Who are your musical heroes and why do they inspire you?

Louis Armstrong--He was baptized in fire (aka the Jim Crow South) and his music turned out to be the heaviest gold out there. I don't think anyone has shaped or influenced American music as much as Pops did. EVERY musician owes their existence to him.

Curtis Mayfield--One of the greatest, if not the greatest R&B/Soul artists of all time. I love his lush, orchestral compositions, his incredibly unique voice, and his poetic lyrics. He was one of a kind in that he could write observational, socio-political and/or protest music without ever sounding contrived. AND he was from Chicago...just sayin!

Bill Withers-- I adore his voice, his uncanny ability to write melodies, his grooviness, and his unapologetically simple yet soul-stirringly poignant compositional style. He just IS who he is and in all aspects of his career, he has done everything on his own terms--I idolize him for that, and I aspire to be just like him in that way.

Mehdi Hassan--The greatest singer that the Indian subcontinent has ever seen. He was gifted with a mellifluous, hauntingly beautiful voice and his vocal technique was impeccable. He was an excellent interpreter of music that was put in front of him, and I always have looked up to him. His style, technique and musicality are all things that I have aspired to achieve in my music.

Billie Holiday--Beautiful voice, equally beautiful expression. So much pain, so much melancholy! She knew how to tell a story and when I sing, I try to narrate things as she does.

John Coltrane-- Trane makes me feel a certain something--and often times, I don't even know what that feeling is. I think that the urbane spirituality in his music is very palpable and it feels like the man really had his hand on the pulse of what was going on during his time. Whenever I listen to "Giant Steps" or "A Love Supreme", I find that I'm ushered into a zone of productivity. In other words, listening to Coltrane makes me want to work hard at whatever task is at hand.

How did you end up in Chicago?

I didn't "end up" in Chicago. I was born here. It's funny how many people get surprised when I tell them that. My parents, on the other hand, did indeed end up here. They were beneficiaries of LBJ's 1965 INA Act that opened the doors--by abolishing certain quotas--for people to emigrate from India and Pakistan.

Being Muslim in India is a complex narrative, but in many cases it's a narrative of second-class citizenship and violent oppression. After blatantly being denied access to jobs --jobs that they were well-qualified for--on the basis of their Muslim identity, and after anti-Muslim riots rocked their neighborhood in Bombay, my parents decided it was time to peace out. They came to America, got work in Chicago and the rest is history.

Does being Indo-Pakistani-American influence your songwriting style?

Now being the progeny of these two immigrants has largely shaped who I am as a person, and through osmosis, I've absorbed so much of the rich musical heritage of India and Pakistan. The supremacy of poetry. The prevalence of improvisation. The supple dexterity required to sing/play scats. I love all of that good stuff it has heavily influenced the music I make. And I strongly feel that growing up in a bilingual household does wonders in strengthening one's intellectual palette. In my case, the plethora of different vowels and tones of Urdu/Hindi strengthened my ear by giving me a large sound inventory--which I think is very helpful for a musician. After all, music is all about turning ideas into sounds.

And when I went off to college, having grown up bilingual gave me a foundation in being able to learn, speak and/or sing in many different languages. In addition to English and Urdu, I can now speak Italian pretty fluently. My Spanish and Punjabi aren't too bad either!

Furthermore, Indo-Pakistani instruments like the harmonium and tanpura are staples to my sound. My harmonium has always been at my side--I use it to practice, compose and perform live. I've designed what is probably the world's only electric harmonium because I wanted to experiment with adding grunge to the saint-esque purity of the harmonium sound. And it sounds DOPE!

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

I was on the road once and did a show in this small town in West Virginia called Thomas. We had SO much fun that night. After the show, I was hanging out with some of the townsfolk at a big bonfire when this one cat--who apparently worked in lumber--approached me and insisted that I take a bunch of cherry wood as a token of his appreciation. I loved it! Was so thoughtful of him to give me something that he had easy access to knowing that I didn't have access to it in the big city. Used it to smoke some meat when I came back home!

Thanks once again, Carl!

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#WhyDoWeHaveToIncapsulateOurThoughtsIntoShortCatchyMarketablePhrasesCalledHashtags

What’s your big 2017 goal?

To maintain sanity amidst my country's current socio-political climate.

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