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This podcast series by Aditya Prakash, co-created with Sushma
Soma is based around his experimental and bold debut solo album,
ISOLASHUN, which was released on New Amsterdam Records on October
13, 2023.
Aditya’s direction of exploration on ISOLASHUN stems from the
continual search for a more authentic identity and in the case of
this work, that core of that search was redefining what beauty
means to him; so it made sense for him to speak to his mentors in
the creation of ISOLASHUN, all prolific boundary-pushers in their
own right: Akram Khan, TM Krishna, Mythili Prakash and Vincenzo
Lamagna.
Each episode will be a conversation with these artists on how
they define beauty and how that definition informs the way they
create art and view themselves.
A Note from Aditya:
“What is beauty in sound? Is it a soothing melody, a
unique and pleasing timbre to the voice, a pristine blend of
sounds in the mix, an orchestration that calms or excites the
mind?
Over the last few years,
especially during the start of the pandemic lockdown, I was
forced to reflect and confront my own biases. I’ve realized that
my definitions of beauty weren’t evolving as I evolved; beauty
was an aesthetic that I was not challenging or
questioning.
Has beauty actually been weaponized? Has it been used as
a smokescreen to hide and disengage with what we consider ugly,
messy and complicated? I noticed that many of my musical choices
were attempts at making music that I felt would be “beautiful”
and appealing. I wondered, as I saw the tension, anxiety,
violence and rage in the world around me and within me in my own
hypocrisy and privilege, why was I allowing my static notions of
beauty to be the focal point in my music? It disturbed me that I
was complicit in weaponizing this aesthetic; rejecting emotions
and sounds in my very own voice that represent much more than
these homogeneous ideals.
Beyond music, I was waking up to see how the aesthetics
of “beauty” had the dangerous ability to silence and eradicate
communities of people and voices who don’t fall under this
privilege-made construct. Case in point is my own artform,
Karnatik Music, which is now an artform practiced almost entirely
by a privileged community that I am a part of.
The anger and disappointment in my own hypocrisy has
fueled the space of tension in which my new music lies. I invite
you to join me in that space of discomfort – to sit in it, feel
it and just be.
As I created this music, and opened a space for the messy
and abrasive to coexist with the melodious and emotional, I found
that the deep immersion in the complexity of these feelings
itself was beauty for me.”
Credits:
Creators and Producers: Aditya Prakash and Sushma Soma
Audio Mix: Aditya Prakash
Original Music: Aditya Prakash, Vincenzo Lamagna (episode 2
and 5)
Artwork: Aishwarya Natarajan
Additional Artwork: Sushma Soma and Kanchan Gokhale
Distribution Partner: Ideabrew Studios
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