Solan's soulful Singh!

Some things are written in the stars. Singh’s super successful tryst with music, for instance. A seemingly normal upbringing, but an extra ‘ordinary’ drive to pursue one’s passion — music. Solan’s YouTube-taught Sutej Singh is that millenial artiste that music buffs world-over (including Bollywood star Katrina Kaif) are sitting up and taking a note of. The 25-year-old progressive rock guitarist’s innate flair for creating soulful music is taking him places, topping charts and landing him fan-following by the hordes.

His debut album The Emerging, reached number one on iTunes India’s all-genre albums chart within a day of release in May, back in 2015. “Well, it all started from the song Oceans Apart, which is the sixth track in the album. It was the first instrumental piece I wrote back in 2015. I really liked the way it shaped up.

Hence, the idea of writing an instrumental album came into my head,” begins Sutej, who also adds, “During the initial days of the writing process, I was immensely inspired by John Petrucci’s playing as I would mostly listen to songs from Dream Theatre and other similar projects like LTE. Because of this, my playing started sounding completely similar to that of John’s. As a professional musician, I really needed to create my own sound and musicality. I think my biggest challenge that time was to get out of that zone and write songs in that same genre but with my original musicality.”

Still reeling over how the good stuff happened too soon, Sutej excitedly states, “The album release has been a huge success. And honestly, I did not expect such big things to happen in such short time. The biggest highlight was obviously reaching the No.1 spot in the Rock charts in Apple Music India and actually staying there for quite a long period of time. The song, The Comeback Trail stayed in the top spot for more than a couple of weeks, I think.”

Other than that, Katrina Kaif’s appreciation to his music on her Instagram was completely out of the box. “Then getting featured in various magazines and articles. Everything’s a highlight for me!” he excitedly shares. But, accolades aside, it is all about building a connect with the people he creates music for.

Currently touring with his backing band, Sutej’s hands are full. “Touring with my backing band and play shows in India is what we’re working on right now. Me and my managing team at The Pinecone Records are currently focused on live shows in the country. Other than that, I haven’t started writing anything new that is related to a new album. But I keep practicing my songwriting skills by writing some orchestral stuff regularly. Also, I’m planning to write some film music/background scores for any future projects. This is something I really aspire for.” he states. 

Music aside, getting a little outdoorsy is what Sutej loves doing. “Apart from writing, playing and talking music, I love playing tennis with my dad. That’s like our daily evening session when I’m at home in Solan. I like being fit, so gym is a big part of my life as well. Though I’m completely off my track right now.”