It may not be new music Friday yet, but nonetheless, we are here to bless your Thursday with some stellar new tunes. Dropping his debut album The Way That Lovers Do, the India-hailing artist welcomes into his world, one that is filled with wispy vocals, ambient production and all-around romance-tinged sound.

When questioned about his favourite part of the creation process that went into The Way That Lovers Do, Kuhad explained, “Definitely the recording and production process. I spent over two months in the beautiful bear creek studio with Ryan Hadlock. Ryan is a beautiful human being with great energy and bear creek is a special place. It was inspiring and invigorating.”

Upon the release of his debut project, Kuhad chatted to Wonderland about how he wants to be viewed as an artist, the highs and lows of the past year and the goals he is setting himself for the future. Head below to enjoy our interview with Prateek Kuhad…

Hey Prateek! How are you today?
I am great! Rehearsals for the US Tour are on at full swing and we are doing a bunch of promo stuff around the album release so it has been busy! I love it!

What have been the peaks and pits of the last year?
I think the lockdown in India around mid last year was a massive pit. We were all anxious here and it was a tough time for everyone. Things have been great so far since 2022 started. We put out a couple of singles and then released the album a few days ago. I’ve been getting a lot of heartfelt messages from fans. It’s been wholesome.

And how did you get into music? What sparked the interest?
I always loved to sing as far back as I can remember. Around the age of 16 I started learning the guitar and soon progressed into writing songs. Never looked back since then – writing songs makes me feel alive like no other thing!

Congratulations on the release of “Favorite Peeps”! What was the meaning behind the track?
I often tend to learn a lot about myself and about the song I’m writing during the process, and that was true of favourite peeps as well. I have gone through highs and lows in time, and during the lows, I always find my favourite people – my support system of family and friends – they come through for me like no one else. This song is about that feeling of knowing you are supported and safe.

And the single is hacked from your debut album The Way That Lovers Do. Would you say the album plays on similar themes to “Favorite Peeps”?
“Favourite Peeps” is in fact an outlier of sorts in an album mostly about romantic love. But still tied in because it speaks nonetheless about Love as a universal language. In any context really, love underlies all things in life.

What was your favourite part of making the album?
Definitely the recording and production process. I spent over two months in the beautiful bear creek studio with Ryan Hadlock. Ryan is a beautiful human being with great energy and bear creek is a special place. It was inspiring and invigorating.

How do you hope people will view you as an artist?
Hopefully a true one. I try to be real and it’s actually more complicated than it sounds. To be real you first really need to truly know yourself – and that is always a work in progress. But I try my best to put across the general value system that I believe in when I put out my work. And I can only hope that comes through effectively.

What’s most important to you when making music?
There are truly no rules as such when it comes to process. I like trying different things and changing the way I write, what instruments I write on etc based on instinct. The only thing I find really helpful is being in a calm state of mind and also have a quiet space.

What’s one interesting fact about you that we can’t find on a press release?
I really like baking and I’m quite good at it!

And finally, what do you see yourself doing next? Do you have any specific goals?
I’m ready to get back into writing mode. After the tour, I plan to spend July through to September working on more music. I have always written my songs interspersed over months and even with the way that lovers do, for example, I have songs ranging from being written in 2017 all the way up to 2020. I’d like to attempt trying to write an album within a shorter period of time so it is more representative of a particular period of my life. I will try this out over the summer. I don’t want to set expectations for myself, or anyone else, but let’s see how it goes!