Raghav Mathur: People crave authenticity today

Last year, Indo-Canadian singer Raghav Mathur aka Raghav’s 2004 chartbuster Teri Baaton went viral on social media. While the Angel Eyes hitmaker was excited about it, he was simultaneously working on another single, Desperado, which marked his collaboration with Jalebi Baby fame Tesher. Here, Raghav talks about the importance of staying authentic and why he kept low-key for a while

Missing the music of early 2000s

Mathur admits that unlike today, the focus would only be on the craft back in the day: “People crave authenticity, as it’s severely lacking today. The way people reference the 2000s shows a mindset that they crave something that is lacking now. Musicians of that generation were led by heart and not just by numbers.”

On adapting to changing times

Ask if he believes that musicians should take to the current trends and keep reinventing themselves to stay relevant and Mathur feels staying authentic is imperative. He explains, “Musicians should be themselves — real. My latest song, Desperado, connected with people because they knew it’s genuinely me. Experimentation is not always synonymous with innovation. You don’t have to lose your personality and flavour as an artiste to stay relevant. Sometimes, artistes struggle because they deviate from authenticity.

On long gaps between releases

The musician hasn’t been releasing music frequently. He says he has “lots of reasons” for that. “The whole landscape of pop changed and the stage we had created was no longer there. Also, I had a beautiful baby girl, Riya, seven years ago. So, all these years, I didn’t mind fatherhood taking the front seat.

On Bollywood musicians releasing independent music

Over the last couple of years, a lot of Hindi film musicians – composers as well as singers – have taken to indie music. Explaining what might have drawn them towards it, Mathur says, “Freedom! Independent music is the only way to retain full control over how you express yourself.”