As the American DJ returns to India for yet another tour, he talks about his love for Indian music and instruments, and why EDM music is a gateway for Gen-Z to discover old music
KSHMR is on a five-city India tour performing as a part of the Sunburn Holi Weekend. Photo Courtesy: Special Arrangement
India and KSHMR are inseparable, not only because of the American DJ’s roots in the country, but also because every time he visits to perform here, it is more immersive than before. It couldn’t get better for Niles Hollowell-Dhar, popularly known by his stage name KSHMR, because he is performing in the country for Holi and is set to tour five cities for the Sunburn Holi Weekend, starting with Mumbai on March 3, and even making his debut in Bhubaneshwar.
He shares, “I'm super excited to be back and to not only be back for one show, but to get to do a whole tour and be able to travel because I have friends and fans, who say, ‘Why don't you ever come to Bengaluru?'" Finally, I have some good news to tell them. It's nice to say that this time I'll be making the rounds and seeing some of my fans and my friends that I don't get to see so often. And of course, to do it around Holi is a special time. The spirits are going to be high.”
The beauty of this visit is going to be the fact that the music producer doesn’t particularly have any memories of celebrating Holi, so he is excited to witness it live for yet another time. “I have played with colours. The last time I came to do a tour for Holi, I wound up covered in the colours and everything. So, that was beautiful.”
It is not only the culture and the tradition of applying colours but also the music that forms an important part of Holi celebrations in India. A playlist that includes ‘Rang Barse’ is a must, but over time even that has evolved to include many new tracks, and KSHMR has seen that happen. So, what is it that fans can expect at the performances? “Indian music is received very well at festivals and not only in India. It (the performance) is going to be big with some of the special edits, remixes, and Bollywood tracks; I think those will go well. I like the special songs around Holi also, which I've already done remixes for too. Indian music is received well, not just in India, but in other countries, too, you know, like, I think it's like a special feeling that they don't get from other music.”
The timing for his tour couldn’t be any better, as he has only just released his latest album, ‘Sounds of Kashmir,' on March 2 and has experimented with so many different Indian sounds, but there is one instrument that he particularly loves. “The flute is one of my favourite instruments, apart from the shehnai and table. These are such expressive instruments; like the tabla is a drum, but it also has a tone, a pitch to it. I can't think of another drum that is bending. There are some maybe, but to get pitches bending with it is just so expressive.”
Beauty of Indian music
Maybe KSHMR’s paternal roots in Jammu and Kashmir keep pulling him back because he is forever mesmerised by Indian music. “I think every culture has its different instruments, and it has its own music and everything, but there is something special about India. It's just a lot of iconic, special instruments and grooves and scales. I know every culture has it, but India is just special; it's really in a class of its own because of just how many instruments it has. You just can’t say "Indian music"; you really must be more specific about what style that you're talking about.” Given his love for electronic music and particularly EDM music, the musician adds another favourite instrument to the mix during our conversation. “All of it is nice and inspiring to me. If I were to pick one, I think it would just be the big drums, like the Bollywood-style drums, where you have an ensemble and a drum line, and everybody's playing in unison,” he explains.
Using many different Indian elements in his music, ask Dhar if he believes that it will help Gen-Z discover Indian music through EDM music, and he is positive about it and even shares an anecdote. “When they listen to my music, they're going to hear little bits of that, and maybe it will open their interest to learning more about where that music comes from. It's kind of like me with hip-hop music. I remember there would be samples all over these hip-hop beats of old records, and I would be like, 'Oh, this is so beautiful.' Where did this come from?’ And then I would look where it came from and see, oh, it's a sample of some song that came out 50 years ago. It'll get me learning about some older artists.”
While often listeners may think it is for old people, Dhar believes when somebody puts it in the context of something new, then I mentally give myself the approval to love it. “It's not old; it has a little new twist, and that's just enough to get somebody thinking, 'Oh, this might actually have something I enjoy.' And then they go back and they learn about the rest,” says the music producer, who believes his songs ‘Bombay Dreams’, and the remix of ‘Besharam Rang’ should be on our Holi playlists but not without classics such as ‘Jammu’ and 'Bazaar.'
After Mumbai, he will perform in Chennai on March 4, Bengaluru on March 6, Bhubaneswar on March 7, and end his tour in Hyderabad on March 8, but not without good food. Even as he immerses himself in the music, KSHMR is excited to gorge on all the good food and sweets, with kaju barfi being his favourite.
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