Tapasya Loading
Tapasya Loading is hosted by Indian-German Musician / Educator and founder of the Holistic Musician Academy, T.L.Mazumdar.
This podcast is a safe space to attempt honest, raw, and authentic conversation in homage to the act of stoking a sacred fire. Through open conversations and exchanges with fellow artists and thought-leaders, it pays proverbial homage to the ancient ritual of burning fear away with love and joy.
(Disclaimer: the views and opinions of the guests are not necessarily reflective of the show).
New to Tapasya Loading?
178
Sept. 25, 2026
Voices Returned: Sheila Chandra on Echo
Sheila Chandra returns to Tapasya Loading for her third appearance to discuss Echo, a collection of live recordings she describes as possibly her final album. Her first album as producer reunites her with Stuart Bruce, a collaboration dating back to Sheila’s Monsoon sessions in 1982 and continued through her Real World trilogy. For Echo, they worked as a team of two, communicating entirely via email. In this episode: Producing Echo and the dynamics of a two-person collaboration.
45
Feb. 7, 2022
Studying Traditions authentically and Navigating Multiple Musical Modalities in a Contemporary Context with Pete Lockett
Pete Lockett speaks to T.L. Mazumdar
65
June 13, 2023
Creating Great Art and Taking Care of Your Fans w/ Emily White
Amazon #1 best-selling author and podcaster Emily White speaks to T.L. Mazumdar
56
Jan. 3, 2023
Blurring Lines Between Performing and Teaching, Common Causes of Piano Injury, Unpacking Jazz Piano Pedagogy in 2023 and Mistakes to Avoid in Audience Building w/ Noah Kellman
Noah Kellman talks to T.L. Mazumdar
41
Nov. 18, 2021
Common Threads between Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, Sheila E, The Crusaders and Enjoying Fresh Strawberries with Benny Rietveld
Bassist with Miles Davis and Carlos Santana speaks to T.L. Mazumdar
Feb. 15, 2021
Multiple Lifetimes In One With Kai Eckhardt (Pt 1)
T.L. Mazumdar talks to legendary Liberian-German Jazz-Fusion Bassist Kai-Eckhardt.
43
Jan. 10, 2022
'Effortless Mastery' to 'Becoming the Instrument' with Kenny Werner
Iconic Pianist/Composer and Author of 'Effortless Mastery' Kenny Werner speaks to T.L. Mazumdar.
68
Aug. 8, 2023
’Good’, Bad’ and ’Perfect’ Music w/ Jake Sherman
Brooklyn-based Pianist/Singer-Songwriter/Producer/Multi-instrumentalist Jake Sherman speaks to T.L. Mazumdar.
78
March 7, 2024
Theoretical Physics and the Internal Integrity of Music w/ John Matthias
Dr. John Matthias Speaks to T.L. Mazumdar
132
Oct. 7, 2025
Otherness, Art, and the The Myth of the ‘Professional Musician’ w/ Soumik Datta
Composer, sarodist, and cultural shapeshifter Soumik Datta joins T.L. Mazumdar for a conversation that goes far beyond the usual talk of craft and career. Born in Mumbai and raised in London, Soumik grew up between cultures, mentored by Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta in Kolkata and later trained in composition at Trinity Laban. Today, he stands as one of the rare contemporary artists bridging heritage and innovation with equal devotion. His work spans collaborations with Beyoncé, Anoushka Shan
136
Nov. 4, 2025
Surrender, Mortality and why Sound Remains w/ Rez Abbasi
In his third appearance on Tapasya Loading, guitarist, composer, and educator Rez Abbasi joins T.L. Mazumdar for a conversation that begins with music but doesn’t end there. Born in Karachi and raised in California, NYC-based guitarist Rez has long been a bridge between worlds: jazz, South Asian and urban traditions, intellect and instinct, virtuosic precision and play. Award-winning touring and recording artist and teacher at the New School in New York, he is known for a sound that is as
142
Dec. 16, 2025
From Busyness to Sustainability w/ Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir
Sæunn happens to be one of the most respected cellists in the world, performing with orchestras like the Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, and Iceland Symphony, and in venues like Carnegie Hall, Barbican, and Suntory Hall, to name just a few accolades. She’s basically one of the best out there, for those who find language like that easier to understand. But what makes Sæunn stand out beyond her accolades are the challenges she throws at accepted narratives both in the classical music wo
148
Jan. 29, 2026
Freedom, Love and Identity w/ Peter Crone
For over twenty years, Peter Crone (‘’The Mind Architect’’, ‘’Human Ayahuasca’’), has worked with some of the world’s most elite athletes, CEOs, artists, and Hollywood icons, helping them dissolve the mental constructs that create limitation and suffering. His approach doesn't attempt to offer behavioural fixes or quick-fix strategies, but goes where generic self-help tends to tiptoe around: dismantling the core beliefs underneath accepted constraints in the first place. Recorded with a li
154
March 12, 2026
Safety, Trust and the Piano w/ Pallavi Mahidhara
(Rec. 23rd Oct 2025) Photo: © Peter Pavlov When a serendipitous turn of events resulted in Mahidhara's international debut being on one of the most visible stages of the world, the cascade of events that followed leading to an illustrious career that breaks multiple stereotypes in the arts industry by default, was not on a premeditated agenda, but a natural bi-product of a passionate and tenacious work ethic amply apparent even in her earlier formative years. We dig deeper to trace t
178
Sept. 25, 2026
Voices Returned: Sheila Chandra on Echo
Sheila Chandra returns to Tapasya Loading for her third appearance to discuss Echo, a collection of live recordings she describes as possibly her final album.
