As a musician whose songs are hummed by fans belonging to varying generations, 58 year old composer Lesle Lewis has given new paradigms to Indian music scene on a consistent basis. He spoke with Verus Ferreira about his attempts to reinvent himself with a new style of music and working with the new generation of youngsters.
You have been in the music industry for over three decades, how has the journey been and what changes have you seen?
Having introduced and spearheaded independent music in India, I have been instrumental in the change. From Indipop songs like Paree Hoon Mai, Pal, to Bollywood mixes Piya Tu Ab Toe Aa Ja, Bheegi Bheegi Raaton Mein, to Classical Fusion as Colonial Cousins with songs like Krishna, Sa Ni Dha Pa, to starting Coke Studio in India, I have seen a lot of change, leave alone having led the way. Music in films has changed dramatically form very Indian sounding to very contemporary stuff now.

You are working with a bunch of young musicians and writing Hindi songs terming it Global Hindi. What’s this about?
I’m working primarily with the next generation musicians and singers. My band members are all very young and talented especially my female singer and co-vocalist Kavyaa. They bring on a great vibe to the new music that I’m creating, called Global Hindi, which is very Global in its appeal, but it’s all in Hindi primarily. It’s hard to explain in words. Hearing Paise Ke Maa Ki Aankh is believing in what I am doing.

So what is the song all about?
The lyrics were written by me and if you listen closely, you will realize that for everything in life, you need money. Even to die you need money, you are going to have to pay for your coffin or last rites, pay the pujari. You can’t even be buried without money, so that’s what it’s all about, how we’re controlled by money. 
Sometime in 2017 you started Connect With The Fans. What is this project about and is it still on?
Connect With The Fans was an absolute success. I wanted to expose my music and Live performance to my fans. They had always watched me on TV, but now, at really no cost, they could come and experience my performance Live and up close and personal. I performed this concept for a year from April 2017 till April 2018. It was a super experience.

You also had a web series ‘Confessions, It’s Complicated’ around two years ago.
It was a really fresh experience composing for a Web Series. ’Confessions - Its Complicated’ turned out really well. This was followed by ‘Tri Sexuals’ on Voot. It is so much fun to work on a web series as you get to experiment a lot with the music and come up with some really good songs. Also I get to feature young talent.

You are very selective when it comes to work for Bollywood. Any reason for that?
If I am to be selective about Bollywood projects, then my main criteria is ‘On which platform/banner does the movie feature’, ‘Will they be able to promote the songs and film well’,
‘Do they have the right budgets for creating quality music?’These are very important to me.

You and Hariharan coined the term Indipop with your debut album ‘Colonial Cousins’. Do you think Indipop is still around?
In a way, I feel with the exit of TV channels like MTV and Channel V, support for independent music and Indipop died a slow but natural death. But with my new music Global Hindi, I hope to revive the art of song writing and composing, which is really the key to a great song. No singer can be one without a great song. I want to bring back the music.  I can confidently say that anyone who listens to any of my new songs will love them on the very first listen. That’s my guarantee.

After two successive albums ‘The Way We Do It’ (1998), ‘Aatma’ (2001) and ‘Colonial Cousins Once More’ (2012), which didn’t work out well, brand Colonial Cousins lost traction. What do you think was the reason for this?
The real reason was that most people didn’t get to hear the songs. If you ask most people about ‘Colonial Cousins Once More’, they don't even know about it. Simple logic. If you don't know about it, or never get to hear any songs, it’s never going to do well in the market.

Free music downloads, Streaming, YouTube has become a norm these days, how have you managed to keep up with the change?
I have three primary Live performance set ups, namely, Lesle Lewis - The Bollywood Badshah, Lesle Lewis – Live and Lesle Lewis – Duo. Performing Live is what keeps me going. The new music that I’m doing is pretty timeless; it’s so different from anything you may have heard in Hindi, that even a couple of years from now it will still be relevant and as fresh as it seems now.

Which is the one song from the Colonial Cousins era that still rings in your head?
Many, as they are all my songs, but I’ll choose Feel Alright.

What are your plans for 2019?
Performing Live all over the globe, creating and releasing new songs in my new genre, promoting and supporting new young talent.