Suchismita Das on ‘Damaru’, instant musicians and more

Suchismita Das talks about her latest release, a devotional song titled ‘Damaru’

For Suchismita Das who has been a Hindustani classical singer for two decades, her new song ‘Damaru’ which is a mix of Hindustani classical, rap and bass, is refreshingly new. Released on Shivaratri, this song was produced by Grammy Award-winning music composer Ricky Kej. The track, also featuring Mohini Dey on guitar, and London-based rapper Maya Miko, describes the glory of Lord Shiva.

With a beautiful landscape in the background of the video, Damaru is Suchismita’s latest composition.

Originally based out of Kolkata, she now shuttles between Mumbai and Los Angeles. Having dabbled with jazz, ghazals, fusion and pop, Suchismita feels she truly belongs with music regardless of the genre.

Having worked with AR Rahman, Shankar Mahadevan, Preetam, Javed Akhtar, and Thomas Newman ( The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel), Suchismita, who has been learning music since she was four, feels music is her breathing space.

“I would love to work more on this semi-classical genre ‘Thumri’” she says, speaking from LA, in a video interview with The Hindu. Some excerpts

How did ‘Damaru’ originate?

I’m an ardent follower of Lord Shiva and I wanted to compose a song which reflected this devotion. When I started working on the song in 2019, Ricky produced it partially and sent it to me. The beats were beautiful. As I listened to it, I realised the song exuded high levels of energy and infusing rap into it made sense. That is how ‘Damaru’ came into being.