1.Tell us more about your background and journey.
I am Siddharth Slathia, a singer-composer hailing from a tiny village called Gurha Slathian in Jammu. I come from a typical middle-class Indian family, my mother is a school teacher and father is a bank employee, and I am the only child. I was raised in a typical middle-class setting, just like majority of Indian parents, my parents also just wanted me to get good education and become an engineer or a doctor.
No one in my family had any musical background, not even a pinch of it. However, since I was as little as 6-7 years old, I had an inclination towards music. My parents always used to play old hindi songs of Rafi Sahab, Kishore Kumar Ji, Lata ji, Asha Ji and other legends. As I grew up to be a teenager, my mother used to write lyrics of all these old songs in a diary for me (back then we didn’t have technology to simply get them from google!).
I used to hum these songs at home but it wasn’t anything serious. It was just a hobby to listen to music and sing along. While I was doing my +2 at school, this hobby of mine got in trouble and I started getting too attracted to music that it started to affect my grades.
So one day, my father burnt my diary. Coming from a middle class background, my parents wanted me to be in a safe profession. So even though my 12th standard grades were not up to the mark, my parents paid some “donation” to an engineering college and sent me all the way to Jaipur to study engineering.
Once I got to Jaipur, I used to sing for my college friends and even in college festivals as an amateur and people always appreciated my singing. Then a friend told me about Justin Bieber's story and how he rose to success through youtube.
So I started uploading on youtube and back then in 2009, there was hardly anyone from India doing bollywood song covers on youtube. Then released 3 Idiots and it moved me so much that I decided to quit Engineering and study music.
So I started learning music from a guru as well as pursued a bachelors degree in music from jammu while doing youtube at the same time. Since that day, I am still around on social media as an artist.
2.When did you first decide you wanted to pursue music and how did you start?
I was sent to the city of Qawwals to study Engineering! So I thought if I go to Jaipur to study engineering, I can learn music at the same time since it is the city of Qawwals. So I went to Jaipur, started studying engineering but my heart was simply not in it, I was just craving for music.
My grades were really bad as I was just not able to focus in my studies. Then came the 25th of December 2009 – the day that changed my life. This was the day when Aamir Khan’s movie 3 Idiots released.
I watched it once on the day of release and twice the next day, and that movie inspired me so much to follow my heart and passion that I decided to quit engineering. I picked up the phone and rang my mother and told her I wanted to quit engineering and study music. My parents were so worried, they rushed from Jammu to Jaipur to make me understand.
I quit engineering and started taking lessons from an Ustaad in Jaipur. I used to do riyaaz for 7 to 8 hours a day. At this point, a friend of mine gave me an example of Justin Bieber and suggested I should start uploading my videos on youtube as it’s a platform where you can showcase your talent for free and if the audience likes your work, you can become a star sitting at home just like justin bieber.
So I created a youtube channel and uploaded a hindi cover song with new lyrics of own and changed composition. At this point in 2009, there were hardly 2 or 3 people from India doing bollywood covers on youtube.
So naturally I was scared but I took the plunge and the cover I uploaded instantly went viral but the original makers did not like the fact that a cover was gaining that much popularity and issued a copyright strike.
I uploaded it again and they striked again. It happened the third time and boom! my channel got deleted. Obviously I was so new to youtube back then and had no idea about the copyright strikes etc. But after these experiences, I learnt how it all works. Then I created a new channel in 2010 which is what you see on the internet right now.
3. Who is your favourite artist and why?
I like many artists but my idol is Mohd Rafi Sahab and from the modern singers, Sonu Nigam ji. Both of them are so versatile and there is just so much learn from just listening to them.
4. Can you throw some light on opportunities one gets as a singer?
Well, one gets to perform all across the world, get to see new cultures, meet new people. You get paid for doing what you like doing the most!
5. Is format training required or can one train themselves purely on the basis of talent?
Yes, if one wants to be as versatile as Sonu Nigam or Arijit Singh or Javed Ali. One needs to be trained in "light" Indian classical to be able to sing bollywood songs of the semi-classical genre.
Without formal "light" classical training, this is not possible. However, there are many singers who are not trained in classical and are yet very talented naturally like Shaan and KK.
6. What piece of advice would you like to give to future and aspiring artists?
To find your original style of singing. A lot of new age singers tend to copy other successful singers' styles. It is perfectly fine to get inspired but copying someone else's style would not work in the long run. Get inspiration from everyone and find your own style!
Interviewed by - Srishti Udani
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