“INSANE BUT ALSO WONDERFUL”
Arooj Aftab reflects on her rise to festival headline status
You’ve spent much of 2023 touring the improvisatory Love In Exile album with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily. How’s that been?
Pretty insane, but also pretty wonderful. It’s been extremely challenging to come up with new music every night, but it’s also a great exercise to create succinct pieces of music on the spot, that are not just free-jazz jam sessions.
Has spending all this time together on tour heightened your onstage telepathy?
It really has. The three of us are very different, but in many ways we’re similarly emotional beings who listen to our feelings a lot. We’re all in the business of translating the human condition into music and expressing it differently each night. So it’s been a real pleasure to get to know these guys on the road.
Have you developed any pre-show rituals together?
I’m usually running around putting on my six-inch heels five seconds before the show so that I don’t have to walk even one step unnecessarily in them. The guys, I think they centre themselves and take a minute, and then get on stage in a more adult, serious way. But the combination of that with my chaos makes it unique and fun.
You also found time to play some solo shows, including a stunning headline set on the Garden Stage at End Of The Road…
Yeah, that was so awesome. The power of being a headlining act is incredible. People were like, “Oh, you’re putting this sweet, gentle, ambient band as a headline act”, but actually we’re none of those things. If you’ve seen us live, we rock out! We had a great time, and the crowd had a great time. It was really fun.
You produced Anoushka Shankar’s recent mini-album. What was it like to be on the other side of the glass?
Anoushka Shankar is an astonishingly impressive musician, I’ve been a fan of her work for so long. It was a little bit intimidating, because she’s done literally everything. But there wasn’t any pressure, she was like, “Do whatever you want.” So it was a blast.
Could you see yourself doing more production work in future?
Yeah, I think so. It’s definitely fun and challenging, and I’m always up for a good challenge. If musicians are looking for someone to figure out what’s next, then I am the guy. Those things really excite me, so I’m super-down – as long as it doesn’t get in the way of my own insane stuff.
Talking of your own stuff, where are you at with the new album?
It’s basically done, I’m just waiting for everybody else to do their parts. It’s in the vein of my [previous] solo stuff, but with some new energy and some new direction. There are new players and there are old players, some really exciting features. But the original homies – Maeve [Gilchrist, harp], Petros [Klampanis, double bass], Gyan [Riley, guitar], Shahzad – they’re all on there. I’m so excited to share it and I’m also deeply frightened. I just want it out soon!
Your songs so far have mostly been adaptations of existing poems. Have you been writing any of your own lyrics for the new album?
Yeah, actually there’s a lot of my own lyrics on this record. There’s poetry by a friend. There’s some poetry from the Deccan empire that has never been composed. But there’s also a lot of my own writing – and all original music.
Are we likely to hear your voice on anyone’s else’s records?
Do you know Nick Mulvey? He’s written a song called “Freedom Now”, because he was very moved by the Iranian women’s rights movement. He wrote it with the actress Golshifteh Farahani and invited me to feature on it, so that’s coming out soon.
What else have you been listening to in 2023?
I listen to Laura Mvula all the time. The Cécile Mclorin Salvant record has been on rotation for me. And I’ve been hearing a lot about the Paul Simon album because my friend Jamey Haddad, who plays percussion on “Mohabbat” and on my new record, he basically plays all the percussion with Paul Simon. I haven’t got to that one yet, but I probably should…
“It’s a great exercise to create succinct pieces of music on the spot, that are not just free-jazz jam sessions”