“Prakash is at his most visceral and powerful, making Isolashun a must-hear album.” -Rolling Stones India
ISOLASHUN by Aditya Prakash is a self-critique album that explores the tension in dual-identity and questions notions of beauty tied to the “classical” aesthetic.
“The starting point was the pandemic – the solitude that it brought me as an artist- with my engagements canceled, forced to stay in one place, unmotivated, uninspired – fed constantly by the news, forced to see the realities that I had conveniently ignored, within me and in the world around me.
Something that seemingly united us all, brought forth even more pronouncedly the social inequities and division world over. The political happenings in my two homes India and the USA – made me painfully aware of the one-sidedness of history that we are taught since childhood – in school and in the learning of our Indian “classical” art forms, which are glorified as infallible and divine but built on discrimination and oppression. It made me aware of my apathy – made possible by my privilege – that until now had allowed me to look away from my own complicity in these systems.
The research and work of my mentor TM Krishna, coupled with the investigation of my own choices – personal and artistic – made me aware of the tension in my identity.
On one hand, I am a brown artist trying to find accessibility and assimilation in a white world.
On the other hand, I am an upper-caste practitioner, claiming ownership of the Karnatik form which is steeped in social hierarchy and caste-discrimination.
Were my choices in the aesthetics of sound a product of my identity?
Did I need to fuse Karnatik music with Western musical styles to make it appealing, accessible, and worthy of acceptance?
Could I trust the power, depth, and layers of my Indian musical training without presenting it through a western lens?
That compelled me to dig deeper into my Indian Music.
Was music only about upliftment?
Were the aesthetic sound constructs of beauty and refinement able to also reflect the tension, violence, and messiness of my reality?
Was it going against the form to open up a space for the abrasive and jarring to coexist with the melodious?
In asking these questions through my musical explorations, I began to see the complexity, nuance, and multiplicity in my histories, my identities, my notions of beauty, and my emotional response to the world around me.”
ISOLASHUN is not only a music album, but also includes a podcast series, a short film for the track INSIRGENTS, directed by Akram Khan, and a live one-person performance, titled ROOM-i-Nation, which premiered at UCLA Center for Art of Performance in 2024.
“…a cathartic, cinematic journey, Prakash is at his most visceral and powerful, making ISOLASHUN a must-hear album.”
– Rolling Stones India
“Dark, Self Retrospective, Haunting.” – The Score Magazine
“Seven remarkable songs that power up emotions and viewpoints on the state of the world.” – Streaming Museum
“… profound, disquietening, challenging, disturbing, unflinching.” – Anoushka Shankar
“Aditya has made a work that transcends any particular genre of music. It is both personal and universal” – Akram Khan
“Aditya has discovered an evocative way to build tension and emotion in his music. Through composition, music production and sound design he tells a compelling and must be heard story that speaks to the times we live in.”
-T.M. Krishna
ISO Podcast
Featured guests: Akram Khan, TM Krishna, Mythili Prakash, Vincenzo Lamagna
This podcast series created by Aditya Prakash centers around the themes of the album ISOLASHUN. Aditya’s new direction of exploration on ISOLASHUN stems from redefining what beauty means to him so it made sense for him to speak to his mentors; the prolific artists who Aditya has worked with and learned from, who guided him in the creation of ISOLASHUN: Akram Khan, TM Krishna, Mythili Prakash and Vincenzo Lamagna.