KSHMR is coming to India
14 Oct 2017 6:45 PM GMT
After gaining immense fan following and delivering constant hits such as 'Bazaar,' 'Wildcard,' 'Memories,' 'Secrets,' 'Back to me' amongst many others, Niles Holowell Dhar, better known by his stage name KSHMR does not need any formal introduction. The Indian-American DJ, record producer, and musician from Berkeley (California) is embarking on his debut tour of India, featuring performances in six cities, Delhi being the first leg of the tour. Being a propagator of humanity and an ardent philanthropist, KSHMR will donate proceeds from his New Delhi event titled "KARMA", on October 20, to a charitable institution, Child Rights and You (CRY).
In a conversation with Shreya Das, KSHMR talks about his journey, style, charity work, and India plans during Diwali. Excerpts:
Why the name KSHMR?
KSHMR is a reference to my heritage. Growing up, my grandpa would tell me that I am Kashmiri. We came from Kashmir, and none of this meant much to me when I was young because I just wanted to fit in. But in my later years, I began appreciating my culture and heritage. I never wanted to make everything revolve around me, instead, I wanted to create a world. And KSHMR, to me, aside from the territory that exists in reality, is now a world that I've constructed to an extent, to complement the music and to give context to the music. So it's a combination of my heritage and my desire to create a world rather than a pop star or a DJ star.
Who has the biggest influence on you and your music?
Well, I think my biggest influence if it were to just be one, would be 'The Beatles', because they had an incredible knack for melodies and as they grew and entered into a strange territory, they never left melody being at the heart of it all.
It's not enough to be weird or to want to try crazy things, you have to also maintain this duality of appreciating the simplicity in music; that music was intended to connect on an emotional level, and our emotions in many ways are more simple and abstract than the way a therapist or psychologist might pontificate them to be. In reality, I think music is the most direct penetrating way to tackle emotions because it is abstract, we're talking about chords and melodies, and that has the same ineffable quality that emotions have. So, I think 'The Beatles' were always focused on the emotion, they were always focused on doing what felt right, as opposed to overly intellectualizing, and they still went into crazy territory. I think it's just really inspirational to see a band go through changes and reinvent themselves, especially with 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' to the degree that they did, but still just made hits, even the weirdest stuff, you know you could sing along to, they were hits in their own right.
How did you reach where you are now?
I think I got to where I am now, by simply making music and not performing anywhere for a year. I made so much music; not all of it was good but the songs I thought were the better of the bunch came out. And that was the advantage I had over other DJs, because as soon as you begin touring, the time you are able to allow to creating new music dwindles exponentially, and you're really fighting this battle between making a living from producing and Djing.
In the long run, making new music is going to be the thing that keeps you afloat. It's because I focused on my music for a long time, I was able to perform, if not all, my own music.
The challenges certainly have been finding the time to make new music. I think for any artist who takes themselves seriously, the biggest challenge for them would be what to say no to. You have got to stand for something and there will be lots of little opportunities to concede into compromise. If you feel very strongly about what it is you want to represent then you're going to take those small decisions very seriously, and that is a challenge.
You have performed with some of the top artists, what have you learned from them?
I've learned that you can be a really kind person and still succeed. In fact, sometimes, you meet people who aren't nice or they are just sort of Machiavellian; they will even ditch their friends if they think that their friends are in the way of their success. That attitude can convince you to think that perhaps this is the path to success; that inevitably the way is going to be paved with some bridge burning and a little bit of backstabbing. A lot of people, who are still in the middle of reaching their goal, get lost in their way because of that. But at the very top, I notice that people who really succeed, are always almost the guys who are nice people and they got to where they are and stayed because they have a habit of keeping friends. They have a simple philosophy, they want to make good music and they want to do it with good people.
Where do you think Indian music is headed?
Well, I wouldn't say that I qualify as an authority on Indian music. I just know what I've learned from my dad, grandpa and now on my own. It's very different from the American music and you see a lot of big Indian songs in movies crossover and then become huge hits on the radio in India.
Do I think it will expand outside of India on a global level? It doesn't seem to me that, that kind of music here in Bollywood has necessarily the intention or quite the penetrating ability to have a major impact on American pop music or other major markets of pop music, but what you do see is everybody getting influenced by it! You see it not just in my music, but I think in dance music and it's very common now.
It's a real culture, with real history and people are getting a little bit bored with just hearing synths in dance music. I'm a big advocate of incorporating real sounds and I think Indian culture offers this huge well to draw from; it's a font of inspiration, exoticness and it's been one of the originators of dance music.
What propels you into charity and humanitarian work?
My mom was, for her whole life, a social worker in the United States. She worked to get kids out of abusive homes and pretty much fought her whole life in the defense of children. Once, she took me to visit Mother Teresa when she was in Calcutta. And even though I was very young when I met Mother Teresa, and don't remember it, those things just remained with me. My grandpa is also a member of organizations which help displaced people from Kashmir, and even though he's sort of a hard man, because you know for Indian people you have to be hard, you have to be tough because poverty surrounds you, but even so he does what he can to be charitable and he's got a great soul. With all the people, especially in a country like India, they seem tough on the outside because life toughens you up but grandpa still has a great heart and I think all of that got passed down to me.
Does your label 'Dharma worldwide' focus more on Indian culture?
It's very early but my vision is to focus on culture generally. Indian culture has been a large part of my story, but when you look deeper than that I've always just been enamored with storytelling and I've wanted to include that, or some facet of that in all of my work. I expect to see the same from artists who have their songs signed to Dharma. It doesn't necessarily have to be Indian. It should just be something more than mere bleeps and bloops.
Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming projects...?
I'm currently working on a project called 'Materia' which explores new territory and different tempos. It was a very collaborative project where I wanted to make the kind of songs that I usually play. I wanted to have those refreshed and I wanted to do them with the artists whose music I love playing out. I really wanted to just make some great music to play during live shows. Now, with this project I mean to be a little bit more experimental and for anybody who knows me, I do go through these intimate periods where I just want to drop all the rules and have fun and that's where I am now.
What are you planning to do on your first tour to India?
I'm planning to deliver a show that is tantamount to how special this tour is for me. I have a lot of new exclusive material that I prepared just for this tour.
What are your thoughts about Indian crowd and their taste in EDM?
This scene in India is a bit new and I don't mean that in a pejorative way, I think it's great. There's an excitement that's fresh, you see passion, this ardent support that I receive, and it's unique. To have a country like India becoming supporters of this dance music movement is like seeing a tidal wave which will push a whole new wave of excitement.
What can we expect from you during this tour?
Well, it is a KSHMR tour, so I'm going to play KSHMR music. I have also created some exclusive remixes of Indian songs that I plan to debut.
Since this is a charity show, what message would you like to send out to people?
I think dance music can be a vessel for good, and at the heart of what we do is a desire to touch people, to life people and we do that in a musical and artistic way but we can do it in a very tangible material way as well. We can raise money to save children who simply cannot be saved by the power of music.
You are coming during Diwali weekend, any plans to celebrate Diwali in your country?
Yeah absolutely. I think we're going to be just in the middle of the celebrations and I think it will all blend into one. I know excitements and emotions are going to be running very high with the performance, for me and for my crew. I'm really hoping that my Dadaji is going to be able to make it to this show in Delhi. If he does then I plan to celebrate with him, and I've never actually been in India at this time. I have only seen it through pictures and this will be a first for me, so I'm very excited.
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