Ashram

A face of new India sound, Ashram is one of the first bands from east of India to fuse electronica with Indian traditional root-tribal-ethnic tunes/songs. A blend giving birth to a soundscape that best defines contemporary India where tradition and “the modern” walks hand in hand. Ashram songs will take you into a travel through Indian subcontinent, bringing tunes from boatmen, nomadic tribes, Sufi saints, struggling farmers to celebration of common people’s lives. A face of new India sound, Ashram is one of the first bands from east of India to fuse electronica with Indian traditional root-tribal-ethnic tunes/songs. A blend giving birth to a soundscape that best defines contemporary India where tradition and “the modern” walks hand in hand. Ashram songs will take you into a travel through Indian subcontinent, bringing tunes from boatmen, nomadic tribes, Sufi saints, struggling farmers to celebration of common people’s lives.

Formed in ’14 Kolkata/India, Ashram played in quite some major Indian venues. Among them, the Greenpeace India concert-Kolkata and a Hard Rock Cafe tour are notable.

Ashram’s singer Arko is one of the most unique vocalists from the independent folk music scene in India, Arko’s high tenor and natural husk, is unique to the Indian sub continental world music scene. Arko sings in more than 15 different languages and has been travelling with Ashram and his own music project all over Europe playing in eminent music festivals.

Kanishka, the founder, is one of the key persons to start vernacular pop-rock music in India/Kolkata, with nearly 20 years of experience in music production. Having played more than 2000 live gigs, he plays the Ashram host where musicians from different styles, genres and ethnic groups come, collaborate and share their music. Kanishka is now based in Berlin and began Ashram’s European life, the band has already toured in the UK, France, Czech Republic and Germany for a number of concerts.

HERE IS AN ORIGINAL LIVE ONE TAKE JAM IN NEUKOLN AT BERLIN’s CELEBRATED WORLD MUSIC PRODUCER DAVID BECK’S STUDIO PAD | A BERLIN BASED MULTI CULTURAL DANCE MUSIC PROJECT | BENGAL MEETS MOROCCO MEETS ELECTRONICA.

ORIGINAL LYRICS AND VOICE – ARKO MUKHAERJEE & BELBACHIR YOUSSEF
MUSIC PRODUCTION – KANISHKA SARKAR (ASHRAM – BERLIN)
JOINED BY
KOUSTAV DEY – GUITAR , DAVID BECK (GUIMBRI, RECORDIST), MILOUD MESSABIH – DARABUKA AND VOICE

La Caravane du Maghreb is a Berlin based band, playing/interpreting North African Gnawa music with modern sound/groove textures..

Arko & Friends along with Ashram is an ensemble of folk songs and original tunes that bring together elements of pan Asian, Nepali, Indian and North African roots music with a contemporary retro folk experimental electronic sound design, a live dance sound of the 21st Century.

This piece is a one take recording in a Neukolln room in Berlin with these incredible musicians coming together in this new post migrant society to create a groove to dance and move to. A groove for all to move to.

Arko & Kanishka have been working together producing independent ethno electronic tunes out of Berlin as Ashram.

www.findmyashram.com

This is where the collaboration gets hot!!!

2 Cubans, 2 Bengalis, an Algerian and a German Berlin based music composer all coming together in one room is something that calls out all to groove and dance to.

Minimal Utopia Orchestra is a Berlin based World music big band that mixes music from : Salsa, Cha Cha Cha, Afro Cuban, African Folk, Moroccan Gnawa, Vietnamese traditional, Latin American, Serbian Ethno and modern electronica.

https://minimalutopia.com/

Minimal Utopia Orchestra (as in this collaboration) is
Jochen Kühling & David Beck : Founder, producer.
David Beck : Gimbri, production
Deogenes Nodarse : Afro Cuban Percussion and Voice
Miloud Messabih : Algerian, North African Voice and Percussion
Pedro Abreu : Afro Cuban percussion and voice
Kanishka Sarkar : Synth, Loops, Audio post production
Arko Mukhaerjee : Voice, Ukulele, Video production

The Ashram project, interpreting songs from the Indian sub-continent within a soundscape that is electronic-psychedelic, is a collaboration of keyboardist Kanishka Sarkar (Pinky), the versatile singer, Arko Mukhaerjee and one of the prominent percussionists of present time, Ritoban Das (Ludo).
Sunset Lounge, Hotel Lytton, Kolkata
21 February, 2018.

The Ashram project, interpreting songs from the Indian sub-continent within a soundscape that is electronic-psychedelic, is a collaboration of keyboardist Kanishka Sarkar (Pinky), the versatile singer, Arko Mukhaerjee and one of the prominent percussionists of present time, Ritoban Das (Ludo).
Sunset Lounge, Hotel Lytton, Kolkata
21 February, 2018.

Arko sings an Akhilbandhu Ghosh number to prove his point about how in a song various musical strands can effortlessly and naturally fuse into each other. Both Kanishka and Arko stress that the best fusion is unconsciousness and spontaneous, never deliberate or planned. The musicians speak of how various music cultures are accommodated in their music. Arko sings two Bengali songs by Jasimuddin to substantiate his claims.

