Name: Asha Puthli
Nationality: Indian
Occupations: Singer-songwriter, producer, actress
Current release: Asha Puthli's Disco Mystic: Selected Remixes Vol. 1 is out via Naya Beat. Artists featured on the EP include Yuksek, Jitwam, Kraak & Smaak, and label founders Turbotito & Ragz.
Recommendations: The “Crab Canon” by J.S. Bach (it’s pure mathematical musical Genius.); India Psychedelic - The Story of a Rocking Generation by Sidharth Bhatia.

[Read our Jitwam interview]
[Read our Yuksek interview]
[Read our Kraak & Smaak interview]
[Read our Turbotito & Ragz interview about about the Magic of South Asian Music – Past, Present & Future]

If you enjoyed this Asha Puthli interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her on Instagram.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

There have been times when a voice or piece of music has given me goosebumps. The eyes of the soul react. It’s an involuntary reaction of the sympathetic nervous system to an awe-inspiring sound - to euphoria.

I listen with my eyes open and closed, depending on the music I’m listening to and the circumstance. With eyes open, I feel energized and with my eyes closed, I sometimes see colours in floating shapes.

In silence, which is very much an intrinsic part of music, with my eyes closed or open I hear the music within my body ... Or maybe it’s just tinnitus!

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

My very first step in music was the experience of listening! I rate embracing music as the ultimate, and most important, experience to learn, appreciate, understand. In my youth, I studied Nad Yoga (Yoga of Sound) which involved listening exercises.

Everyone has a creative spirit in them; combined with an open mind and sensitivity, a person can learn to open their creativity. As you well know, every bird can sing but few can last through spring! It’s those artists that keep evolving and taking risks until the end who are truly artists.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Music was life to me then and now. I’ve been keeping my ears open to all genres of music since I was 13 and I’m still listening to whichever direction music flows.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Experimenting with sound is my approach to music.

My motivation to create can come from the passion and energy of someone I’m collaborating with. Equally, the love and appreciation that my fans show me motivates me to reciprocate by creating music to touch their hearts, bring joy and make them dance and enjoy love and life.

World events and news also motivates me to write, and many of my songs are based on environmental issues. “Chipko Chipko” for example is about the Hug A Tree movement to stop deforestation in India.



The track is sung in Hindi and was reissued by Naya Beat on their first compilation a few years ago.



I also enjoyed recording my two New Wave/Rock albums because they gave me the opportunity to write about social issues I cared about, to express and to bring attention to the issues and motivate other like-minded folks and take action.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffe: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Ideas come from the collective consciousness. When creating an idea we are indebted to our experiences and the exposure that brought us to that point.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

My initial listen is to hear the record as the audience not as the artist and ask “does it move me or does it make me move?”

My personal sound: undefinable, genre-hopping, and eclectic.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

Nature and non-human sounds are the most beautiful sounds. I’ve used the sound of water, seagulls and the howling of wolves on different tracks on my album ‘Lost’, produced by Gabriel Grillob.

My most moving experiences were with my darling Beezon, a 15 year old Bichon Frise, who sadly passed away last year. He loved to talk, made the cutest sounds expressing his needs and emotions in an undulating sing song manner.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

Other than extremely loud music which I am not drawn to at this age, I can live with them all. To make a sentence, I need all the letters.

Except loudness which is discombobulating. I prefer nothing extreme.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

Great question but a difficult one to answer because all my solo albums involved different creative processes as needs required and as recording technology advanced.

At times (especially my early albums), the record labels wanted me to record covers. My approach there was to be interpretive and make the songs ‘my own’.

On ‘The Devil Is Loose’ I wrote the lyrics to all the songs bar one.



‘L’Indiana’ was partially recorded in Italy with a Belgian producer but with the backing vocals and other elements recorded and mixed in New York. It was one of the first records to be internationally assembled like that. In any case, you get my point! I’ve always had to evolve and be flexible to what was required at the time.



The newborn or youngest creation is always the dearest. So I’m particularly infatuated with my first remix album Disco Mystic.

I supplied the stems to my music and worked with producer/DJs Turbotito and Ragz to select some brilliant folks to remix my work and create this wonderful album.

It’s been a somewhat hands-off process but it’s still a creative process nonetheless. I think people are going to love it!

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Yes.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Music and life are one and the same. I believe my music reflects love and joy.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

This question made me laugh! Music lasts a long time, the coffee no matter how perfect would have gone rancid by now.

My music has lasted for over five decades and has been enjoyed by many, several times over, thanks to crate diggers, sampling by A-list Hip hop artists, and now the forthcoming remix album.

My dear friend Neil Sedaka once said about his music ‘I want to have immortality of something that will outlast me’. Most creative people share that desire, including myself.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can’t explain?

Years ago, after listening to Wagner’s Ring Cycle at Lincoln Center, with Zubin Mehta conducting the NY Philharmonic, I felt suspended in air and could not move. The concert ended with wild applause, the audience all left, except me, still sitting; frozen in rapture.

An irreplaceable experience.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I would like to experiment with Cymantics, Frequencies, Vibrations and Sounds and eventually hope to see and hear the development of functional music.

Music is already used in the healing process and could go much further into other areas like agriculture.