Sameer Khan of Karma Sheen Interview - September 2022

Sameer Khan of Karma Sheen Interview

Originally published on the Grapevine Live! website on 23rd September 2022

CP: Things seem to have got very busy for Karma Sheen since I first saw the band in the early part of the blistering 2022 summer. What’s been going on?

SK: I guess what has been going on is what had been going on! Recently we’ve become lucky enough to be represented by FMLY. Our wonderful agent Polly Miles is taking care of our bookings and doing as much as we can to get ourselves out there. And of course, no band is ever complete without a record so with all the complications surrounding funds for the bands and timings of everyone with day jobs, we’re finally close to completing our debut album at Sausage studios too!

CP: I saw you had been called in as support for a couple of gigs at late notice. The band are clearly prepared to drop everything to get on stage. What discussions are you all having about taking Karma Sheen on the road, rather than one off appearances?

SK: Honestly, the main discussion that we’re having is doing the right tour. Going up and down the country at the drop of a hat’s notice isn’t a problem for us because truly, we are committed to the music and we are committed to contributing to music as well. Therefore, being able to have such opportunities to participate in events that are sweaty, sexy, national and even just in a new place is so exciting and a big privilege, especially, when people ask for us directly.

CP: The Norwich Pysch Fest appearance features Karma Sheen up-front. Norwich seems to have caught the Karma Sheen vibe. How come Norwich has developed a hunger for your unique brand of rock, that you once called, a bit tongue in cheek, as Raag & Roll?

SK: We have no idea. Several times we’ve been up there in the fine city, we all come back asking the questions “How?” and “Why?”. I personally can’t deny that the group I share the stage with are absolutely sick, so I always do find that, that, is one of the reasons why we are so loved up there – Because my boys are sick!

CP: I used the phrase Raag & Roll to describe the band’s sound. I don’t think that quite tells people who haven’t heard Karma Sheen what magic your band of ridiculously talented of musicians conjures up. Put me straight on this, how do you describe Karma Machine’s aural potion?

SK: My best friend of almost ten years, Nacho, once said Karma Sheen is like, if Jimi Hendrix went to Pakistan, fell in love and had a child there, then “that” is the music that Karma Sheen is. I don’t know whether I agree but I love it because I love Hendrix so in all cases. I’ll take that!

CP: When I first saw Karma Sheen at the somewhat outré Voodoo Daddies Showroom on Timber Hill, Norwich, the audience response was fantastic. The people went wild, there was even a slightly musically-demented dervish crowd surfing!

SK: It’s border line surreal, a lot of statements come from my mind such as – Wow!, I just cannot believe people are crowd surfing to US! Or “Wow, people are really screaming for this music” and even sometimes I think of things like – “Jheez are we really creating such an impact for all of these amazing people?”

CP: Karma Sheen clearly love performing on stage. Have you any plans to capture the live sound and release it, (a bit like ZZ Top did early on with ‘Fandango!’, a half-live, half-studio recorded album), or will studio recordings be the way ahead for the band?

SK: My ideal would be to record a studio album and at the end have a live recording of all the songs on the records as one gigantic playthrough – however, since then I believe sticking to a studio album is much better for us and also for everyone else as they get to experience the nitty gritty of Karma Sheen before we play those songs live and improvise or create different versions organically in that live space. I would prefer the album stand alone as a testament to our song writing and any subsequent live albums be held by their standards on their own and judged in the sense of how Led Zeppelin are judged live saying that this version of that song was better in that country on this tour on that year.

CP: I have described the band as ridiculously talented, which may well be an understatement. Who is Karma Sheen?

SK: Ridiculously talented is absolutely correct, but not for me, I guess, I’m just an OK aggregator of people but definitely for my boys it rings true! We have Rodrigo on Sitar and Theremin and percussion, Amad on guitar and backing vocals. We’ve Noah on drums and second moustache and as a blessing we have Grisha on bass and pre show motivation.

CP: Having travelled such varied paths to this point, what is the glue that holds the band together?

SK: I think there are several factors really, one of which is that we are truly a collaboration. Everyone’s ideas are heard, and nobody has any hard feelings if the idea they give is straying too far from the intention of the group; To celebrate and preserve Hindustani classical music and structuring psychedelic rock in that format.

CP: I know you love your day job, but how close are you to the point where your love of music will put you in a position where you have to choose between a steady job and going for it full-time with the band?

SK: Daniel Pink says in your purpose you have two P’s. The big capital P and the little, lower case p. Genuinely, I think about that day every day. I love my small purpose p, which is enriching the lives of the youth through education, consistency and discipline. However, my capital P purpose is to contribute to music on a wider scale and to learn more and more so that I may too become the custodian of these traditions. Learning Raagas are not easy, probably my Ustaad would say teaching me is even harder! Being able to go full time in with the band just means I have more time to educate myself and becoming a custodian of classical music in this style. As to how close I am – I feel I am always just one step away.