Her first album as producer reunites her with Stuart Bruce, a collaboration dating back to Sheila’s Monsoon sessions in 1982 and continued through her Real World trilogy. For Echo, they worked as a team of two, communicating entirely via email.
In this episode:
Producing Echo and the dynamics of a two-person collaboration.
Her first album as producer reunites her with Stuart Bruce, a collaboration dating back to Sheila’s Monsoon sessions in 1982 and continued through her Real World trilogy. For Echo, they worked as a team of two, communicating entirely via email.
In this episode:
Producing Echo and the dynamics of a two-person collaboration.
177
Sept. 18, 2026
Coming out wrong. A 10-year reflection.
With roughly a month to go before my eighth album comes out, I’m revisiting the work I’ve dedicated the past decade to, and what I was searching for through it.
This is a look back at that search, and how my upcoming album, Seen Heard Held, aims to be the counterbalance to what Re_movement was.
The IG Carousel with photos.
Free Artist Training
Coaching + courses
This is a look back at that search, and how my upcoming album, Seen Heard Held, aims to be the counterbalance to what Re_movement was.
The IG Carousel with photos.
Free Artist Training
Coaching + courses
176
Sept. 11, 2026
‘Fighting’ Clean: Three Weeks After a Racial Attack
Three weeks after a racial attack in Berlin, I move from shock and helplessness into anger, and sit with the discomfort of agreeing with what someone is fighting for without knowing if I could fight the same way.
A solocast about racism, belonging, contradictory truths and what humanity means when even that word can be hijacked.
--
More Relevant Links:
My talks with Equity Coach Tayo Rockson
My Talks with Sheila Chandra
My article on Racism in Germany
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Free Artist Training
Coaching + cou
A solocast about racism, belonging, contradictory truths and what humanity means when even that word can be hijacked.
--
More Relevant Links:
My talks with Equity Coach Tayo Rockson
My Talks with Sheila Chandra
My article on Racism in Germany
---
Free Artist Training
Coaching + cou
175
Sept. 4, 2026
The truth about online coaches (2026)
The coaching industry has fractured into two distinct worlds: one grounded in genuine education and responsibility, another built on engineered dissatisfaction and circular profit models. Between them lies a dangerous gap where the language of transformation masks the machinery of extraction, and where the promise of accessibility obscures deliberately incomplete offerings.
Read the article.
Free Artist Training
Coaching + courses
Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com
Episode No
Read the article.
Free Artist Training
Coaching + courses
Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com
Episode No
174
Aug. 28, 2026
Rocking the Boat w/ Vivienne Aerts
Five years after her first appearance on Tapasya Loading, New York-based Dutch vocalist, composer, producer, educator and psychologist Vivienne Aerts returns as our first-ever guest to make a second reappearance.
Her new album, Current, was created aboard a tiny wooden sailboat that Vivienne and her husband, Ted Steinebach, first bought during the pandemic. What began with a fascination for the acoustics of open water eventually became a floating studio, travelling from Leiden towards Amsterd
Her new album, Current, was created aboard a tiny wooden sailboat that Vivienne and her husband, Ted Steinebach, first bought during the pandemic. What began with a fascination for the acoustics of open water eventually became a floating studio, travelling from Leiden towards Amsterd
173
Aug. 21, 2026
The Problem With ‘Holistic’
What happens when you stop trying to force incompatible parts of yourself into a single coherent identity, and recognize that the relationship between those parts is the identity itself instead?
Read the article.
Free Artist Training
Coaching + courses
Read the article.
Free Artist Training
Coaching + courses
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Weekly letters on art, identity, integration, and the working life of an artist. No noise, no urgency.
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About the Host
T.L. Mazumdar
Musician/Educator
T.L. Mazumdar’s 20-yr-plus artistic journey is reflective of an eclectic career that has aptly been described by Rolling Stone India of someone who ‘...personifies multiculturalism’.
He loves coffee, is passionate about arts as medicine, and is a quintessential Third Culture Kid who has gotten a lot better at dealing with his anxiety when asked 'where he is from'.
www.everynowheremusic.com
www.holisticmusicianacademy.com
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