National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

As the host of Indian Idol with a string of Bollywood hits under his belt, Kailash Kher is one of contemporary India's biggest stars, and now the diminutive singer with the big voice is set to take on the world with his first international release Yatra (Nomadic Souls) on Cumbancha records.

Born to a folk-singing father, Pt. Mehar Singh Kher, in the Indian village of Mahalka, Kher was trained in music from an early age. His father, however, wanted him to go into business, which he did, for a few years. But music was his heritage, and while briefly living the bohemian life in Mumbai, Kher soon skyrocketed to fame with the Bollywood hit, "Allah ke Bande". Soon after he met the famous Bollywood composer, A.R. Rahman, and his place in Indian film industry was secure.

Yet Kher never forgot his folk music roots, which makes Yatra , a diverse example of the many styles that the man can play. Fragments of reggae and funk mix into qawwali, rock, and, of course, Bollywood music. With a rigorous touring schedule&mdashincluding an upcoming North American tour-as well as his roles on Indian Idol and as a judge on the brand new Rock On with MTV, Kher is poised to move from being one of India's biggest brightest stars to being one of the most celebrated voices on the planet.

Nat Geo Music: Your father taught you how to sing, but he wanted you to go into the import/export business.

Kailash Kher: I belong to a city of India, Delhi. In my formative years, I was very much influenced by classical musicians-those who used to sing classical, but also folk style. I had a passion for music too much, but still somehow the mentality over there is to not take music too seriously. After university, I tried to do an export business, which kind of worked in a way, for one-and-a-half years. But then slowly, slowly, it tailed off and I lost the business. That's the time I realized I should take music a bit seriously. I went to Mumbai to look for producers to do my own music. That's why I came to Mumbai in 2001. Within six months, somebody heard my voice while I was working on my album, and then they started inviting me to commercial recordings like jingles and radio advertising. Since then, so many things started happening that within six or seven years my life has completely changed. When everyone started realizing my talent as an exceptional one, that's when Jacob from Cumbancha heard one of my top chart singles, and he looked for me.

When you first moved to Mumbai, did you find it difficult to find producers to work with?

Well it was really to move first of all into this city. More than that, I didn't have much money to start. Living in this city is already a tough task. If you don't have money, even if you have talent, it's tough to find people to work with. Initially it was really tough. I met producers through common friends, and they started working on my music. None of the record companies approved of my voice. They would say, "No, in Mumbai, in this film industry, this kind of voice will not work." I started working in commercials, and then musicians called me for a film song, and that song, "Allah ke Bande," became so big, the rest is history. That song alone won all the big awards in this industry. That's the time when I won Best Playback Singer for 2004. That's when every big person in this industry saw me in person and came to know my music. After that, AR Rahman called me for so many film songs, and he became my best friend in this industry.

You've been on over 150 soundtracks. Do you find playback singing boring by now?

No. Each time I sing for any film project, each project is a little unique. That way, it does not become monotonous. The way I use minute nuances in singing, I always make sure the composition I'm singing, even for people who have heard me a million times, they should find it a little refreshed and different.

Your record for Cumbancha turned out to be very diverse.

Jacob [Edgar, producer at Cumbancha records] is an expert in this field, and there were a couple of inputs from him because of the international audience. The kind of tones and what format songs would be appreciated. Those inputs really helped us. Mostly we decided what songs to keep in this album.

Why did you decide to do two previously recorded songs, "Teri Deewani" and "Joban Chaalike," acoustically?

Those two songs are chartbusters in India and Asia. They are still very popular in India right now.

You put on quite a performance at globalFEST in New York City in January. I noticed at your Celebrate Brooklyn! show that you added a banjo player.

On this new album, we used many authentic instruments. Through that process we came to know about this musician. He happened to come to the studio randomly, and we were so impressed that we asked him to join the band. One authentic instrument adds so much live and natural textures to the song.

There is a bit of qawwali on Yatra. Was Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan an influence?

Of course. His music I used to listen while I was growing up. I used to listen to my father. Those two singers influenced me a lot. Not only because of their singing, but also due to their selection of poetry. I used to really adore them, and look up to them. These are two people who if I could stay like that, I'd be very happy.

You also add a bit of reggae to the qawwali feel of "Dilruba."

My music partners played me once Bob Marley, and that's how I came to know what reggae is. When I was composing this song, these people started making it in a reggae funk, and it really worked and sounded wonderful.

Do you listen to a lot of reggae now?

I have a whole lot of collections. One of my friends lives in Auckland, and he used to play with the Wailers once upon a time. He keeps sending me collections of original Bob Marley music. He still plays with a reggae band in New Zealand. I listen to lots of reggae now.

Did you have a Sufi influence growing up?

I had a philosophical upbringing. My father used to sing 13th century Sufi poetry, like Kabir and Baba Farid. I used to be fascinated by the poetry itself, outside of singing. That shows now. Even when I write my own poetry, the Sufi influence is there.

How has it been playing in America?

I have done almost 80 shows in the USA. The most I enjoy is to perform in front of international and Asian audiences together. When you play in front of your own community, you are the only person there-you know them, they know you. It means more to break barriers, which happens when we perform in the USA.

How did you end up hosting Indian Idol?

In my life, everything is happening very fast, very rocket speed. When I was singing for film, India is a big market for television and entertainment. You never know, because you are just singing. Out there, there are millions of fans of yours, who are creating another market for you. The Indian Idol producers found me, because youngsters used to sing my songs a lot. That's when they decided I was really popular, let's ask him to join us. For last two season I was just judge. This third season, they finally called me and asked me to host the show.

Had you seen the American version of the show?

No, never, because I don't have time. I sometimes don't have time to listen to my own songs for film (laughs). I only hear them at the movie premieres.

Have you found any real talent on the show?

I didn't find anyone out of the box, really. What talent I found there is good for films and Bollywood. Right now I am doing a show where I am just being a judge, called Rock On with MTV. There I found some real talent. That's going to be a big show, because there are already many hits on the youtube.

Having seen you perform twice now, I must ask: How do you keep your energy level so high on stage?

You know, I do only music. I live music, I walk music, I talk music, I sleep music, I wake up music. I don't watch movies. I don't do anything else. I don't socialize, I don't go party. I kind of only do music. Because of that, I retain my energy. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't drink anything cold. I only drink water.

Do you drink chai?

Yeah, I drink chai, sometimes (laughs). Right now I am drinking Kashmiri chai. When you come to India, we will make you drink this.