CP: What has your mother got to say on the matter?

SK: “People have great jobs, are successful and have great salaries and a house at this age. But what you are doing is a thousand times harder. To get up there on a stage and put yourself out there with the sleepless nights and the long seventeen hour days is sensational. I commend you man, I know I couldn’t do it. Good luck my sweet boy you deserve all the happiness you’re going to get from this in your life” – Mum

CP: The sunflower song was sparked by your experience of lockdown, can you use that by way of example, to describe the input of each of your fellow band members into the finished number?

SK: I used to call it Sameer’s sunflowers. Not as a way of pretence but more as a way of saying that Karma Sheen is a person in of themselves. And as a group we honour what Karma Sheen brings us by creating music and using real life inspirations around us. Inspirational questions such as “What is the sound of water leaving a watering can hitting the leaves of a sunflower?” that sounds so psychedelic but the earth has music for those who wish to listen! (Another nugget of wisdom from my mum!) I wrote that and was just struck as how to move the song on, Rodrigo suggested a “part B” and I just ran with it. But, to be honest, once we all got together, the song became more and more extravagant, more and more ethereal and more and more and more! It’s the beauty of simple songs, once we nailed down the parts and playing together it was easy for us to express ourselves in and around the themes of sunflowers.

CP: After the gig at The Victoria, you talked with your fellow guitarist about a clever improvisation that had fed into one of the numbers. This reinforces my sense that each Karma Sheen performance is unique, like jazz, there feels to be a harmony between each of you that fosters creative expression. How do you as a group, nurture this freedom to express?

SK: As the legendary Twink! From the pretty things and pink fairies wrote to John Lennon in his song Just do it. Don’t think about it, just do it! – We have MANY unspoken agreements and with just one look (most of the time) we are able to succumb to each others requests.

CP: The sitar, theremin and harmonium are just three exotic sounds brought into play by the band, what else can followers of Karma Sheen look forward to hearing blended into your music?

SK: Exotic singing from an exotic man. Haha! No I’m just kidding. Rod is a master songwriter. He is always coming up with ways of how to extract certain elements from funk, prog and other regions such as cumbia music and brings them to the table. Noah is a songwriter aficionado he is able to hear “what works well in a song writing perspective so that our songs, especially the new ones, work more as a song and a piece rather than a collective body of work in one song. That is a vital skill and it’s something that never goes unnoticed, you can hear that in Mian Ki Jive. Grisha, is just impeccable when it comes to finding and creating basslines that are both catchy and face melty, he brings the biggest dance element to us and he’s not afraid for example to use a synth in the studio to emphasise a certain part or influence a movement from the listeners and that is so vital for a band that draws so much inspiration from the past. Grisha allows us to move into the present. Amad brings that steady, dirt and anchor and the harmonies. He has such a grip and control over defining melodies and harmonising guitar parts that it just brings so much more out of a simple guitar riff.

CP: The music of Karma Sheen proudly draws on musical traditions from classical Hindustani and the very best of blues rock, i.e. Jimi Hendrix. For me, this brings a blast of originality to rock music, with “Sameer’s Sunflowers” being a fine example of how this unique blend of sonic traditions works. However, any of the band’s numbers could be used to illustrate how beautifully this mixture works. It works for me (and many others from the blues rock music end) how is Karma Sheen’s distinctive sound being received by those more tuned into classical Hindustani sounds?

SK: I bet they hate it! Haha. Classical musicians and listeners are VERY purest. They aren’t interested in anything contemporary. However, I gauge that we’re on the right path when my ustaad tells me that my voice is improving, or when I improvise something to him vocally and he starts using it in his demonstrations. Within the South Asian community in general however, those who are young, artistic, pioneering and determined, they see us as a breathe of fresh air. They believe that representation is so important and to be able to see “our” music in spaces that have traditionally just been used for “white western music” is both equally inspiring and to some extent deserved – There is like an air of “finally!” around it.

CP: It’s great to see Karma Sheen out and about more frequently, do you have a burning need to share anything else with your growing number of followers?

SK: Currently we’re working on the album, we’re trying really, really hard to make sure that whatever we do, we continue to honour the tradition of psychedelic music and preserve the culture of Pakistani classical music. We have no date yet for release but what we do have are a set of dates that we would love to see as many of you there as we can so that you too may enjoy what we enjoy when we play this music. DANCING!

CP: Sameer, as always, a joy to speak with you! Thank you for your time today. Good luck with the Psych Fest in Norwich and I look forward to seeing you and Karma Sheen again very soon!

~

Chris Perry

22nd September 2022