What is your piece called?

The title of the work is Akrodha, which means without anger.

I see this composition as a journey towards peace, connection and self celebration. In this way, Akrodha is a therapeutic process inspired by my own experiences of EMDR therapy and moulded from the therapeutic musicology of South Asian Classical music. 

What makes it unique?

My favourite thing about the piece so far is the way that it blends analog and digital sounds to create an otherworldly experience, mirroring the juxtaposition of ancient and modern therapeutic approaches. This especially supports the transition we go through from Raag Shivranjani to Raag Bihag.
 

Where do you draw the line between honouring tradition and breaking it, and what does that tension look like in your music?

I honour what works for me and uphold the strength of the traditions I have inherited, but I break what ultimately bores me or doesn’t serve me. Rhythmic freedom is a big part of this - I tend to move away from 4/4 time signatures and the usual 8 or 16-beat cycles, as rhythmic challenge drives me to focus deeper and invoke more. Harmonically, I’m drawn to maximalist, multi-layered soundscapes with polyphony and emotionally complex melodies.

What has it been like working with zerOclassikal?

Freeing, enabling, and rewarding. Jonathan Mayer has been an inspirational support for me and for many emerging musicians I’ve worked with. It has always felt inclusive being in zerOclassikal, regardless of background, and I’m genuinely excited for my continued growth through their opportunities.

Both the flute and dilruba evoke such different emotional landscapes. How do you approach expressing yourself differently on each instrument?

I’ve been playing the flute for 25 years and the bansuri for 8, so emotional articulation through them feels second nature. With the dilruba - which I’ve played and sung with for only a few years - each sound demands clear intention, a kind of simple effectiveness. The dilruba thrives raw and acoustic due to its hyper-resonance, while the bansuri shines with added reverb. The bansuri challenges my breath control and prana flow, whereas the dilruba challenges the synchronisation of my left and right brain hemispheres, as both hands perform opposite actions. These contrasting qualities excite me - they complement each other beautifully as emotionally rich tools.

You were commissioned by zerOclassikal as part of Extrapolate to create a new experimental piece, which you then debuted at Free Flow Classikal, Karamel? What was the experience like for you creatively and as part of your artistic/career growth?

This commission pushed me to discover who I truly was at that time. After first receiving it, I spent 2–3 months in uncertainty about the direction to take, but I trusted the process - diving into Raag while bringing my ambient and electronic background to the forefront. The result was aKRODHA, a composition that represented the best version of myself.

This opportunity also deepened my collaborative partnership with my life-partner, Joe Steele, who co-created aKRODHA with me.

When you improvise, what’s guiding you more: intuition, training, or conversation with the other musicians?

Nothing is off-limits as long as the essence and ‘rules’ of the Raag are respected. In collaborations where it’s difficult to communicate this framework, I accept what others bring and then personally express the Raag wherever possible, almost like a flavour. The result is often a kind of ‘deconstructed’ Raag -moving in and out of its emotional invocation - for example, with the bridge or hook of a song adhering strictly to the Aroh/Avroh (ascending/descending) rules.

Are there sounds or themes you’re eager to explore next?

I want to experiment more with ambient drones, and I already have a few ideas for how to integrate them into the yoga classes and music sessions which I facilitate. I also love collaborating with sitar and cello, as they feel like extensions on either side of the dilruba, so doing more of that would be great. I also dream of teaching bansuri to both children and adults.

Over the next year, I plan to develop workshops exploring Raag from a Gurmat perspective, helping more people engage with this unique musicology. This will also complement the regular sound baths I’m about to relaunch where I can freely express the emotional needs of the moment to people who have come to receive.
 

What’s next in store for you?

I’m looking forward to performing again with zerOclassikal, especially expanding aKRODHA with dramatic lighting, looping dilruba sections, and a Kathak dance collaboration - a music video is on the way!

Beyond that, I’m currently building Indofuturist music for a theatre production about Maharajah Duleep Singh, titled Goodnight Maharajah, through my theatre company ŚŪNYA Company. It will debut in 2027, with previews planned for 2026.

Find Kiran on Instagram: @skg.kiran