Meet Jalaj and Rajat, two brothers from Chandigarh who love music. If you combine the first three letters of each name, you get "JalRaj," a music producer, singer, lyricist, and composer. With over 100 covers, 30 original songs, and Million YouTube subscribers.
They've been in Himachal Pradesh for over 15 years. They are not trained musicians or singers, but they have the skill to learn something that might seem very different or difficult for someone else.
“Just to clarify, we are neither Singers nor performers. We are just music lovers who see music from a very simple yet different point of view.”
Retro Kolkata : First of all, thanks a lot for accepting our invitation for an interview. It's a great pleasure to have you as our Guest. Let’s start with the first question …When did you first gravitate to music?
Jalraj : Thank you so much for finding us worth sharing a few things about music as well as our life. Speaking about how we got attracted towards music, honestly, we always were. Maybe it was in our genes. Our parents are music lovers and there was always a radio or a cassette or something musical going on ever since we could remember and probably that was it, we had found our love for music since then.
Retro Kolkata : Who has been your greatest guide, support, and source of inspiration in music for both of you? Who’s been standing beside you through your ups and downs?
Jalraj : Our parents!! Undoubtedly. Our Mother has taught us everything that we know about music. Our Father has been the strength and inspiration for us and we really are not saying this because they are our parents and for obvious reasons, parents will always be the source of inspiration and strength for everyone right, but honestly, they are the ones who we really really admire as a person.
Retro Kolkata : Do you follow or incorporate any particular singer’s style in your rendition? Who is your favourite international artiste and what quality attracts you to him/her?
Jalraj : This might sound different but we do not have any favourites for that matter. Everyone is so so good at what they are doing, that it sort of becomes impossible to pick someone over the other. So yes, we admire every artist. Really!
Retro Kolkata : Who are some of your favourite artists right now? Who would you love to work with in the future? What would be a dream collaboration for you?
Jalraj : Ha Ha! there's a saying like the biggest nightmare is "when your dreams come true"! If you know what we mean. But jokes apart, there are a lot of people who are really good when it comes to making music and like we said, picking someone over the other is something can't do. We are always open for collaborations with every artist, be it with a million follower or none.
Retro Kolkata : What aspect of music interests you the most (singing / song-writing /music composing) and conversely, what interests you the least?
Jalraj : We love composing and writing the most. Singing would be the least one.
Retro Kolkata : As an individual artist, what genres of music are you interested in exploring?
Jalraj : Oh! there's a lot. Hip hop alone has so many different sub genres that God knows when we are gonna jump onto next including Sufi music. We love Sufi music.
Retro Kolkata : You have succeeded and have become a music sensation and an inspiration for many artists. We don’t want your secrets but can you offer some hints at how you manage longevity?
Jalraj : Well, that is really kind of you for calling us successful, but we still have a lot to achieve. The thing which keeps pushing us every time is our discipline. Hard work, success and everything else will automatically come your way if you are disciplined enough to follow your passion or your profession. Artists these days lack that. Apart from this, we have no secrets to share for now. Ha Ha!
Retro Kolkata : Let’s talk about your album, “Safar” released in 2021, which is already a massive hit. Tell us something about the album.
Jalraj : Yes, SAFAR! We had no plans of working on albums initially. But there were so many tunes playing in our head during the time, that we had to find a way to store them and people loved all of them. "Tumse Mohabbat Hai" Was the most loved track and people still actually request us to make a similar song even to this day.
Retro Kolkata : From ‘Zara Zara’ to ‘Adaa’, you have improvised a lot of hit songs by adding your own essence. How strictly do you separate improvising and composing?
Jalraj : See improvising and composing are two modes for us, simple. Composing music is like handling a baby and you know straight away how delicate the situation is gonna be. Improvising is like talking to a matured person, you just have to be there and nod the way you want to.
Retro Kolkata : Who are your favourite current songwriters or musicians? Can you turn our readers on to someone they may not have heard of yet?
Jalraj : We are pretty sure, everyone knows about the ones we listen to, so naming somebody would again be against our ethics. :)
Retro Kolkata : Did you have any incident where you think if you’d taken it, life would’ve been completely different. If yes, what was it?
Jalraj : Not really! Life has always been kind to us in every single way, at every single point.
Retro Kolkata : Give us 5 fun facts people might not know about you yet.
Jalraj : 1. We have been making music on a broken laptop for the last 3 months now. Like it is broken "broken", literally.
2. The latest original " Ilzaam Mohabbat Ka" Was written, composed, sung, produced and released within 48 hours, which is really unusual for other independent artists.
3. We both cannot sleep in complete silence. There has to be a sound but it should not be music. Our go to sound is 'Rainfall 10 hour loop' which keeps playing the entire night.
4. We have been making music for more than 10 years now but neither of us knows how to play any instrument entirely. Not even a guitar.
5. We sleep with the fan turned ON even during extreme winters.
Retro Kolkata : We (Retro Kolkata) are trying to build one single stage for all the artists, because we believe that artists are the most beautiful creation of God and geographical boundaries can never break their unity and harmony. Please say something about our initiative and any special message for your followers.
Jalraj : You guys are doing a really good job and kudos to every single one in the team! Keep doing whatever you are doing. And to the FANS - Always work hard, always be patient, always be loyal to what you do, always be consistent and always be kind. The struggles will always be there. Ups and downs will always be there, no matter if you are new in this field or a professional. Just be focused and follow these 5 things. God bless!
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