Name: Shamik Bilgi
Nationality: Indian
Occupation: Producer, beatboxer, label founder at Sensing Waves
Recent release: Shamik Bilgi's "Meteor" is out via Sensing Waves.
Recommendations: I am currently reading Psalm One’s biography Her Word Is Bond - Navigating Hip Hop and Relationships in a Culture of Misogyny. She is from Chicago, and I hope she receives all the success in the world.
I would like to plug Ruby Singh’s Polyphonic Garden album which came out on my Sensing Waves label last year. It is a 5 song / 5 video release following the solar cycle where each video came out on an equinox or solstice, from winter solstice 2020 to winter solstice 2021.



If you enjoyed this interview with Shamik Bilgi and would like to find out more, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.

If you would like to keep reading about some of the topics in this feature, we recommend our Kahani interview about Giving the South Asian Diaspora a Voice.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I entered music through family and community. I learned tabla for 5 years, and eventually realised that the syllables of speaking tabla rhythms were a form of vocalising beats. Coming up in an era of some great hip hop of the late 80s and 90s, I had a deep interest in beat-making. Rahzel’s album Make The Music 2000 pushed me to be a beatboxer.



After recording myself via live looping and also layering my vocal beats in the studio, I realized I might have an ear for production too. I bought Ableton Live in 2012 initially to redevelop my live show. I had seen others use it at festivals, and was interested in all the capabilities of having effects assigned within the DAW rather than always relying on sound technicians.

After coming up with a new performance template, I decided to take on the task of finally diving into production.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

I feel the music in my body, the bass and percussion in my chest, and the melody in my head. When I enjoy a song it’s usually a warm feeling and a feeling of being deeply impressed, joyful, or introspective–whatever the genre.

I try to summon that same warmth when I work on my music.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

I was fortunate to tour internationally as a beatboxer in the 2000s.

However things changed on the tail end of that run around 2011. One of the most difficult challenges was that concert organisers went from valuing beatboxing compositions and improvisations to requesting beatboxing covers of popular (and uninspiring) hits. This lack of creativity on stages and new audience expectations drove me towards becoming a producer.

Even though it was an unexpectedly difficult transition, I’m grateful for the experience since I was able to level up in my craft. I eventually found my voice by being a multidimensional artist incorporating beatboxing and playing original productions all in the same sets.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

I came up during the Asian Underground explosion happening in the UK. Hearing Indian music sampled over electronic genres, was a big inspiration for my sample based productions.

I was also fascinated with movie soundtracks and cinematic scores, and that was my gateway into listening to ambient music.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

Currently my approach is going with what feels right. I’ve really tried to simplify things. I moved to Chicago last year, and the fresh start has helped me find some perspective on what I really want to do.

My aspirations are simple - to keep making music, have time for music, and focusing a lot on process and slightly less on outcome.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

I’m inspired and influenced by established genres, but also hoping to clearly develop my own unique lane.

“Sun Jewel” is created with a South Indian sample from a Kannada film tune along with Iraqi percussion and Arabic vocals. It’s uniting two styles and cultures, and production-wise, it’s a blend of hip-hop and electronic music.



Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

Ableton and Youtube. I was a software-first producer, mostly because I used Ableton for my performance before production. In the last 10 years, I’m always amazed at how versatile the DAW is. Every day there’s something I can learn or refine, and I know there’s still so much to discover.

I’ve watched countless Youtube tutorials on production, software, gear (which is so helpful now as I move into using more hardware) and subscribed to so many channels. There’s almost always an answer to whatever question I have, or a video to help me learn. For the most part, I’m self-taught and those 2 platforms have helped me the most.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

Meditation, stretching, and coffee are part of my morning routine. Some days I just open Ableton, turn on my mixer, and just jam with my gear. I usually press record just in case some magic happens.

I take walks and bike rides between working on music. I’ve been working from home during the pandemic so meal prepping is very much a part of the routine and this is when I usually listen to other peoples’ music and podcasts.

I’ve had long Covid for almost a year and it’s affected my energy. But I’m working with it and hopeful.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

Massive Attack’s Protection album was huge for me. Trip hop was the gateway for me to get into the weirder side of electronic music. When the album came out, I had never heard anything like it.



The journey from dub to RnB to rap with electronic beats and synthpop vibes blew my mind, and it was one of the first multi-genre albums I heard. Tracey Thorne, Tricky, and Horace Andy on vocals showed how glorious collaborative efforts can be. The track “Karmacoma” with the Tuvan throat singing and Bollywood samples was ear candy for me.

That album inspired me to keep pushing my limits as a multi-genre artist. Since then, I’ve seen Massive Attack live twice.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

I like listening to music alone. During the pandemic, I fell back in love with listening to records I’ve purchased over the years.

2022 was a huge year of collaborations for me. I worked on a project with 4 Vancouver and Toronto artists which came out as 4 singles this year. Working with vocalists is a real treat because vocals can push songs further. Vocals add compositions to my songs that start as just beats.

I do like making a lot of instrumental beats as well, so I go back and forth with whether or not I collaborate.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

With my label, Sensing Waves, I have hoped to create space and opportunities for other independent artists. The business and marketing side of the industry is something that took me many years to figure out, so I do my best to give guidance to up and coming artists.

My project Too Attached with my sister Vivek Shraya has often touched on radical themes of being in the margins and white supremacy. Our Angry album was made for people of color as they experience discrimination in their every day lives.



Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

I got into making ambient music, because of loss and grief. The process and back story for many songs are personal, and there are some subtle things I do to honor late loved ones (like releasing on their birthdays or referring to them in song titles). I find making music is cathartic, and listening back, later on, helps me continue to grieve and handle loss.

My track, "Meteor", which came out in September, was a piece made to mourn all the friends I lost in the past couple of years (there have been many, some covid-related and some not). Making music was all I could do since attending memorials and travelling was halted for months.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?  

There’s the science of learning the gear, the math of the beats, and scales. Completing songs is like solving an equation. Both have rules, but I think music allows for creativity that can’t be denied.

I’m into space, astrology, and sci-fi as well, and incorporate that when curating visuals to accompany my music. 



Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Music can be a respite. It’s like you find a pocket to escape in and simply create. That being said, there can be some tedious and mundane things within the process that you have to get accustomed to.

Some examples would be tuning vocals, removing artifacts from vocals, organizing arrangements, and sometimes mixing too.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

Music and emotions hold vibrations and specific frequencies. Vibrations and moods shape how I receive each song. The style of the music I make is often reflective of my feelings. This can be my day-to-day situation, or a longer period in my life where I’m happy or down.

It’s always an ebb and flow, but thankfully I’m usually motivated to create in most situations. If the feeling isn’t there in my music, then I know I have to keep working at it.

Listening to music is spiritual for me, and I hope to pass that on to others who hear my work.