With a discography which spans genres and features a variety of collaborations, Bharg is a musician who truly lives by the quote, ‘To define is to limit.’ The genre-bending singer, songwriter, and producer has amassed a young but definitely loyal audience, with music that is at once simple and yet profoundly relatable. After a release with Spryk, called Bhaag, and a shift from Delhi to Mumbai, Bharg is set to perform this weekend at All You Can, his first gig with Mumbai as his home ground.
Bharg’s connection with music was forged much before his career began. Coming from a family which had nothing to do with the music industry, or music in general, his parents were keen on making sure Bharg had a connection with the arts. 'When I was in the womb, they would often play music from the outside so that I was subconsciously listening to it.’ Throughout his childhood, he found himself listening to music on radio and television, following channels like MTV and VH1. While radio and TV gave him his taste in Hindi music, he found his English music on the internet. His taste in English music also came from his father, who introduced him to artists like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Metallica, and ACDC.
Often artists have a specific point in their life where they discover their calling. Bharg, on the other hand, found his calling by looking at the one thing which stuck with him throughout his life, music. ‘One of my friends sent me a photo, where I had written, I want to be a musician. I had no clue I had written something like that, then I saw the photo and thought, wow, was I actually subconsciously thinking about it all the time?’ He first picked up a guitar in seventh grade, when he took a guitar class for a month, and then decided to continue experimenting and learning on his own through e-books and online resources. ‘Then I realized there’s a thing called music production. I downloaded FL Studio. Back then I cracked it, of course, like everyone else.’ Around eleventh grade, he competed in various inter-school competitions with his band, Meatball Brigade. By the time he was in Delhi University, studying philosophy with a plan to study law, Bharg was constantly making music on the side, even competing with his college a cappella choir. The push to pursue music full-time came from his security in his academics. Having completed his degree, and having enjoyed it, Bharg knew he could fall back on his academics and pursue law should he ever want to in the future. ‘But I definitely didn’t want to regret not trying music. So I took that one year off after college.’ As he started creating music and putting it out, he realized that he had an audience, one that he could build on if he continued creating music.
Bharg’s discography features a variety of collaborations, with people with incredibly different styles and approaches to music. From each of his collaborations, Bharg has walked away with a distinct set of learnings, constantly on the lookout to become a better artist, growing both professionally and personally. Working with Rawal Bharg learned how to present the deepest of emotions in simple language, without unnecessarily complex writing. ‘He doesn’t want to play into too many deep meanings. He’s very in your face, he’ll tell you how he feels. And that is something that I really enjoyed because it’s always simple and not too complex. I learned that from him.’ His work with Sez taught him more about music production, while his experience working with Chaar Diwaari taught him a new approach to production and vocals. ‘When I worked on "Roshni" with Diwaari, he had a very different take in terms of, like, production techniques. How we record is very different, how we approach vocals is very different, how we treat our vocals in terms of producing is very different. There was a lot of pushing and pulling, but in that push and pull you learn a lot.’ Working with Yashraj on Boldu Sach gave him an insight into the artist’s dedication to always give his 100%, regardless of whether it’s his own song or a feature on someone else’s. ‘Everytime you write with that pen of yours, make sure that you deliver the best that you can do for the song you’re doing. Otherwise don’t do it. And that’s something I learned from him. Completely.’ As he continues collaborating with different artists, Bharg strives to work with people who can expand his knowledge of his craft and allow him to learn new approaches to his own art.
His latest release with Spryk, Bhaag, started as a bare bones demo sent to Bharg with only horns and chords. Without any specific ideas on how to approach the piece, Bharg began to experiment with different sounds and ideas. ‘Next time, Spryk and I sat together, and it just kept evolving into something or the other. We had a deadline because we had to perform the song at Lollapalooza.’ The two took on the challenge, both of the deadline and — in Bharg’s case — working with a style of music he hadn’t worked much with before, and created what turned out to be a stunning track. ‘To do that song was a breath of fresh air. Again, just a great learning experience and I’m very grateful for that collaboration. I’m honestly very excited to perform it at AYCS because it’s a song made for big speakers.
Bharg’s set at All You Can is especially exciting as he returns to the stage with a full band, something that he hasn’t done much over the past year. Practicing with his team day after day, Bharg is ready to put on a spectacular show for the AYCS crowd, as well as to experience his first show in Mumbai after moving to the city. ‘This is the first time I’m in Mumbai and doing a show in Mumbai. So, I’m very excited because it’s like a new home. Delhi is home, Delhi is always home, but this is also the new home. So I’m really excited about how the response is, the new homeground response.’ The experimenting won’t stop at All You Can, however, as Bharg, true to his desire to push the envelope, hopes to put out more work in the coming months. ‘It will start with, Oh, this sounds like Bharg, and then it’ll be like, What is he doing? Why is he doing it? to like, Okay, we’ll put up with that. And then again I’ll try to hit you with a project that’s like, What is he doing? That’s all there is. I’m trying to push that envelope further.’
Words Ayushie Shahane
4.07.2025