So Where To Today?

KESHAVARA began as a solo project by German-Indian musician Keshav Purushotham. The spark came in 2013, during an artist residency in South India organized by the Goethe-Institut. In search of his roots, Keshav recorded the first tracks of his debut album in Chennai, Pondicherry, and Auroville. The self-titled record was released in 2016 on Papercup Records, the label he co-founded with producer Steddy. Following widespread acclaim, KESHAVARA evolved into a full band in 2017, featuring Keshav Purushotham (vocals, guitar), Niklas Schneider (drums, percussion), Benedikt Filleböck (keyboards), and Christopher Martin (bass). In 2020, the group received the prestigious popNRW Award for “Outstanding Artist” and debuted Kabinett der Phantasie on stage—a vaudeville-inspired, avant-garde performance blending music, theatre, and choreography. A filmic adaptation followed alongside a studio album of the same name, released in 2021. With each performance, the band’s chemistry deepened. While the debut album remained a solo work and Kabinett der Phantasie was primarily a duo project, their third release, simply titled III, marked a true band effort. On III, these sonic alchemists fuse Kraut-pop with a deep love for library music, psychedelic soundtracks, and dub-not-dub excursions. Sweetly meandering melodies swirl with rhythms that feel at home in the studios of 1970s Beirut. The result: surrealist sugar-rimmed cocktails with the shimmer and punch of a hallucinogenic dessert—music that flickers and glows like a mirage in the desert. In spring 2025, KESHAVARA released Omzerzura, a bold new single accompanied by a visually rich video—melding psychedelic desert-pop with Bollywood shimmer, further refining the band’s singular vision. That same year, KESHAVARA embarked on their first successful European tour, mesmerizing audiences in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Vienna, and Luxembourg with their hypnotic live shows. The 2025 tour marks a new milestone for the band—establishing them as a trans-cultural pop phenomenon, turning sound, image, and performance into a world entirely their own. In the same year, KESHAVARA opened for Khruangbin’s only German show at the packed Tanzbrunnen in Cologne. In November 2025, they joined Grandbrothers on a European tour with stops in cities such as Copenhagen, Warsaw, and Prague. The fourth album is already in the works — with a new single planned for release before their first Scandinavian tour in February 2026.