MUMBAI: Chennai based singer-songwriter Mili Nair has been working with India’s living jazz legend and Grammy Award Nominee Louiz Banks on several projects.
“It happened suddenly. After working with him, I am in even more in awe of Louiz Banks. Yes, I am doing some work with him and it has just started. I am very much looking forward to working with him,” said an excited Nair, who felt it was too soon to disclose the nature of the work. She had performed with Banks at the close of the first leg of the Admissions Fair at the True School of Music, Mumbai, on 9 March.
Still in the nascent stages, the artiste confirmed that she is looking at doing concerts with Banks where she will be performing his compositions. “I love performing jazz. I improvise quite a bit and that is something that Louiz Banks likes and encourages. I have had the chance to sing his compositions with him, which was something on a wish list that came true,” she said.
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The singer has had some very good recording done in 2014 so far; her latest release being ‘Tumse Pyaar Ho Gaya’ from the film ‘Shaadi Ke Side Effects’. Her song ‘Meethi Boliyaan’ composed by Amit Trivedi received several nominations and was her entry into the Bollywood music industry.
When asked what she feels about being picked up by renowned composers, Nair said, “You need to have your own sound and a distinct voice and I strive for that. In the end it is about bringing your personality to the music. AR Rahman uses people for their voice and its quality and I had the chance to work with him. And that is exactly what I take away from learning and working with people like Amit and Rahman; be yourself and do something different with your music. I strive to do varied work and get people to like me for my voice.”
Nair believes in experimenting with her sound and feels that the best place for it is advertisements, something she enjoys lending her voice to. She explains, “In Jazz, I experiment with my singing, which had helped me be versatile with my singing in this industry where the styles are so varied. I try to bring in a little of it in the different Bollywood forms in terms of creativity.”
Expressing her feeling about 2013, Nair said, “God has been so kind to me. Just to do good work in the first year itself is a blessing.” She is working towards releasing her debut solo album mid 2014.
