The Rish on Working with Emiway on ‘Aksar’ and Rock Roots
The pop artist talks about being influenced The Weeknd and how he took on a more R&B sound after being in the rock band Misplaced Anthems
The Rish talks about working with Emiway Bantai on "Aksar" and Sachin-Jigar for 'Murder Mubarak'
By Hindi pop artist The Rish’s own admission, he’s been “gatekeeping” the fact that he was part of the erstwhile Mumbai rock band Misplaced Anthems. Although they had an English song called “Shine Out” to their name out in 2013, The Rish aka Rishabh Kant went on to establish himself as a fresh, new voice in Indian music since around 2019.
He says about his origins singing in a rock band, “I birthed that band purely for the love of music. All I wanted is do is make music like my role models Three Days Grace, Linkin Park, 3 Doors Down, Keane… we tried to play almost every college festival in Bombay and came second place in most and first in a few!” From lugging around gear in local trains to fitting an entire drumkit in a compact car and traveling to nearby cities for gigs, The Rish says it “set the ground for a mentality of playing music with no other commercial intention, purely for the love of it.”
More than a decade since that journey, The Rish has been a go-to voice for everyone from rappers like Loka and most recently, Emiway Bantai (on the song “Aksar”) to film and series soundtrack composers Sachin-Jigar (who brought him on most recently for the Murder Mubarak song “Yaad Aave”), QARAN (“Haanji” from the movie Thank You for Coming) and more.
The pop artist acknowledges how his first inspirations “came from White people making absolutely beautiful music” with rock instruments, but soon realized that “they are catering to their kind.” He adds, “Obviously it turned into popular music and traveled to people throughout the world, but the lyric and thought process of it was a conversation and emotion that is meant for people of a different culture and situation than mine.” Even later on, The Weeknd was a formative influence (and The Rish as a moniker is Kant’s homage to the “Starboy” hitmaker), but The Rish was keen on representing where he came from, to cater to his own. He says, “I wanted to sing in my own language, Hindi writing has a world of its own, it has a different way of expressing love. I fell in love with our Indian instrumentations and raagas and since 2021 there was no looking back.”
Standing on his own as a pop artist as well, he’s also become a featured voice for rappers, like on “Aksar” off Emiway Bantai’s new album Wholeheartedly. The Rish says “Aksar” has been in the works for three years and has now seen the light of day. “I think every man in this country can relate with the line, ‘Meri aakhon mein jo dard main chupaata tune dekha nahi kya?’ (Did you never notice the pain in my eyes?)”
Sachin-Jigar had spoken to Rolling Stone India and name-checked The Rish as one of the exciting Indian indie artists on their radar. The Rish says about working with the duo, “Sachin-Jigar are on a whole different echelon. I still can’t believe I share credits with them on a song, I am so honored. Getting validation from a duo that is ruling the industry is [the] motivation that gets me out of my bed every single day.”
There are more collaborations on the way. The Rish says his next release is with producer Karan Kanchan. “We have a great tune on the way. This is also the year where I will drop a long format project (EP/Album). I think it’s time. I still haven’t shown people my truest potential and this year is the time for it,” The Rish adds.
