Prolific recording artist Kiran Ahluwalia’s music is a fusion of Indian music, African desert blues, and Western jazz and often touches on themes of cultural intolerance. Ahluwalia has been the recipient of two Juno Awards and often collaborates with her husband, Rez Abbasi.
Hayat Life Editor-in-Chief Fira Gasimova spoke with Ahluwalia about her upcoming album and the journey to its April 2024 release.
Cultural integration has heavily influenced Ahluwalia’s music.
Gasimova: How have your experiences as an immigrant impacted your music style?
Ahluwalia: I have a hyphenated cultural citizenship. I was born in India, brought up in Canada, and am living in New York City. My music is a reflection of that. It’s not like Indian music coming out of India. The aesthetics of my music mirror this cultural integration. It’s Indian music primarily, but it’s fused with African desert blues and jazz.
Secondly, my main collaborator is my husband, Rez Abbasi. I was born in India, and he was born in Pakistan. India and Pakistan are countries that share a brotherhood but are at war with each other. This union of Rez and I, both as partners in our marriage and as music partners, would not have been possible if I was living in India, and he was living in Pakistan.
Thirdly, a lot of the songs I have composed for this new album, coming out in April 2024, talk about cultural intolerance. North America has a large immigrant population, so it accentuates differences between us. The fact that we share resources with immigrants is a source of contention which leads to cultural intolerance. A lot of what I write about is the mistrust of “the other.” Because we don’t know what the other is, and we don’t trust them. Even if there’s no extreme hate, there’s still a discomfort with people who are not from the same culture, don’t wear the same type of clothes, or don’t speak the same language.
Gasimova: You said you were initially pursuing a career in finance, but changed your mind and decided to study music in India. What made you decide to switch?
Ahluwalia: I have been studying music since I was a child. After I finished my bachelor’s degree, I went to India to be a full-time music student. Then I came back to Canada and got an MBA in finance. Naturally, I went on to do something with my finance degree, but a couple of things happened: One, I didn’t like it. Two, I got fired because I wasn’t good at it.
My last nine-to-five job was in 2000. When that company closed down, I was out of a job again, and since I had time, I recorded my first album. After my first album, I got a manager and an agent, and I started getting concerts. So I thought, “Let me do this for a year, and I’ll go back to a nine-to-five.” But the “year” never ended, and now it’s been 23 years. Thank God.
Gasimova: Two of your albums have won the Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year. What did winning mean to you the first and second time?
Ahluwalia: The Juno Award builds your name internationally. Having the highest award in your country helps you a little bit. The second award reinforces that it wasn’t just a fluke.
Ahluwalia describes what it’s like collaborating with her jazz-guitarist husband.
Gasimova: We’ve previously interviewed your husband, Rez Abbasi. Do you derive inspiration from each other? Do you ever feel burnt out?
Ahluwalia: Absolutely, we derive a lot of inspiration from each other. If I were working with a producer/guitarist who I wasn’t living with, I’d be busy setting up meetings. However, because we live together, he could just be sitting on the sofa and practicing his own music, and I’ll hear something I like and run to him and say, “I want to use that for my music!”
Now, being burnt out is a different story. We inspire each other, but when you’re burnt out, sometimes you have to take a break, reset your batteries, and not think about music or productivity.
Gasimova: There’s always been a debate about an artist’s responsibility to raise awareness about social issues. Do you find you feel that responsibility within your music?
Ahluwalia: Well, I think we’re all responsible. In my songs, I write about cultural intolerance because that’s what I wish to write about. It angers me, and I’m sad about it, and I want to change it. Art and music are healthy forms of dissent. I have that outlet at my fingertips, so I wish to use it for good.
Photo by Ryan Buchanan
Exciting things are on the horizon for Ahluwalia.
Gasimova: Tell me a bit about your new album. How long have you been working on it?
Ahluwalia: I’ve been working on it for a long time. During the pandemic, there was a lot of time to compose. Sometimes we wanted to record, but the studio would be shuttered. Then we would have a session, but one of my bandmates would get COVID-19, so there were a lot of hurdles. It’s the longest it has ever taken me to record an album.
Gasimova: Are you excited for it to be finally released in April?
Ahluwalia: Yes! I’m releasing one track in January, and one in March or February, maybe, before the release. A lot of the songs are about cultural intolerance in North America and India. Then there are fun songs like “Pancake,” a Punjabi folk song, which is a fun love song.
Gasimova: Do you have any upcoming projects besides the album?
Ahluwalia: We’re working on a big video that we’re going to shoot in New York City, the Mojave Desert in California, and Las Vegas. We’re shooting this month, and the video will be out in April 2024. I’m releasing a total of four videos with the album, and then I’m touring.
Gasimova: What do you find to be the most cathartic part of music production? Performing, composing, or writing?
Ahluwalia: All of it. It feeds different parts of me. Composing feeds that part of me with a desire to express myself and to create something. When I perform, it’s a shared release. It’s a communion of the audience and myself. We’re all in it together, and I’m feeding off energy from the audience, which is exhilarating. Oftentimes, I’ll be performing for like 5,000 people, and one audience member will catch my eye. It makes me want to give a good performance. I want to give the audience what I get from music which is a respite from troubles and a release. I want them to be transported away from their lives for that moment in time.
Gasimova: What advice would you give to young people now trying to pursue a music career?
Ahluwalia: Be kind to everybody — that would be my advice. Apart from that, everyone’s situation is different so go out and hear different kinds of music. Have good discipline, and work hard on your art. I don’t like to say, “Do this or do that,” because there’s no one way of succeeding, but these things are universal.
Kiran Ahluwalia’s new album will be released in April of 2024.
