Can’t Wait to Get On With Real-Life On-Ground Shows; Lots Of Exciting Things in 2021: Shaan

by  Komal Darji Entertainment | December 29, 2020 | Interview

Shaan Paytm Insider Jim Beam Originals

Bollywood playback singer and composer Shaan is among the most versatile singers of the decade. He has traversed almost all the genres including pop, patriotic songs, jazz, ghazals, hip-hop, rock and many more. Recently, he performed at the Jim Beam Originals gig on December 26, 2020.

In an exclusive interview with EVENTFAQs Media, Shaan shares his experience of performing for virtual events and concerts and some lockdown stories. He also talks about difficulties while performing virtually and unveils some future plans.

Share your experience while performing for virtual events/concerts. How different has it been from the on-ground experience?
Performing online for virtual events, concerts is the new normal now. I’ve done quite a few of them and by now, we're quite comfortable. I have been doing Television over all these years and performing to the camera, so I'm not new to it. The experience helped in making me more comfortable, but of course, you can’t compare it to the real thing. I mean, every time you finish a song, there’s pin-drop silence when you are generally used to the applause and the cheer. You miss that and I can’t wait to get on with the real-life on-ground shows. Until then, this is good too, it's better than nothing.

How did the lockdown treat you? Tell us some stories from your lockdown experience.
For me personally, the lockdown has been quite comfortable because my wife very smartly kept our staff at home itself. So, we had help in the house for everything. In fact, more than normal because otherwise, by evening, everyone used to leave. But now, even dinner was being served. I know a lot of people must be really, really jealous of my situation, but no complaints. We watched lots of movies, I kept up my riyaaz, my workouts, made a lot of music because I have a studio and a gym at home. So, lockdown was actually not that bad for me.

Tell us about your USP. How do you keep the crowd on their toes when you are on stage?
My USP as a performer would be that I like to keep a lot of things instantaneous. I don't plan my set for the team. I like to just go with the flow, react to how the audiences are behaving, and then choose a setlist accordingly. I take requests. I break into whatever I feel like. Basically, the USP is that I believe if I'm having fun, if I'm having a good time and I'm giving my 100% onstage, people are going to enjoy it. I don't believe in a staged show. It's always spontaneous and there's always room for something unexpected.

Merging the client brief with creative liberties during Live performances - how difficult is it to balance both?
As a client brief, if the corporate has certain ideologies or a reason to why they're doing the show - to create employee engagement, or to charge the sales team or whatever it is, I think it's very important to design a show along those lines because at the end of the day, there's a certain reason why they want to do this and if you can help them achieve that, it's a good thing. Also, just as the audience is connected to you as an artiste, they're also connected with the corporate. If you can create a good merger, a good marriage of performance and keeping the client’s brief in mind, then it's a good thing. It allows me to try different things depending on what the brief is, and it breaks the monotony of my performance.

Tell us about your future plans. Any major events in the pipeline? What next and what new from Shaan? 
As a person, I don’t make future plans but I make present plans. Every day is a new day and every day, I have new ideas in my head. Some of them get executed. Some of them are just left as ideas. So, lots of such ideas, lots of such plans, and I go with the flow. Quite a few songs that I have sung should be out in 2021. I've been composing lately. All that is going on and there’s also a television show that should start from 2021 on Zee TV. So, lots of exciting things for me in 2021.