‘Work won’t keep you warm at night’: KSHMR on chasing success and finding balance
A number one record is supposed to be the peak. For many artistes, it is the moment everything points towards. For Niles Hollowell-Dhar, it was the moment he chose to walk away.
DJ-producer KSHMR reflects on the years he gave entirely to music
Before the cinematic builds and festival-sized drops, he was one half of The Cataracs, co-producing Like A G6 for Far East Movement, a track that went to number one in the United States and dominated global radio. At that point, staying in the pop lane would have been the safe choice. Instead, he dismantled the project and rebuilt himself as KSHMR, leaning into larger conceptual arcs before eventually releasing expansive projects like Harmonica Andromeda.
With such a long-spanning career behind him, we asked what his top five moments have been. Instead of beginning with charts or trophies, he begins with fear.
“Leaving my old career with The Cataracs and pop music and starting KSHMR was really scary at first,” he says. “But I’m really glad that I made that choice.” Then comes the hit. “Like A G6 going number one in the US.”
And then, unexpectedly, family. “For my whole life, I fought my grandfather about music. He said, make music a hobby. And I said, no, music is my life. And when he came up for Sunburn on stage with me and everything changed, he understood. He saw 40,000 people. He understood. So that was a big moment.”
That moment, more than the chart-toppers or global collaborations, frames his return to India for Sunburn Festival Holi, which travels across Mumbai, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad this month.
For Holi celebrations under the Sunburn banner, the setlist is still taking shape. “It’s all like a big puzzle that I haven’t put together yet. I have all this music but I’m not sure which ones I’m going to play. But I can tell you for sure there’s going to be some special songs for Holi.”
He mentions remixes including Rang Barse and Besharam Rang, along with dance versions of tracks from Karam and a club version of Echo with Armaan Malik.
The scale will be massive. The colours will fly. The drops will land. But beneath the spectacle sits a quieter philosophy about work and ambition.
When asked about balance in a demanding industry, KSHMR speaks about phases.
“When I was really rising as KSHMR in the DJ scene, I gave up a lot of my personal life. Didn’t spend much time with friends. Mostly I was just working. Most of my friends knew only the back of my head.”
He calls that period necessary. “I think there can be a time in your life where you’re selfish like this. Maybe you have a goal and you’re really focused on it and you have to accept that for this year or two years that you’re just going to focus on this goal. To make something really, really special happen, you can’t do what everybody else does.”
But he is clear that it cannot last forever.
“People talk about balance all the time and balance eventually you have to do. You can’t just go on like this forever. You’re going to be lonely. You’re going to be sad. You realise that your work is really not going to keep you warm at night. You’re going to need balance eventually.”
He eventually chose that shift.
“As I brought that balance back into my life, my career also slowed down a little bit and that’s okay. My relationships are important to me.”
Even in lighter moments, his answers reveal the way he thinks about everyday life. If he were to write a track about something mundane, the inspiration would come from something unexpectedly simple.
“A simple activity? Taking a walk with my dog,” he says. “That’s become one of my favourite small moments.”
Bengaluru, where the tour stops next, also carries a personal memory.
“It’s actually one of the places I haven’t spent much time in recently,” he says. “But when I was young, my aunt and uncle lived there, so I used to visit more often. Back then it was much quieter. It felt very chill compared to somewhere like Delhi. I know tech is huge there now, so I’m curious to see how the city has changed.”
Looking ahead, the next phase may include something rare in the relentless touring cycle: a pause. “After Sounds of KSHMR 5 comes out, I’m probably going to take a little break,” he says. “Give myself the time and space to keep working on music and get inspired again.”
In quick responses, he feels almost disarmingly ordinary.
Comfort food: Popcorn.
Pre-show ritual: I have a shot of tequila.
Current obsession: George Carlin and his classic special Napalm and Silly Putty.
Go-to fashion: a kurta on stage when he performs in India.
Presented by Sunburn Festival, this five-city tour travelled from Mumbai to Chennai, before heading to Bengaluru today, followed by Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad, promising explosive visuals, immersive lighting, and colour showers that blur the stage and audience into one moving mass.
Email: shivani@newindianexpress.com
X: @ShivaniIllakiya
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