiste to keep reinventing themselves to keep in sync with the changing audience tastes?

In the context of longevity in pop culture it is important but, in the context of remaining true to one’s art and perceptions, a bit overrated. A lot of people I admire didnt care reinventing their music or appearances and still their art enriched me immeasurably: I think of people like Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, U2 and Sting and feel reassured that authenticity perhaps trumps all.

Your views on the evolution of the music industry, since you started.

That’s a lot of ground to cover. The big difference is the shift from corporate publishing to self. Even if the latter was an imperfect system, there was still quality check happening. With a lot of self-publishing the guardrails just came off and a lot of our problematic tendencies found amplification and acceptance. For instance, no questionable material could get through the filters of producer, artists and repertoire, TV and  radio oversight but with direct-to-social media publishing all that went for a toss.