Papon: Remixes go wrong if you haven't lived the original song

MUMBAI: Singer Angaraag Mahanta -- or Papon, as he is popularly known -- says people who make remixes "ride on a popular song to become popular". He believes that a remix can go wrong if the person creating it has not lived the original song.

"If you are talking about film music, then it (the scene) is depressing. If it is independent or non-film music, it is even more depressing. There is no industry or a fullfledged platform where music can be consumed, just for the sake of music and not because there is a film or a big star behind it. That's not nice," said Papon.
However, the singer is happy that things have started changing. "Finally, I can see bigger players in terms of labels, and all are also taking interest in making a song bigger, just because of the merit of the song and not because which banner or film it belongs to. I think, originals are definitely what we all want to do. I hope it (original music) becomes another alternative platform," he said.

Asked if he believes in the concept of remaking old songs, the singer replied: "There are two sides to remaking a song. One is that, when people run out of ideas, they say that they are trashing a good song and remaking it in a wrong way. But that is only when someone is trying to ride on a popular song to become popular. That person hasn't lived the song in his heart, his soul, his body and mind for a certain time and just jumped into remaking it. That's when it goes wrong."

However, even though he doesn't seem too fond of the idea of randomly remaking songs, the singer is game for song covers. Talking about the same, he said: "There is another way how internationally songs are done -- covers. Even thumris and ghazals have covers."

He explained: "A cover is something when one artist listens to something of a previous generation and has lived with it since his childhood. After jamming on it for years, he becomes the song. Then the artist sometimes wants to create his take on the song, adding a bit of himself to the song. That's called a cover and it sounds nice. It also gives the song a little more life for sure, and adds a different colour and perspective to the song."

Papon also opened up on his latest single, "Akhiyan". For the romantic melody, the singer has collaborated with composer-duo Gourov-Roshin. The video of the romantic melodious track "Akhiyan" features TikTok stars Manav and Garima.

" 'Akhiyan' is a romantic song done by Gourov and Roshin. It's my first Punajbi single. I have done film songs in Punjabi but not singles. It's a beautifully designed song. The melody is strong. It's a good marriage of words, music, arrangement and the video. I liked the look of the video and the filter that has been used," he said.

Sharing his experience of collaborating with the composer duo, Papon added: "Gourov and Roshin are friends. It is very easy to work with them. They like my nuances of singing, that's why they came to me. They did not instruct me too much, so I could be me. The sync was really good."

The song has been launched under the label of Sony Music.