The Ashram project, interpreting songs from the Indian sub-continent within a soundscape that is electronic-psychedelic, is a collaboration of keyboardist Kanishka Sarkar (Pinky), the versatile singer, Arko Mukhaerjee and one of the prominent percussionists of present time, Ritoban Das (Ludo).
Sunset Lounge, Hotel Lytton, Kolkata
21 February 2018.

Arko rewinds his life as a musician. He talks of early band-music experience, his initiation into Indian classical music. He speaks of all his learning experiences that include covering pop songs as a band member and hosting a TV show (Music and More). Kanishka and Arko reminisce about their first meeting in Kolkata and then, after a long gap, in Paris. Arko shares an episode from his life when as a struggling singer he sang on the street near Exeter Cathedral in England to make 150 pounds. Arko believes his life and musical experiences have gone on to shape his music.

What an amazing Nepali audience in London! The entire hall singing together with every song and groove together. From Babari Phool ko Bot to Rajamati and Kanchi Ma Tyang Tyang, it felt like playing in a home in Kathmandu or Pokhara with family members enjoying every bit. Special thanks to Kanishka Sarkar and Ashram(Berlin) for the incredible live sound designing and jamming.

Our love to Help Nepal Network, UK for organising this beautiful informal charity event and community gathering.

With our folk electronic project Ashram, we decided to do a little musical montage in Berlin, celebrating the everyday multicultural grind, the many faces and stories of migrants from all around the world , the grit, the textures, the aromas of existing with each other. This is a multilingual music session travelling between Nepali, Bengali and Jamaican musical texts, essentially a live jam between three friends.

Kreuzkölln refers to a thin overlapping area in Berlin between Neukölln and Kreuzberg, a home to working communities from around the world speaking German, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Bangla, Bulgarian and several African languages, cooking food from all around the world and bringing together rhythms and grooves of an ambiguous sensual yet definitive identity of the refugee world. This is a simple cameo of life and images we see everyday in Berlin.

Recorded at Bethanien, Berlin
Arko Mukhaerjee – Voice , Ukulele
Kanishka Sarkar – Keys, Loops and Music Production
David Beck – Guimbri

Shot by Basab Mullik.
Edited and colored by Ritajit Raychaudhuri.

Special Thanks to Saptarshi Sangha Noida for Inviting us to this virtual concert.

In these disturbed times, we must regimentally come together as human beings.

Remembering the immortal voice of Late Abbasuddin Ahmed and the incredibly diverse folk music of undivided Bengal and the entire subcontinent. These are songs that still portray the truth about the lives of the millions of underprivileged people of our land who struggle each day to survive. While we are busy dividing the earth in the name of religion and extremism, the fascists take advantage of our indifference to our true providers, the ones who suffer beyond all divides. Because they are poor. Because, they make us rich.

Produced by – Ashram | Arko Mukhaerjee & Kanishka Sarkar.

A series revisiting Bengal’s ancient folk composers in a contemporary folk electronic soundscape.

This is an age-old baul gaan composed by Goshain Radheshyam Das (19th century), popularised and impeccably performed and lived by the late maestro Subal Das Baul in the 20th century.

We, Ashram, are a humble musical duo based between Berlin and Kolkata, exploring the contemporary Indian/Bangla/Nepali post migrant folk electronic world soundscape that represents a safe loving refuge from absolutism and cultural hierarchy and hegemony.

A Bengali & Nepali multi lingual fun folk – electronic live jam. The Nepali song sung is an original song of mine written by Rabin Giri, Kathmandu.

My musical family and I had a live jam on my roof featuring our Berlin – Kolkata “electronic meets folk” collaboration called Ashram and our dear friend David Beck on Gimbri, a moroccan folk bass.

This is an iconic folk song from Bengal popularised first by Abbas Uddin Ahmed, the legendary Bhawaiya artist. Later the jam moves on to one of my originals.

This is a cameo of our end of winter tour this January. It is a fun jam. Enjoy.

Arko – Voice, Ukulele
Koustav – Guitar
Kanishka ( Ashram ) – Electronica, samples, production
Sajib – Percussion
David – Gimbri

Shot by Amit Biswas and Basab Mullik. Edited by Arko Mukhaerjee.

Swans of the East is a musical tribute to the incredible memories of our journey through Eastern Europe, admiring the landscapes, architecture and the never ending love of the people, that we received.

Kolkata/Berlin ethno electronic duo Ashram takes you on a trip down memory lane, wrapped in a nostalgic spirituality. Check them out doing Manush Ekta Koler Gari.

Voice recorded in Orwo Haus -Berlin, mixed and mastered in Tempelton Studio – Berlin.

Indian percussion sampled in Pinkkeys – Kolkata. Composed and words : Shivananda.

Produced & performed by Ashram.

Ashram the Ethno Electronic Band from India/Kolkata, playing live at Cabaret Sauvage/Paris.

Our website

www.findmyashram.com

The duo will be touring Europe this summer (MAY – JUNE 2019).