Meet Kalaisan Kalaichelvan | Composer & Storyteller

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kalaisan Kalaichelvan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kalaisan, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I think it was something that sort of snuck up on me, to be honest. I grew up surrounded by music, dance and theatre in my family, from both a Western classical context and a South Asian classical tradition. And I really loved learning and trying to figure out how all these different forms actually worked. I was drawn to classical music as a kid because the internal logic of these pieces of music, whether they’re big orchestral works or small solos, fascinated me. It’s the same reason I fell in love with movies. How were these massive complicated machines, with so many different moving parts, actually made?

When I started dabbling in writing music, I found the act of building things really exciting. And doing it with other musicians, creating a room and a system to bring these highly specialized skills and pieces of information together to tell a story…because at the heart of everything I do, that’s what I am, a storyteller. I grew up with a lot of amazing storytellers of all kinds, creating imaginative spaces for me to be a part of. I guess it only makes sense that I ended up committing my life to the same cause.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a composer who writes music for film and the concert stage (contemporary classical music). My main instrument is the piano, but I’m also a flautist and South Indian classical percussionist and musician. My own music draws primarily from a sort of contemporary western classical tradition, distorting those structures while integrating experimental forms of storytelling and sonic explorations. My work has found homes at the Sundance Institute, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canadian Film Centre, Nuit Blanche and more.

It’s been a long winding road, but somewhere along the way, I realized that my many different lived experiences gave me a perspective that was unique in my work. And my career, intentionally or not, became about disruption. In every project, I look at how I can create cracks without breaking the piece…looking at creating friction, playing counterpoint and unveiling new layers of meaning in the process.

This proved really successful in the film music world, where filmmakers and collaborators seem to respond strongly to how I use music to pierce through and shape their story. I recently composed the music for a film called “This Place” (2022) which just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and director V.T. Nayani and I worked a lot on using a chamber style music in unconventional ways to really bring out the subtext of the film. And the feature film I’m currently working on, for example, is almost entirely built on experimental sounds made from a conch horn, and the exciting sonic storytelling possibilities it generates.

It’s an ethos that I bring to my other music as well. I like to work really closely with the ensembles and musicians I write for and see how I can draw tools from different forms of storytelling (film, dance, theatre, etc) and filter it through their musical language.

It’s not easy, trying to pin-down your authentic voice while working in different sides of the industry, with different sorts of expectations. But I’ve been lucky to get to play and explore with some the finest musicians and mentors in the world. And I’m just digging deeper into the all the spaces that exist in between, looking at how different sounds, conventions and traditions can collide. And coming up are some exciting projects and my debut solo EP that will hopefully speak to that!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ahh! Well, a week’s hardly enough to do LA, but it would probably be something like: breakfast at Swingers, a movie at the New Beverly or Cinespia and a Griffith Park sunset hike. The Zebulon for music and dancing, Catalina Jazz Club for jazz and Good Times at Davey Wayne’s and the Burgundy Room for drinks. We would do a bookstore day at The Last Bookstore or Skylight Books followed by some fun at the Comedy Store. We’d need another day for the Getty followed by a night at the Hollywood Bowl of course. And then a beach day at Malibu with seafood dinner at the Reel Inn! And that doesn’t even include Santa Monica and Venice…just too much to do haha! But we’d have a mighty good time!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Well, none of this would have been possible without my parents. They brought music into my life, and when they saw it take ahold of me they only encouraged me to dig deeper. Even when I’ve felt uncertain about what laid ahead, they only nudged me forward.

But I want to dedicate my shoutout to my good friend and kindred spirit, Sutikshna Veeravalli. A humble and brilliant singer, musician, dancer, and educator. She was the first one to teach me the power of bringing empathy and compassion in our creativity with integrity. Our lives have changed so much since we first met, and we’ve moved across many parts of the globe over the years, but she continues to inspire me every day in everything she does. I am so much better an artist and human being for having her in my life and eternally grateful our paths collided as they did.

Website: www.kalaisanmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kalaisan13/

Image Credits
Janice Reid