Why British folk singer Deepa Shakthi believes music should be messy, raw and free from follower-driven rules

Highlights

• Turn O Spinning Wheel fuses English folk, Indian ragas and Sufi improvisation.
• Deepa Shakthi slams the industry’s obsession with follower counts and clout.
• Producer Stuart McCallum guided the band towards minimalism and focus.
• The album spans reworked folk, Punjabi songs, qawwali and raga Jog.

At first, Deepa Shakthi wasn’t sure. A 2023 UK tour with Mishra, playing British folk mixed with her Indian classical voice, didn’t sound like the easiest fit. They were taking their fusion of Indian classical and British folk to rural corners of the UK; to Cornwall, to New Mills, places where, as she puts it, people aren’t exposed to this sound every day.

“I was very reticent. I was very kind of… anxious inside.”

But the doubts disappeared quickly. In Dorset, she remembers people “just screaming for more.” After shows, strangers would approach her and say: “I didn’t understand a word you sang. But what is it I’m feeling?”

Deepa’s answer is always the same: don’t try to explain it. “It doesn’t need a label. Just be with it.”

Why British folk singer Deepa Shakthi believes music should be messy, raw and free from follower-driven rules Instagram/mishra.music

Capturing raw connection in Turn O Spinning Wheel

That raw, unfiltered connection is the heart of Turn O Spinning Wheel, the album Mishra and Deepa created out of that tour. It’s not a carefully marketed product. It’s an experience born on the road, tested in front of audiences who didn’t come with any preconceptions. They just listened.

Out on 17 October via Shedbuilt Records, the record is, in fact, a meeting point: English folk tunes, Indian ragas, Sufi improvisation, and the freedom to let them sit together without forcing the blend.

The first single, Kite (released 11 August), shows exactly how it works: Ford Collier’s Irish jig on the whistle transformed, in Deepa’s mind, into the image of a kite dancing in the sky, which she carried into her Hindi vocals.

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Minimalism in the studio

This is the spirit she and Mishra bottled in the studio. They brought in producer Stuart McCallum not to change their sound, but to refine it. “He taught us minimalism,” she explains. In the middle of a creative whirlwind, he was the objective ear, “just taking the scissors, cutting this off… stripping down.” He helped them shape the raw, trance-like energy of their live jams into the focused beauty of an album. Where the musicians might have improvised endlessly, McCallum helped shape the music into concise arrangements that carry the trance-like intensity of a live jam without losing clarity.

Deepa believes that in a world obsessed with explaining and categorising, the magic lies in listening without analysis. “We’ve moved so much away from intuitive response. We take it apart, we analyse things to such an extent, we’re trying to split a hair. I would urge listeners to just dive in, swim in it for a bit. No judgements. Life can be so simple, but we complicate it.”

Turn O Spinning Wheel fuses English folk, Indian ragas and Sufi improvisationInstagram/mishra.music

Breaking away from numbers and clout

This philosophy spills over into her views on the industry too. As a South Asian woman with more than 30 years of experience in Indian classical, semi-classical, rock fusion, and Sufi music, she’s blunt about the barriers that remain.

“It’s heartbreaking. The first question from some organisations is, ‘What are your social media handles? How many followers do you have?’” She points out the absurdity: “I’m a very experienced musician… I have a handful of followers compared to people with less experience. Does that mean I’m less worthy? Obviously not.”

Her plea is simple: stop boxing artists by stats or heritage and start listening. “Keep those stats to one side and just honestly listen to the band. You can tell when someone knows what they’re doing. There’s passion, there’s originality, there is power. Give them a chance.”

Even so, she’s hopeful. She points to boundary-breaking projects, like a Monteverdi opera reworked with Indian classical themes that found great success. “South Asian music and musicians are getting more of a… I wouldn’t say they’ve stepped into the mainstream, but it’s getting there.”

Advice to younger artists

And her advice to younger artists? Resist the temptation to chase what’s fashionable. “Don’t contrive. Don’t try and make it up. Stay true to yourself, be authentic. What you really are about, that should be what’s on stage. That will bring its own success.”

The album itself carries that ethos. It includes reworked English folk, Punjabi songs, qawwali, and even a traditional sailor’s tale flipped into a woman’s warning, woven into verses in raga Jog. For Deepa, this isn’t fusion for the sake of it. It’s a conversation, and one that only really came alive in front of audiences who were ready to listen with open ears.

Mishra and Deepa now take that sound back on the road this autumn, with support from SAA-UK and Arts Council England. The tour runs from Leeds to Glastonbury, with a London show at World Heartbeat and Cardiff on 30 November. Translating the album to stage, Deepa says, is simple: “We just do our thing, lock in as a band, play confidently and passionately, and let the rest follow.”

Deepa Shakthi insists: “Music doesn’t need a label. Just be with it.”Youtube Screengrab/ Mishra Music

A chocolate box of sound

So why should someone who has never touched Indian classical or British folk give Turn O Spinning Wheel a chance? Deepa doesn’t hesitate: “It’s a new experience. It’s a fresh experience. Just go for it. Put it on. Don’t think, just feel.”

She promises variety, a little bit of everything. “There’s trancey stuff, there’s more kind of traditional folk, there’s a classical alaap… It’s like a chocolate box. There’ll be something somebody likes.”

Just dive in..

For all the talk of cross-cultural innovation, Deepa’s answer is refreshingly straightforward. “Music doesn’t need explanation. It doesn’t need a label. Just be with it.”

Turn O Spinning Wheel is released 17 October on Shedbuilt Records and the UK tour starts in Leeds on 24 October. The single Kite is out now.

As Deepa puts it, the magic begins when you leave your expectations at the door and simply dive in.