ROOM FOR A NARRATIVE

Los Angeles-based Carnatic singer Aditya Prakash walks us through his journey and the creation of Room-i-Nation

- Narendra Kusnur

When Los Angeles-based Carnatic singer Aditya Prakash released his seven-song album Isolashun in 2023, he felt the listener might not experience its thematic and sociopolitical layers only through sound.

He thus came up with the idea of Room-i-Nation, a solo gig-theatre project with a more narrative form.

"Room-i-Nation functions as an extension of Isolashun. I didn't want the live version to simply reproduce the music, since the album already exists for that. Instead, I wanted the performance to open up the stories, histories, questions and conversations that shaped the work," he says.

After showcasing Room-i-Nation at the Mumbai Lit Fest in November, Prakash's current tour includes a January 16, 2026 performance in Bengaluru. He also performed at the Mahindra Kabira Festival in Varanasi in December, where he was joined by the Aditya Prakash Ensemble in a set that included fresh settings of Kabir's poetry.

Prakash's musical journey began while growing up in an artistic family in Los Angeles. His mother ran a Bharatnatyam school, and he got exposed to Carnatic music since early childhood. However, in the desire to feel included, he tried to keep his music and Indian cultural identity separate from his American persona. His passion for Carnatic music made him spend vacations visiting Chennai and learning the rudiments.