The two-time, Juno-award-winner talks to Can-India about her new album ‘Sanata: Stillness’ which is slated for a North American release in October. Inspired by Indian and Pakistani music, Saharan blues and Western jazz, Kiran aims to show that borders are meaningless in one’s heart and on the world stage.
By Sabrina Almeida
Kiran Ahluwalia was born in Patna and moved to Toronto when she was around nine years old. Passionate about music from a young age, she has dabbled in many genres to evolve a distinct of flavour her own. Her new album ‘Sanata: Stillness’ is a personal journey from traditional Indian ghazals and folk songs to a contemporary tunes that incorporate music styles from around the world. She currently lives in New York. Here are excerpts of the interview.
Photo credit: Sahiba Kaur Chawla
Are you excited about your new album?
Yes, I am. I just put up a video on my Facebook fan page and I have been getting a good feedback from India, Africa… everyone is liking it.
You are doing a couple of concerts in Canada?
Yes, three concert,s one in Toronto and a couple in Quebec.
Tell us about ‘Sanata’.
‘Sanata’ is a hybrid that I created… of Indian and Saharan blues and Western jazz. My own training is in Indian music so that is the basis of where my melodies come from. But I have fallen in love with Tuareg music (from the Sahara Desert in Mali and Algeria) and other kinds of Saharan music from Morroco and other parts of the desert as well. When you see a dress that you like in a store you want to own it. For me it’s like that with music. When I hear music that I absolutely love I want to own it. I have wanted to own Tuareg music for eight years. I studied it informally and researched it on my own. I performed in Mali as well. That helped to know more about it.
You performed in Mali as well?
Yes, I went to Mali in 2012, before the revolution started. The Canadian Consulate advised me not to come because the situation was too dangerous on account of the diplomat kidnappings. But I had an invitation from the Director of the Festival of the Desert to sing there and I really wanted to go. It is a legendary festival. It was in Timbuktu and the entire perimeter was surrounded by army personnel. I enjoyed performing and the entire experience. Soon after that the revolution started… and the festival just hasn’t happened since then. So I am glad that I went when I did. Who knows when it is going to come back?
Is the western influence from your husband?
Yes, he has been instrumental in bringing the jazz and western elements into my music. It is also partly from having just grown up in Canada. I would listen to a lot of Indian music at my home but on the radio there was guitar and Western music, and I grew up with that. I liked guitar from the very beginning but it was my husband Rez Abbasi (a western jazz guitarist of Pakistani origin) who propelled me to incorporate it into my own music. He has inspired and helped me develop a very unique, hybrid sound that incorporates a lot of different things.
You have also incorporated Portugese Fado in a previous album ‘Wanderlust’. What kind of music interests you?
I listen to different types of Indian music, like classical, ghazals, Bollywood, pop and Punjabi folk songs. Apart from the plethora of Indian genres, I listen to Tuareg music, music from Morocco, Algeria, Portuguese Fado as well as American and Canadian singer song writers like Arlene Bishop.
Your passion and interest in music was inspired by your parents?
Yes, my parents were ghazal singers. Although they didn’t sing professionally they had a huge passion for it. They used to compete in their college (in North India) and so they would be singing ghazals all the time. I learned a lot of things- Punjabi shabads (sung in the gurudwara), ghazals and film music from the radio. Apart from what they helped me learn, I also learned Indian classical music in a formal way, from a guruji who would come to my house.
How old were you when you began learning Indian classical music?
I started when I was about 5 or 6 years old. We were in Patna at that time. Although I learned at home, I remember that every year I would go to an institution to compete, to pass a certain level.
How did it feet to compete at that young age? Did you want to do it?
Yes, definitely. It was never forced upon me. I definitely wanted to learn, the competing was just a part of it. I accepted that as being part of the process to get to a certain level. I remember wearing a beautiful dress that my mother stitched at one of the competitions that I really liked. I also remember standing in front of the judges. I don’t remember the singing but I do remember the dance and the judges asking theoretical questions. It was a room full of people because everybody else was there with their parents as well.
Did the formal learning continue in Canada? When did you move?
We moved to Toronto in the ‘70s when I was 9 or 10 years old. There weren’t many Indian classical music teachers but my parents did find one for me. There weren’t any competitions because Indian classical music and dance here are not institutionalized like in India.
You went back to India to learn after your graduation?
Yes, I did. I went back to India to be a full-time music student for the first time in my life. (Previously I was doing it as an extra-curricular activity.) It was serious study because I was in city (Mumbai) with no relatives or friends (unlike my previous visits there). Settling in and getting around was the opposite of easy.
How did your parents react?
Well there were lots of fights, doors were slammed and tears were shed. When they realised that I was going to do it with or without their blessing, then they had no choice but to come on board. They helped me get ready for the trip making sure I had everything I needed. I stayed in India for a year to study music and then for over a decade I kept going back and forth between Canada and India, studying and working.
How do you feel about receiving two Juno Awards?
I was absolutely elated to be recognized in that way by the highest award that Canada has in music. The first time when I was nominated in 2001 for ‘Kashish’ (she won Best World Music Album of the Year in 2004 for ‘Beyond Boundaries’ and again in 2012 for ‘Aam Zameen’) I was surprised and thought that maybe I would win. I didn’t but the seed for winning was already planted. I felt really great that I won for the second CD.
What about the transition from traditional to contemporary music? Is this your way to connect the modern audience with traditional music?
It is my own journey… My first Juno was for pretty traditional music. I was listening to other music and wanted to incorporate that in my own—beginning with Celtic fiddle, then Fado and now Tuareg. It is my personal journey, the influences and the way that I have evolved. My husband has been my companion on this journey. And without him it would be hard to bring all these influence in to my music.
What is your dream?
To have audiences come and listen to my music on October 3. And if they like the music, I hope that they will purchase it.
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