Around 2010 and onwards, The Cataracs were making waves as a hip-hop duo in the music industry. Although we miss the American hip-hop duo’s electronic productions, KSHMR — who was one half of the duo — has been bringing his A-game with his solo career. Niles Hollowell-Dhar aka KSHMR debuted in the EDM industry in 2014 with big-room electro-house sounds that had an influence from his Indian heritage. After anonymously producing under his KSHMR moniker, he released his debut track Megalodon in February followed by several other tracks that hit the charts of dance music retailer Beatport. From there, his career has only moved forward with performances at Ultra Music Festival in 2015, collaboration with Tiesto, releasing his EP Pardesi in 2015, releasing The Lion Across the Field in 2016 followed by his performance at Tomorrowland shortly after.
Currently, the Indian-American artiste is working on an Indian hip-hop album called KARAM which features artistes from the scene. With the first release, Haath Varthi with MC Stan and Phenom, being released about three months ago, KSHMR released the second single Bhussi a month back. He plans to release one single after the other from the album and has his fans on the edge of their seat.
Edited excerpts from a chat with the 34-year-old, who speaks more about the album.
My Kolkata: Congratulations on releasing your second track from KARAM. What was the inspiration behind Bhussi?
KSHMR: The inspiration behind the track was based on the story of the album KARAM. I shared it with the guys and we agreed to a storyline to go with but also wanted to give the Seedhe Maut guys enough space to show off their lyricism and tell the story of KARAM in their own way.
How did you and Seedhe Maut get working on it? Did you have to adapt to each other’s styles or did things fall into place?
I was a huge fan of these guys before we got into the studio, so, not at all. I played them a beat and told them about the story behind KARAM, and they got to writing immediately and it was so incredible to watch how effortlessly they crafted the lyrics.
KSHMR and the Seedhe Maut duo (pictured) collaborated for ‘Bhussi’
You are working with the top names of the Indian hip-hop scene — DIVINE, MC Stan, KING, Raja Kumari, HanuMankind, Yashraj, D’Evil and producers like Karan Kanchan. What is it like working with such diverse artistes?
It’s great! My favourite thing about the hip-hop scene in India is that it encompasses many generations of artistes who love hip-hop so they all have their distinct flavour and inspire new creativity.
What does KARAM mean to you? What do you see in the album that you want your listeners to see?
KARAM directly means deeds, and the story of this album circles a character who in his path to greatness cannot escape the consequences of his deeds. So, karam and karma are related and play a very important role in the story.
Your fans are eagerly waiting for the album. Is there something you can tell us about KARAM that we don’t know about?
There were certain hold-ups that prolonged the release of the album but the silver lining was that I was able to add new artistes and songs, which became some of my favourites from the album.
‘It’s always been important to me that I stay in touch with India and involve India in my music,’ says the artiste
Although dance music is your mainstay, KARAM is your Indian hip-hop album. Would you say it’s a way to hold on to your roots?
It’s always been important to me that I stay in touch with India and involve India in my music, even in my dance music. But when I saw the hip-hop scene was blossoming in India, it really excited me. It’s nice to have a project that gives me an excuse to come to India and interact with my Indian fans.
What made you decide that now would be a good time to release an Indian hip-hop album?
I don’t think in terms that it would be a good time to release something, I just think of it as a good time to get involved because it’s so exciting and interesting and there’s so much creativity in the Indian hip-hop scene. I don’t really start from a business mentality, I just get excited and want to get involved and create in that space. My finding out about it made it the right time.
When you read the word ‘desi’ what comes to mind?
I think of anything related to Indian people or Pakistani people, brown people in general who share certain customs and upbringing, that creates an ability to release with one another.
Around the mid of July, ATB shared a picture of the two of you in his studio. The comments that followed asked if the two of you were working on some new music. What would your response be to that?
ATB was kind enough to let me use his studio. We didn’t work on any music together but something can certainly be on the horizon.
We read that you are working on an American film right now. Can you tell us a little about that?
It’s a horror film directed by my childhood friend Colin Tilley, who has been at the top of the music video game for many years now and I’m so happy that as he ventured into movies he decided to bring me along. Scoring a film is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.
KSHMR is working with Colin Tilley (in picture) for his upcoming horror film
You have a song called Kolkata and you’ve performed in the city as well. What is your impression of the audience in terms of music knowledge?
Kolkata has a crazy energy to it. When I was young, I visited with my dad and grandparents — my dad even lived there for a time. It is interesting to know that it was there that I met Mother Teresa before she passed away. I was very young at the time.
Other than KARAM, what other projects are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on the film, and dance music
