Quotes from Anoushka Shankar

Usually, I really only look at any one particular album at a time when I'm making it. I've never really sat and looked at the journey through all of my albums to see if I could find a thread through them.

My studio was built with a team of experts to record the sitar at the highest level possible, and I'm very happy with the results.

I had multiple circles of friends around the world. Some circles were really wild and I was affectionately known by them as 'the nerdy one.' And, with other friends, I was regarded as the wild one.

The lockdown, in general, left me with a sense of needing to become more independent and instead of being intimidated, I decided to do the engineering on some of my new releases.

I really am a fan of combining worlds in my own life.

I feel 'Love Letters' has been part of a longer journey towards a very simple, international sound in which the sitar is no longer exotic or classical, but simply a tool of expression when juxtaposed with the voice and cross-genre elements.

Home' was a special album for very specific reasons. It is an homage to my father. And it is the first classical album I've released in over a decade. So it really felt like a kind-of coming back to my roots.

However, I need to make music that represents my inner truth and inner voice. I've found myself more able to do that within an international space that has an Indianness at its root but branches out to encompass sounds and cultures across borders.

Having my own studio at home is a dream, as I have a totally sound-proof room I can escape to when I need to write, and I have an impeccable room to record in.

My shows have room for a bit of improvisation. In a film, you can't have that risk; you can't have someone taking 10 seconds longer.

Someone like my father will improvise as much as 90% of the music in concert, but with me it's maybe 10 to 20%. It's sort of the test of how great someone is, the more they can improvise correctly and still be true to the raga they're playing, and still keep it new and fresh the whole time.

My mother is half Malayali and half Tamilian. I can speak Bengali and Tamil, but can't read or write.

Parenting put music in the right place for me. Touring was always the first priority before, but it isn't any more. And, paradoxically, that has made my ability to make music much easier.

I feel a lot closer to music and my relationship with my instrument than I did as a teenager. I have an adult perspective now about getting to do something I love for a living.

'Acceptance' is a tricky word. Acceptance about what life is bringing us in a spiritual sense is one thing; but acceptance when there's injustice in the world is completely another.

On 'Love Letters', I focused exclusively on songs with lyrics, creating a collection of songs that directly address heartbreak and its ensuing emotions in a way that instrumental music can only hint at.

As a musician, it's only natural that my music mirrors my life.

Mum's home food was comfy, exquisite and she was also capable of the most wonderful gourmet food. She'd mix the rice and dal with stuff and roll these easy-to-pick-up extra-softened little balls of rice.

I live in the modern world, and I appreciate the most cutting-edge parts of it. But I also like to check out as much as I can.

I have that typical girly aspect to me and those domestic ideals. When I cook in my kitchen it's like playing a game because it's not real for me; room service is.

Not every one knows of the connection between the Indian and the Spanish music, but if they do they seem to have a real reverence for that connection. A love point in music.

I've worked hard and tried to approach my career with as much honesty and integrity as possible. I've also had many blessings along the way and feel very fortunate to have a career that speaks so much to my soul.

Even though my father had a really successful career before the '60s, that kind of insane pop-culture splash that happened was so massive. People hear the sitar and immediately think, you know, flying carpets and tie-dyed T-shirts and wafting smoke.

I would write songs, inspired by my baby, but then I could tell that my baby was also responding to the music. It was just kind of an amazing musical experience.