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Many of us spent our childhood with a fictional character as our idol. The latest Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: No Way Home solidified our faith in why the spider-bitten human was one of them. Besides the extreme strength and web shooting out of his wrists, Spider-Man became a hero for his will to help ‘the little guy’ – anyone like you and me. While the character brought about hope, it also instilled in us the wish to be able to help whoever we can, whenever we can.
The same story is of Kasyap, a 21-year-old singer-songwriter and a music producer and composer. Ultimately, his talent and dedication led to his track, Start The Machine, being used in the Spider-Man: No Way Home commercials and TV spots.
You know you are excited for a film when the soundtrack kicks in in the trailer, and you feel your curiosity piquing. The goosebumps begin to make their way around your skin, and you start taking ‘blink-and-you-miss’ rather seriously. Kasyap’s track does just that in the No Way Home commercials. Holding up and delivering in the expectations from the whole Marvel and Spiderman fanbase, Kasyap and his music deserves the spotlight.
We spoke to the young talent about how Spider-Man shaped his childhood, how music is essentially his life, and his take on how he got to where he is today.
‘My parents gifted me a small piano when I was 6-years-old. Music was just a hobby for me, and I was never good at studying, so I made sure I did other things well. I picked up my guitar around high school, and after that, I picked up more and more instruments. At this time, EDM was huge so I made some tracks, too.’
— Kasyap
With his newfound comfort in music, Kasyap dipped his toes in all fields of music – songwriting, singing, composing, producing, and more. Encouragement and support from his parents put him on a path to make music his career and solidified his choices.
Kasyap’s eyes lit up as we spoke of Spider-Man and the impact the superhero had on his childhood, no different to many from our generation. As a fan of the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe, the whole deal of his own music featuring in the commercials and TV spots was beyond special.
‘I used to imitate Spider-Man’s actions when I was a kid. I used to try to recreate the scene where Tobey Maguire stops the train. Just two years ago, I was going crazy in theatres for Avengers: Endgame. It’s a very big deal to me.’
— Kasyap on Spiderman's importance in his life
With LA-based trailer music house SIIX Trailer Music, Kasyap made several tracks that never saw the light of day. In 2019, Start The Machine was made. Two years later, on 16 December 2021, Kasyap received the news that his track had been placed in No Way Home’s commercials and three TV spots. The thought of the Spider-Man franchise using his music came as a welcome surprise to Kasyap who told us that Julia Wahle, Lorenzo Cosci, Sam Griffiths and the whole team at SIIX Trailer Music made it possible.
As part of the growing Indian music industry, Kasyap realises that things don’t come easy. Where Bollywood takes precedence, indie artists find it difficult to make their way through. They may be in a niche perfect for them, but Kasyap, too, believes that being in the right place at the right time is helpful beyond measure.
‘As indie artists, it’s tough anywhere. In India, film music is big and we see the heroes and actors on playlist covers rather than the artist. This may be changing, and I do want artists to get what they deserve. We still have a long way to go.’
— Kasyap on the homegrown music industry
Kasyap’s latest single, Khoya Sa, is his foray into singing. He began singing a mere 3 years ago, and had been writing several songs through the lockdowns. Along with Sony, the song came to fruition, and also has its own music video. Kasyap tells us about his ‘right-place-right-time’ moment when a Sony representative was in the same (virtual) room as him on Clubhouse, and the rest, as they say, is history. Within one month of sending Khoya Sa to Sony Music India’s new label Day One, Kasyap was signed.
‘Every time I feel too much, I write a song about it. It could be sad or happy, doesn’t matter. My music is very personal to me – I like to make sure my personality and all my experiences come through in my music.’
— Kasyap on his songwriting
Khoya Sa was made possible because of Murtuza Gadiwala who co-wrote the lyrics, Vaibhav Pani who played the bass, Riya Duggal who did the female backing vocals, and Hanish Taneja who mixed/mastered the song.
A self-admitting introvert, Kasyap’s music has helped him come out of the shell, too. Like a deer in the headlights, he shot his music video for Khoya Sa, but he emphasises that these are the experiences that help him open up and be his true self. At one point in time, it was music that caused him to be shy, to keep away from people and their judgements, but the tables have now turned, and how.
‘I am what my music is,’ he says. A noble thought for a young talent that is only getting started, and is most definitely excited to create more of what he loves.
Find Kasyap here.
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