Social Media Star of The Week: Kamakshi Khanna
For being the first Indian indie musician going the Jacob Collier way, going viral and starting a trend that other musicians are following
“I completely stole Jacob Collier’s idea for this Reels. I thought it was great that he had put out a set of harmonies and you could sing over him,” says Delhi musician Kamakshi Khanna, 28, whose Reels remix of her first original Hindi composition, Qareeb, went viral recently.
Collaboration celebration
Collaborating seemed the best way to celebrate the song hitting 100k streams on Spotify, so she provided the backing vocals via harmonies, all a cappella, and left it for the person trying the Reels remix to sing the main lines. She even went first as an example. “I’m bored of making music alone. You can be inspired by others and this remix option allows that!”
Was there any self-doubt? “A part of me thought ‘why would people sing your song?’ Then 100 people were trying it out! I didn’t know so many people even knew the song,” she says. Her Reels remix has people not just singing, but playing instruments. Plus, celebs like Benny Dayal sang as well.
“I know Benny had done the Jacob Collier challenge. He’s a connoisseur of challenges on Instagram!” says Kamakshi. Her sister Akshiena, an incredible singer herself, also tried it out.
Before Kamakshi released Qareeb, her following was 12k and today, it’s 25k. “It’s quite crazy what we’ve been able to achieve,” she says, crediting her manager, Deepika Seth. Though social media is only a workspace for Kamakshi.
WFH
Her The Green Room Sessions on YouTube have added to her popularity. Here she releases raw, stripped down versions of the songs she’s writing. She recently did one with the Friends OST by The Rembrandts, which also went viral.
What’s next? She has collaborated with producer-songwriter OAFF, Urdu poet and singer-songwriter Sameer Rahat, and drummer Karun Kannampilly, for her next release, a Hindi song titled Duur. All while sitting at their respective homes!
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From HT Brunch, June 13, 2021
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