Nikhil has released the video for his new single ‘Blind.

The Mumbai born singer-songwriter started his career path far from a musical route, working on offshore gas rigs and a role as a geologist.

Deciding to take up music and follow his dream career, his talent was quickly spotted. Combining instrumentation with a nod towards his heritage, he quickly became enlisted in the Bollywood industry, voicing musical numbers for a wide range of Bollywood films.

With his music racking up over one million streams online and recent festival slots including The Great Escape and Live at Leeds, we caught up with Nikhil to discover the influences behind his new single.

Ben Howard – I Forget Where We Were
I love Ben Howard and the dynamics he manages to pull off with sparse instrumentation!

INX – Afterglow
This was the first time I had heard a daff used in a commercial non-Bollywood song. It just felt like the right percussion approach.

John Martyn – Bless The Weather
Always a fan of that drop tuning favoured by John martyn. I think he influenced some of the people on this list too.

Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
We thought with introducing the song with voices humming, the riff would be an interesting and less predictable way to begin.

Mohsen Taherzadeh- Angel Dance
Here’s where we were convinced the daff could work in this song with the right sort of groove at the right time!

You can watch the video for ‘Blind’ below: