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I saw Anoushka Shankar perform live exactly a year ago, at Lollapalooza India. I had entered the premises a little late, mildly sweaty with pangs of hunger so lethal I could’ve fainted. There she was, strumming (I hope that’s the right word) her sitar in all her glory and I shoved that overpriced vada pav into my mouth hurriedly, only so I could stand in a cosy corner and dote on the playing.
She is the daughter of sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, and although my introduction to her has been a little late, it was memorable. She’s been nominated for a Grammy more than ten times, has worked with the United Nations and is a writer as well. She has her own intimate newsletter that she disseminates periodically to blur all the noise on social platforms otherwise. So refreshing. I had the good fortune to catch up with Shankar and discuss all things music (her new album will be out soon), her current playlist and why she’s worried about AI in the realm of music.
Read on.
ELLE: Tell us about your new album ‘Chapter III, We Return to Light.’
Anousha Shankar (AS): I’m just releasing a new album called Chapter III, We Return to Light, which is the third part of a trilogy I’ve been releasing over the last two years. It feels like a really big part of a long journey and I’m really excited and happy. So this third chapter was really influenced by Goa and by India, while the previous chapters were more Europe and California influenced. These are all my three homes, and I just wanted to kind of dig into what these different aspects of my personality and my worldview are. And this third chapter was all about heat and light and optimism, resilience, strength, growth, and just that kind of returning to source, because this is where everything started for me.
ELLE: What was it like putting together your performance with Jacob Collier and Varijashree in Amsterdam?
AS: I was really happy that my collaboration with Jacob Collier and Varijashree Venugopal was nominated for a Grammy, along with Chapter II of my series. And we finally played together live for the first time in Amsterdam recently, which was really fun. We just kind of met on the day and worked it out in soundcheck once and played along. Which is always fun to get to do with the best kinds of musicians.
ELLE: Tell us about collaborating with Sarathy Korwar and Alam Khan for Chapter III.
AS: With each of these chapters, I set myself a parameter that I was going to work with different producers and different collaborators. So for this third chapter, which was going to be slightly India-facing, I wanted to work with the great Alam Khan, who is a dear friend of mine, and another close friend who’s an incredible percussionist composer, Sarathy Korwar. So we all bring different influences and different styles of writing together which sometimes got a little crunchy as we were trying to find all our flavours and get it to work together. But that’s exactly what I love about collaborating.
ELLE: What’s your second favourite instrument and why?
AS: My second favourite instrument is probably the cello. I think it’s as difficult or more difficult to play than the sitar, but if I could, I would. I think it’s just so big and reverberant that I’ve heard that even to play it, you need to feel it through your body in such a powerful way.
ELLE: Name a music trend you’re personally not a fan of, and please elaborate.
AS: I don’t like passing judgement on trends or styles overall, but if anything in music, it’s AI that worries me a little bit. I think it can be used by people in really interesting ways, but the way it’s being used by streaming giants instead, I can’t stand it and I’m not a fan.
ELLE: A late musician you wish lived long enough for you to collaborate with them?
AS: There is a legendary neoclassical composer called Ryuichi Sakamoto who passed away a couple of years ago, and I was a big fan of his work. His team and I were actually in communication about maybe getting together to make some music. He was such a legend, an incredible human and I’m truly sorry I missed that opportunity.
ELLE: How would you describe the sitar as an instrument to someone not familiar with it?
AS: The sitar is fascinating because it’s kind of associated with so many thoughts and ideas of maybe the 1960s for some people, and India for other people, or even spirituality. And all of those things might be true, but actually it’s so much broader than that. It can be groovy, it can be badass, it can be strong, it can be tender, and I think it just has a huge amount of range that people really could explore.
ELLE: Three songs you’re listening to on loop right now?
AS: When I’m going to bed, I listen to a song called Immunity by John Hopkins quite often. It’s very peaceful. I’ve been going back and listening to Homogenic by Björk a lot recently because I’ve been trying to tell my kids about her and getting them to hear her. And the third one, I guess my own song because I’ve been working on it, so I’m hearing it a lot.
ELLE: You’re quite the fashion icon and we think your style stays true to the musician in you. Is it a conscious effort or something you just gravitate to naturally when picking out outfits?
AS: I think the deal with outfits is that sometimes you can end up taking things too seriously and then it’s not fun anymore. So, I try to remember that it’s a way to play and a way to express a mood or a feeling or a message you want to carry across. I think a little more carefully onstage than I do offstage, because obviously, in that space, I’m kind of trying to say something through my clothing. But I still try to keep that lightheartedness to it.
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