Exclusive Stream: New Delhi Producer Anhad Khanna’s Cinematic ‘Jiya’

When Anhad Khanna played alongside Asian underground and fusion veteran Karsh Kale in New Delhi last month, the 19-year-old drummer saw it fit to drop his latest composition, “Jiya.” Says Khanna, “My sound is immensely inspired by a lot of contemporary Asian underground music and it would resonate a lot with the kind of music Karsh Kale, Midival Punditz, Talvin Singh have either worked on or are still experimenting with. I feel this style somewhere got lost with the coming up of so many other styles of electronic music.”

A drummer for alternative/lo-fi act Man.goes Human who collaborates with percussionist Sarthak Pahwa live, has so far opened for Kale as well as won the Rising Artist title at the annual SulaFest in Nashik. The winnings as part of the contest led him to record the cinematic, wistful single “Jiya” with singer Isheeta Chakrvarty and North Carolina-based keyboardist Tanner Willeford at Cotton Press Studios in Mumbai. Khanna says he had four chords in mind and was introduced to Chakrvarty just before his recording. “I was sitting in this massive looking studio with an absolute stranger who now is a very close friend along with a very dear friend of mine, Tanner who took a 30-hour train from Kerala to Bombay just to play the keys on the track but also ended up co-producing it,” Khanna says.

“Jiya” is part of an upcoming EP that Khanna plans to co-write with Willeford. Additionally, there are plans for more shows as well and a project in the works with New Delhi singer-songwriter Kamakshi Khanna. He adds, “I’ve been figuring out dates for some shows and hoping to make my Bombay debut soon. I’d be announcing the dates ones they’re confirmed.”

Hear “Jiya” below