We live in the era of singles: Jivitesh Kharbanda

Perhaps the biggest appeal of the show business is its aspirational aspect. Numerous young and idealistic talents have dreamed of achieving success and the consequent fame and money. However, only a select few can attain it. Jivitesh Kharbanda, an emerging independent artist, is firmly on the path to success. This is aptly proven by his latest single ‘Thehre Hum Kyun’ — the third in a year – which released worldwide in February.
Kharbanda started his musical journey as a bass guitarist ten years ago. After experimenting with different genres of music, he eventually found himself most attracted to music production. He moved to Mumbai to pursue this difficult yet rewarding path. Yet he continues to be an active bass guitarist, claiming that as his first love. He is one of the founding members of the sufi-band ‘Nasha’; and is also a session bass guitarist that holds the distinction of performing with a plethora of famous Bollywood singers including the likes of Amaal Malik, Harshdeep Kaur, Jasleen Royal, Jonita Gandhi, Nikhita Gandhi, Shilpa Rao, Shashwat Singh, Gajendra Verma, Rasika Shekhar among others. He has participated in various reality shows, with an appearance on both ‘Idea Rocks India’ and ‘Rock on’ which were aired on the channels Colors and MTV respectively. This led to opportunities where he appeared on MTV Unplugged with Diljit Dosanjh, and played bass for the song ‘First Class’ in the Bollywood film ‘Kalank’.
The kind of growth that Kharbanda has witnessed in a short span is quite an achievement. “Growing up, I never had any sort of musical training. I just explored my way around the instruments and the music, by constantly checking out new practices and techniques on YouTube and imitating popular artists that I follow. In the last few years, I have cleared the Rock School grade exam Level 6 and received a few other certifications too, but primarily, I am a self-taught musician!”, he says with a smile.
An understanding of different instruments and the melding of sounds gave way to his interest in producing and performing music. His first single Udta Panchi released in 2019. Then came his single called Beimaan, which garnered loads of attention across music platforms, followed by Baatein last October. Thehre Hum Kyun saw a February release and his next single Faasley launches in April.
His journey from bass guitarist to music producer was also fortuitous and unplanned. A track he made as an accompaniment to his YouTube web series ‘Jivi on the Bass’, called Udta Panchi, became extremely successful. This led to him releasing it as a single under the Times Music banner, as a composer/music producer.
When asked why he chooses to release only singles, he responds that it is a strategic move on his part. “I believe that we are in an era of singles. There was a time when people used to release entire albums, as that was considered the ideal way to launch your music. But I feel it is difficult to attract people’s attention to each song in an album. Releasing a single offers more mileage to my work as it attracts attention to the song itself,” he says. After all, the idea is for people to hear and appreciate the range of music equally.
Thehre Hum Kyun, is perhaps his most soulful and passionate rendition yet, as it embodies the feeling of parting ways. The song speaks of an imaginative force driving a person forward in hitherto unexplored directions. For Kharbanda particularly, the song signifies his journey – challenging and rewarding in equal measure. He questions why people must stop in the pursuit of their dreams when self-belief and talent can take them through with ease. To realise their goals, they must continually move forward, believing in their destinies. One can access the song on YouTube, Spotify, and all other premium music channels.
The pandemic and lockdown have dealt different hands for everyone, and for Kharbanda, the cards seem to have been favourable. “Since I was busy travelling all the time for my shows, I never got enough time to work on my songs. This period gave me the time to work on my singles and I got a chance to release so many over the last few months,” he says with conviction. Kharbanda’s star is on the rise and there is just no stopping him from hereon.