Formula Indie Sessions : Interview with Ahdim

What is your earliest memory connected to music?

Probably age 3 or 4 hearing the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon soundtrack. I remember loudly singing Yo Yo Ma’s cello lines in the car. 

How did your passion for creating music begin?

I grew up in a forest in the LBJ National Grasslands. My mom would often have bluegrass musicians over and they would improvise in our living room. That’s where it started.

What’s the story behind your current music project?

I started it in 2022 and the goal was to make something very maximal. Originally it was to make an album combining kind of 80s progressive rock with hip hop idioms. I learned how to play the Kora in 2023 which changed the whole trajectory of everything. 

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?

African Bon Iver. I really don’t know.

What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?

I lived and worked with the artist mk.gee during my college years. Just seeing Mike’s work ethic up close kind of made me realize “oh you really have to give yourself to this thing”. If you want to get very good, you have to put a lot of time into it. Also interning for Hans Zimmer at Remote Control Productions; same story.

What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?

I create and shape sounds in Ableton and then mix and do arranging in Cubase. Also eurorack synths and the kind of sounds they make possible have followed me around for a long time. Mainly the Kora though, a 21 string African harp. 

Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?

I really like Eivør’s Trøllabundin. Not so much the recording on the record but specifically this video of her performing the track live that United Records posted in 2010. I think I just heard her voice in a trailer for some new movie. It’s one of the best female vocals I’ve heard. 

How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?

Really a long answer is needed here but to keep it to the point, growing up very poor has really made my music better. Not just because of the suffering it provides, the endless fountain of inspiration it provides, but also because it makes things very difficult. And when there is difficulty, there is the opportunity for transcendence. Also when I went to USC for my University (not a school for poor people, but I was lucky), getting involved in the South Central and Compton communities really changed not just my music but my life. I would just walk from Rosecrans to Nickerson Gardens and talk to people. It’s not just death there, there’s far more life than death in South Central.

What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?

Really anything. Anything they want to feel about it. Some people hate my music. As long as they feel something.

What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?

To relax and go slowly. 

What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?

I think most festivals are for the hogs. I could never afford to go to one. I’ve never even been to one. So I have no interest in doing that, unless it was a festival where it was free and everyone could attend. 

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?

Toumani Diabaté, may he rest in peace. 

Where can our listeners follow and support your music?

Definitely my instagram @ahdim.wav. I’m not really active on anything else.

Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?

To create a world symphony that combines all the worlds of human expression, from classical orchestra to carnatic music, to rock, and somehow distill it into a legible ensemble. With Kora at the center of it all.

What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?

Hopefully they check out better Kora players. Kora has become the center of most of my music. My new album which is as of now untitled has Kora on every track. But there are far better players like Ballake Sissoko, Sona Jobarteh, or Fode Sissoko, my teacher. 

If you want here you can add a representative Youtube video to insert below the interview 🙂

No video but here’s a link to one of the upcoming songs on the album.