Kerala-based multilingual singer Kapil talks about exploring different aspects of programming, composing and music production.
Kerala-based multilingual singer Kapil talks about exploring different aspects of programming, composing and music production.
Kapil Kapilan’s singing career can be divided into before and after ‘Aadiye’. viral track of tamil movie bachelor (2021), starring GV Prakash Kumar and Divya Bharti, gave him opportunities in all South Indian languages.
In fact, it is after ‘Aadiye’ that Kapil got his break in Malayalam in his mother tongue – he has sung it Bhishmaparvam (‘sky’), night drive (‘Pati Pathi’) and pathrosinte padappukkal (‘Thianu’). He has projects in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, the recent one being multilingual Hey Sita Hey RamStarring Dulquer Salmaan for composer Vishal Chandrasekhar.
“I have been in the industry since 2017. It took five years to get recognition. Aadiye changed everything for me. I also recently won the award for Best Upcoming Singer!”
A native of Kottarakkara in Kollam district, he moved to Chennai after graduating to focus on music. “my father [CR Madhusoodanan Pillai] Introduced me to all kinds of music. I have taken training in Carnatic music since childhood and it continued till my graduation.
Kapil told his college life in Thiruvananthapuram [at Mar Ivanios College] Inspired him to delve deeper into music. “I used to perform with a band, the Renegades, when I was in college. It was through my friends that I came to know about AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory in Chennai. So, even though my family wanted me to get a secure job, I had decided to move to Chennai and learn music,” he says.
In Chennai, he took lessons from musicians like Sriram and Sriram Parthasarathy. After that he learned sound engineering from Muzik Lounge School of Audio Technology, Chennai.
“After completing my course in sound engineering, I had plans to cover. Since I knew some sound engineers, I could give them my CD with the demo track. got a call from me [composers] Pritam, DSP (Devi Sri Prasad), Gopi Sundar… Though I was excited about it, I didn’t know how to go about it and so I missed out on those opportunities,” he recalls.
Singer Kapil Kapilan | photo credit: special arrangement
Nevertheless, in 2017, DSP gave him a break in Telugu with the song ‘Champesave Nannu’ in the film Nenu Local, In the same year he made his Kannada debut with ‘Baduke Ninentha Natak’. Happy New Year Composed by Raghu Dixit and in Tamil with ‘Uiredukkum’ Maragatha Nanayam Same for Dhibu Ninan Thomas.
“After my first project with Dhibu, I asked him if I could work with him and he agreed. I was his colleague on his next project, Kana, In between, I sang for Telugu and Kannada films. However, my career in Malayalam did not progress. Demonetisation stopped many projects including films in other languages. i sang for the king [Ilaaiyaraja] Sir too. But that film didn’t get a proper release.”
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Kapil is excited that in Dhibu’s latest Tamil release, nenjuku fund (remake of Hindi film Article 15) starring Udayanidhi Stalin, he has worked as an additional programmer. “It is progress for me. Initially I used to do vocal layering. But I am taking lessons from Dhibu in other aspects of programming and production. It is interesting to experiment that I have learned something new and come up with something different,” they say.
Kapil says it is a part of being alive in the music industry. “I may not always get playback opportunities. Music is what I do 24×7 and I want it to be like that. Still, I thought it was always better to seek other avenues. The background in sound engineering and music production also puts me in a good position when I sing or record a song in my studio,” says Kapil.
He plans to become a musician, that too with independent projects. “It’s a dream to do a live show of my own songs,” he says.
A huge fan of veteran Assamese musician Bhupen Hazarika, especially his songs in Bengali, Kapil says he wants to sing in multiple languages. “I grew up listening to Bengali and Hindi songs. There are some beautiful lullabies in Bengali. Although I don’t know Bangla, I find the language soulful, probably because of its composition, arrangement and singing. Also, like many other singers of the current generation, I have followed many Indian and Pakistani musicians such as Jagjit Singh, Ghulam Ali and Abida Parveen. To name a few,” he says.
Recently, he has been exploring a new genre – sports music. “There are a lot of people who listen to music to be used in mobile/video games and I think it will be exciting to get into the production side of that branch of music.”