Druv Kent is an internationally recognized and chart-topping singer-songwriter originally from Kolkata, now based in Singapore, who left a banking career to follow his passion for music. He is the first Asia-based musician in two decades to have his music backed by the UK's BBC Radio. With his earthy, anthemic and lyrical songs, the financer-turned-musician seeks meaning in a shifting world with contemporary folk-pop sounds blended with the fuel of his Indian heritage.

After receiving much acclaim in the UK, Singapore, Australia and India with various singles and EPs, Druv recently released his new song Magaresa produced in Sweden.

On his recent visit to Mumbai, Verus Ferreira met up with the extremely talented and prolific Druv Kent to know more about his new song.

When did work for Magaresa begin?

The ‘Magaresa (Runaway)’ song has been like a force of nature. It took seed before Covid – but its completion was delayed until this terrible pandemic passed. Over the last two years the song evolved from a guitar riff on an early version simply called Runaway to become this amazingly large global pop track with this new type of fusion sound, which required a number of iterationsbetween Doug in Sweden and me in Singapore, adding layers of bass, drums, Indian bansuri and tablas into the mix to get to its final form.

What is the song all about?

It is primarily a fun-filled, dance track. The fact that it is trending on TikTok and Insta and folks are creating these amazing ‘Magaresa Challenge’ reels has been a real trip. That really is what the song is about, having fun and jumping in. Or, more specifically, having the courage to jump into that beautiful expanse of space called love. It’s about moving your fears out of the way and letting yourself fall in love aiming for the stars beyond these little walls of ours and of not running away when your dreams come true.

What is the inspiration behind the song?

First, it’s the sound of the song – it was searching for that sound that was our biggest inspiration. After a good deal of trial and error, Doug and I managed to find this unique and magical mix of Indian tablas and desi vibe with this Western pop melody and superb funk-pop dance track. Second, the song itself is much like our own journey, it’s about jumping in fearlessly. I see too many folks, especially in the younger generation, who are scared of falling in love. This song is a reminder that, sure, love can hurt, but it can also nurture, heal, transform and give you purpose and meaning.We should never forget that.

How did the collaboration with Swedish record producer Doug Carr (Ace of Base, The Corrs, Dr Alban) take place?

Doug is a protégé of the legendary Denise Pop of Sweden and has been revolutionizing global pop music for 20 years along with his former partner Max Martin. Heis a real musical genius, amazing guitar player, and now my musical brother! We were connected by a mutual music buddy and as soon as we heard each others’ music we felt this could work. Every new collab is an adventure – and an opportunity to artistically learn and grow.Doug’s instincts are amazing, sonic variety and confidence is superb – and we hit it off from our first conversation –there’s been no looking back since.

The song has two titles Magaresa and Runaway. What was the idea behind it?

I had a fragment of song called Runaway I had written in Singapore. When I first met Doug in Sweden, we both loved itand recorded it in his studio. At what we thought was the tail end of our session, I started vocalizing some Indian semi-classical riffs into the gaps of the song, using the phrases saregama. I was in my own world and playing around with the phrasing … and adlibbed my way to the word ‘Magaresa’. Doug turned to me and said, “That’s beautiful … who is she … Magaresa?” I knew then that this is what the song is about – a lover called Magaresa – which just put the whole song in clear perspective.

Compared to other songs, the music video you’ve done is short, while the audio track is much longer. What are the visuals all about in the video?

The primary challenge of this music video was to capture the slightly ‘over the top’vibe of the song – that too in a Covid world. My video partners Soumil Shetty and Rohan Sharma from Robot Monkey who directed mybeautiful and resonant ‘Don’t Burn Away’ video, introduced me to the idea of rotoscopy. So, I shot the video in my home in Singapore and they layered in theirmagicto create the retro, Indian, Western, pop, funk, dancy feel of the song. We kept the video to half the length of the actual song purely for practical reasonsin a Covid world – and termed it The Better Half video – in case we get the budget and the ability to make a full video.

You are due to release an EP ‘Love in F#’. Can you say something more about the songs on the EP, the lyrical theme behind it?

There are 5 songs on the ‘Love in F#’ EP. They are all love songs – and follow a very modern production style and shape, four of them produced in Sweden. Two are with Doug – including ‘Magaresa (Runaway)’ – and two with another amazing Swedish producer, Tony Malm. My only previously released love song is ‘What It’s All About’, which is a more mature and poignant tribute to love. The idea with this EP is to dive into love as the hypnotic, celebratory, sensational emotion that it is.

What other projects are you working on?

The Druv Kent band was fortunate to win the recent ‘Best Male Artist – Live’ award from IIMA, which is quite super. Touring is back and we are getting more enquiries from India, so we will hopefully be across India even more.Apart from our own shows, I also do festivals, private events, corporate eventsand weddings. I also have composed a number of Hindi songs, some of these may show up in Netflix and Amazon Prime shows, though still in discussion. I am also putting the finishing bits together on some recently written somewhat poetic English songs that I am off to the UK to record in June. In addition, there are ongoing judging and mentorship roles I am playing with young creators, something I am passionate about. And,am also working on various other collabs – in India, Nashville and the UK, which are always exciting.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira