Just about a month after the release of his new single Chandrama, Leslee (now spelt with an addded ‘e’) Lewis, one half of the lovable duo Colonial Cousins, is back in the news for his second new single Betabiyaan.

In an exclusive telephonic interview with Verus Ferreira, herecounts the making of his new song Betabiyaan and alsothe new brand of music he’s making called Global Hindi.

So Leslee, what’s your new single Betabiyaan all about?

Yeah so Betabiyaan is a song about a time when your close friend crosses line from being a close buddy to a lover and then back again, sending mixed signals and keeping you confused about your relationship. This is something we probably have all been through at some point in time in our lives. This song is a wonderful example of my new brand or genre if you might say of music that I call Global Hindi.

Tell us something more on the song, the video and the whole creation?

The video credits go to my actors Kapil Dekwal and Shivani Jha. The video song was done with my band that consists of Preethesh D’souza, Rahul Pereira and Olav D’souza. Like Chandrama my last single, this song too is composed, produced and performed by me. For the audio credit I cannot forget bassist Kenneth Wilson, guitars Amandeep Singh, percussion Nirvan Pareva, Flugelhorn Jonhn Garcia and backing vocals Kavya Jones. We mastered the track at Hafod Mastering, Wales, UK.

So let’s go back to the first single Chandrama. What’s the song all about?

It’s a prayer I have composed for my fans and everyone post Covid. I’m asking Lord Ganesha to connect us with Chandrama as in these dark times post Covid, no one can see their way forward. So we need Chandrama to cast some light on our lives. That’s the gist of the song.

Does Chandrama have the same texture and melody of your 90s hit song Krishna?

Melodically, both have an Indian classical base, but both are completely different melodies.Texture wise the similarity is dark, slight despair, but there is hope.The main difference between the two songs is that in Krishna I wrote the lyrics in English, whereas in Chandrama I have written the lyrics in Hindi.

So ideally this would be your second song on religion.

Chandrama is not about any religion. It’s a prayer for humanity.Personally, I’m not a religious person, just spiritual. My whole life has been about music, and that is spiritual.

What made you record a song on the lines of Krishna?

There wasn’t any plan to do such a song, but during the Covid Lockdown, I could see what was happening to the future of everyone, so I came up with this song. I never thought of trying to do something like Krishna. It just turned out that it had the same feel.

Whom did you work with on these songs?

Both the songs have been done by me, from composing, lyrics and instrumentation. Only the mastering was done in the UK, so I’d say it been pretty much a solo project.

So would you consider a solo album of new songs sometime soon?

I think I will release a few singles before I think of packaging or grouping them into an album. Singles have video content and so are easier to get heard and noticed. For the moment soon I will be releasing a young new talented artist, Kavya Jones, who coming out with her new single and a 4 song EP towards the end of this month.

You’ve created your own brand of music known as Global Hindi. What’s it all about?

Global Hindi is a term or genre I’ve come up with for my new music. The music is Global, in the sense that it has Blues/Jazz/Rock/Bossa/Indian Folk/Indian Classical. Chandrama falls into the Indian Classical space. The language is fundamentally Hindi, but it’s not Indian. Once you hear it, it doesn’t feel traditionally Indian. Now when you listen to Chandrama it’s got a pretty global vibe, from my singing style to the guitar interlude ….it’s not Indian. The reason is that while the composition is Indian, I don’t sing any alaps or sargamsas you might typically expect in a tune like this. Global Hindi is my sound, the tunes, the arrangements and the mix. And of course it has my stamp on it.

The last Colonial Cousins album was ‘Once More’ in 2012. Surely fans might want to know when a new album is coming out. So do you have any plans on working on a new Colonial Cousins album?

No current plans on a new Colonial Cousins album as yet, but you never know. If Hari I do plan one it will be exciting.

Would you be going back to the 90s of Indipop by making similar music for your fans in the months to come?

No need to go ‘Back’ to the 90s, just move on up to the 2020s and create exciting new music, like in the 90s

You’ve done a lot of work Bollywood / Tollywood in the recent past. Anything as of recent?

I have done a couple of Tollywood films as Colonial Cousins, films like ‘Modivilayadu’ and ‘Chikku Bukku’. As A Singer I have sung the massive hit Kannum Kannum Nokia for the movie ‘Anian’ for Harris Jairaj. Most recently I have sung the extremely popular song Hey Amigo from the film ‘Kappan’ along with Jonita Gandhi. I would like to do some really exciting songs for Bollywood too.

What is the Lesle Lewis Duo supposed to be?

That’s exactly the title - DUO – Two of Us. Me and my co – vocalist Kavya Jones. She is really talented artist and I will be producing her debut EP soon...so you will hear what I mean. Just the 2 of us on stage with my Laptop.. Whenever the band can’t travel, generally due to travel costs or small stage venues, Leslee Lewis DUO fits in, as its only 2 people traveling. But it rocks every time. We have a 90 min set .. but we’ve never performed less than 2hrs.

You also had a show on Instagram – Life of Leslee? What was it all about?

Like it says, Life of Leslee is about my life from when I started off my musical career and all the music and albums I’ve been part of creating. Right now I’ve taken a break after the ‘Pal’ and ‘Yaaron Dosti’ album with KK. Still lots more to come in Season 2.

How did you spend your time during the lockdown?

Food, Food and more FOOD. It’s been a gastronomic time. If you check my Insta page @lesleelewisofficial from April, you will see what I mean (laughs). I have been cooking all meals everyday and a variety of Global Food… like my Global Hindi (laughs).

The pandemic has hit the music industry and independent music artists badly. What do you have to say about the future of the Indian music industry?

The ‘Industry’ will take care of itself. The ‘Music’ will be back, at least as far as I am concerned. With Chandrama I have already started off on that journey.

Do you think that online concerts and online live shows is the new ‘normal’, or will ‘live’ shows make resurgence one day?

That’s my hope. People need to experience Live Music. And I’m sure that need will drive us back to Live Performances with Live Audiences.

Do you miss the ‘live’ stage and the audience? Travelling with your band The Lesle Lewis Bollywood Band?

I miss performing with my Bollywood band, I’m working with some very talented young musicians - It’s a fab set and it rocks the house every time. Like I said earlier ‘Live’ is the Experience. Or else you will be watching ‘Online Gigs’. Exciting now, but will wear off in due time, a bit like how we were excited to watch Live Concert DVDs and then lost that excitement. But ‘Live’ has never stopped exciting us, because each gig is a new experience even if it’s the same band playing the same songs.

What’s your message to your fans?

Listen with your Heart – Not with your Mind

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira