Aidni

When I was six years old my parents took me to India — my step-father is an Indian classical music vocalist, and my mother went to study thangka painting with the Tibetans in Dharmsala. My earliest memories are concentrated in India. I also grew up listening to my step-father, who would perform with his teacher, Pandit Pran Nath, and other notable maestros from the tradition, such as Zakir Hussain.

In the mid 1990s, my love of electronic music collided with my history with Indian music. The “Asian Underground” movement blossomed in London, and a wonderful fusion infected many of my favorite genres: ambient, downtempo, drum & bass, and house. I immersed myself in the music and tried bring the scene to San Francisco with nominal success. Probably my highlight was playing at a yoga studio with Bassnectar (long before his fame).

This mix is on the quiet side of asian electronica — bubbling with some energy in the middle, then retreating back into the quiet.