The finger-style guitarist and indie-folk performer behind the albums Bombay Dreams and Khud Ko Miloon is set to take his Nyishi dialect, Hindi, Assamese, and English tracks to five cities across the U.K. and Europe in October 2026. He sat down with Billboard India to answer our On The Road questionnaire.
Where are you taking your tour and how many stops are there?
Between October 7 to 11, I’ll be travelling from Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Birmingham, London, Manchester and Cologne (Germany).
Do you have travel plans around the tour?
We are planning to stay a little longer in London after the tour is done.
What essentials go in your tour suitcase?
I’m like a local doctor to my team. I have a small box with me where I keep all the basic medicines and whenever there’s some kind of problem with band members, they’ll try to reach out to me and ask for medication. I make sure that I have all the medicines with me.
I think last year I started taking a packet of sattu. I discovered it last year when Pankaj Tripathi (the actor) made sattu for me at his place in Mumbai. He was standing in the kitchen and he prepared sattu for me. When I drank it for the first time, I was like, “What is this?” I’d never never tried this one. It’s very nice. So since then, you know, I make sure I also carry satu with me when I’m going abroad.
What is your pre-show ritual?
I try to calm myself and I remember my god before I get on stage. I try not to miss that one and even if I miss that one, when I’m on the stage, I’ll look to the back and do a little prayer and start the show. So that has become a normal ritual.
Are there any food items from the U.K. and Europe you’ve missed and can’t wait to eat again?
An English breakfast for sure. After that, I want dal chawal for sure. I keep searching for even Pakistani restaurants to give me some dal chawal.
What is your ‘On The Road’ snack?
I carry garlic with me. I know it smells a lot, but then I feel better after taking garlic kachha every morning – you get less sardi and zukhaam. Some elderly person told me it’s like an antibiotic and it helps the immune system.
What are your jetlag hacks?
I don’t sleep when I’m traveling, whether it’s 12-hour flights,10-hour flights or 14-hour taxi rides – I don’t sleep. I’m always awake.
What song of yours is the soundtrack for this tour?
I would pick my song “Jee Le” from the album Khud Ko Miloon. That’s the vibe and that’s the energy I want to take it with us outside the country.
What’s some travel advice you’d like to share with readers?
If you are a songwriter or somebody who’s into writing, if you’re not talking to the neighbors or anybody sitting next to you then you are just wasting your time. You should talk and you should gather all the information.
Some people want to be just quiet and in their own space. But for me as an artist and songwriter who talks about life in general, it’s better to talk and just entertain yourself.
Which song are you most excited about performing on this tour?
“Jee Le” is something I’m enjoying performing on stage nowadays. From my previous album (Bombay Dreams) – “Meri Dastaan” is definitely one of my all-time favourites.
There are also two new songs that are looking solid enough to release, which will be in the setlist.
Do you prefer hotels or BnBs?
I’m not really picky with any hotels or anything. I just need a decent room. But then to be honest, the bigger the hotel, the sleep gets worse. I can’t sleep at all! When I close my eyes, I feel that somebody’s watching me.
Do you prefer flights or road trips?
Road trips for sure. Some people lie just to make it sound better. But then I come from Arunachal. For me, road travelling is one of the best experiences. When I used to take flights from Guwahati, I had to travel from Arunachal and that journey was 8 hours to 9 hours.
Of course, there’s an airport in Arunachal now, but I still miss that. When we get a show or some kind of festival in the interior part of Arunachal we make sure we don’t leave that opportunity to take a road journey.
Are these going to be energetic concerts or intimate gigs?
London is going to be energetic but Europe is going to be a more stripped down, more cozy kind of show. The U.K. is going to be a little rock and roll, a little old school.
How do you take care of your instruments and gear on tour?
I don’t really take care. I try to keep it really rough and tough with my instruments. The reason why I’m saying that is because I play finger-style guitar. Sometimes you pull the string hard when I do percussion on the guitar. So with that kind of touch you have with your own instrument, which is a wooden acoustic guitar, you can’t really think of keeping it very nicely because you’re already going to hit it hard.
Even my electric guitar hard case is not that great. I feel a brotherhood with my guitars. I feel like they’re my family. I don’t want my guitar to be spoilt.
What do you miss about home when touring abroad?
Whenever I go outside, after 3 days I start missing home. Everything is so clean outside. At some point I feel how is everybody so quiet? When you’re walking, hardly one or two people will pass by. I get anxious. In India, in a small gali, thousands of people pass by. Sometimes I miss that because the quietness is too much.
