Giridhar Udupa & Shackleton

silent green presents

Giridhar Udupa
Synonymous with the ghatam, world-renowned percussionist Giridhar Udupa stands as a true global icon, an ambassador of world music, and a pioneering exponent of Carnatic Classical music.

He released his first-ever album, My Name is Giridhar Udupa, in 2024 along with legendary Sam Shackleton, a one of a kind creation that merges traditional Indian percussion music with electronic elements, breaking new ground in the genre. The album was released by German music label 7K!.

Shackleton
One of the most original and critically lauded voices in electronic music, Shackleton has moved from the depths of the early 2000s dubstep underground to a diverse range of international collaborations and commissions in the last decade. After honing his hypnotic beats on the cult UK record label Skull Disco, his unique rhythmic touch is now heard on some of the most adventurous and progressive projects that have emerged from the European dance scene in recent years. 

My name is Giridhar Udupa
My name is Giridhar Udupa is the first solo album from Giridhar Udupa. What he has created with the Ghatam is entrancing music, built upon a scale and then explored through improvisation. The album evokes a range of dark and joyous emotional resonances in the listener, with compositions that behave like quicksand — broad emotional landscapes where everything solid is rhythmically smelted into a new material. 

Given how different the northern and southern Indian classical musical traditions are, its relatively rare for a musician to move with ease between both. Udupa has made his name playing across both of these traditions, performing with every top Indian classical traditional musician. After being introduced by mutual friend and collaborator Waclaw Zimpel, Shackleton, with his background as a studio musician, was recruited to compliment Giridhar’s skill as a live performer and to produce a record by a master percussionist. Drawn by an interest in non-standardised western tuning systems, song structure and elements of trance, Shackleton’s musical language and interests, although studio-based, reacted instinctively with the mathematical layering of Giridhar’s rhythmic performance.

My name is Giridhar Udupa is an album to immerse oneself in, a creation to wrestle with and find peace, from two masters of different musical registers.

Friday, May 9
Kuppelhalle
Doors: 7 pm / Start: 8 pm
Tickets