Meet The Homegrown Musician Creating Music From Mushrooms

Meet The Homegrown Musician Creating Music From Mushrooms

They say music transcends all else and this Canadian-Indian musician has proven that emphatically. Electronic producer Tarun Nayar has been making headlines for his latest experiments with ‘modern biology’- a symbiotic exploration of music found in nature.

We’re pretty sure that Tarun’s ‘Mushroom Music’ reels must have inundated your Instagram feed in the past few months and the experience is transcendent, to say the least.

The professionally trained classical musician turned producer has more than just an inquisitive mind and resounding palette for music and here’s what we could gather from our brief yet insightful conversation with the artist.

Homegrown: Tell us briefly about your ‘mushroom music’ that the internet cannot seem to stop talking about.

Tarun Nayar: I make what I call ‘environmental music’ — music that’s heavily informed by what’s happening in a given place at a given time. At the moment I’m fascinated with using plant bioelectricity as source material for informing musical compositions.

I also experiment with electro-magnetic radiation, field recordings, winds and tides, and even the earth’s resonant hum. I like trying to build generative systems that allow these various natural elements to ‘play’ music that’s highly specific to a time and a place.

HG: What persuaded your creative mind to explore music in something as diverse and unexplored as nature?

TN: I create to enjoy myself and stay inspired. I love making music. I do a lot of things within the music industry, but I was an artist first, and will always be an artist at heart. This project allows me to just explore. Typically I spend 2-3 days a week experimenting - usually taking my modular system out into nature somewhere to work with an environment or a specific organism that catches my interest.

I spend a few hours experimenting, recording etc, and then come home and listen to what I’ve found. Sometimes I’ll spend a whole day or days just trying to figure out a particular technical problem, or how to incorporate a new idea or a piece of gear. I try not to be too influenced by anything other than the creative spirit.

HG: Are there any contemporaries from the industry that inspire you?

TN: There are so many. I’ll keep it tight though. I love the work of Sandunes (Sanya Ardeshir), Modular Princess (Arushi) and Amidang.

With the rising popularity of his nature music online, we hope to see Tarun at the forefront of some exciting collaborations this year.

You can follow Tarun’s work here.

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