Indie musician Aksomaniac on his track ‘Kanmashi’ and choosing music as a career

Indie musician Aron Kollassani Selestin aka Aksomaniac shares his journey of self-exploration through music.

A few weeks before he quit college and moved to Mumbai, Aron Kollassani Selestin, a 22-year-old indie musician from Thiruvananthapuram, was racking his brains for the perfect verse for his song in a cafe in Kollam. Two days went by and he kept staring at his notebook, and empty espresso mugs. Aron was looking for the perfect lyrics in the language he struggles to write in — Malayalam.

Finally, on the third day, Aron aka Aksomaniac put pen to paper, jotting down the verses of his latest single ‘Kanmashi’, produced by Fatboi Raccoon, featuring vocalist Archa Quaser.

“’Kanmashi’ started with just an instrumental consisting of a bass line and drums that Fatboi Raccoon had sent me. Once I heard it, I added a piano roll as an interlude to it, which gives a surreal feel to the track, flowing through emotions of fear, intrigue, and bliss.”

The artiste blends a range of music genres in this song, exhibiting a fluid quality — from Carnatic notes to R&B — while addressing themes of self-exploration and self-love. The verses in Malayalam mention Manmadhan and Gandharvan, mystical beings associated with sex and love. “I told Fatboi that this song should be about figuring out one’s sexuality. R&B is also about intimacy and all those narratives. It has a bespoke nature,” says Aron over a Zoom call from Mumbai.

“It is representative of how I feel. My feelings were dynamic when I was figuring out my identity as a person. And the place I am from is not much open about such things. It is not the conventional thing to dress the way you want, putting kanmashi (kohl), wearing bangles, growing long hair or having a septum piercing,” says Aron.

The artiste’s relationship with music began at the age of six when he joined Carnatic vocal classes with his sister. He later joined a tabla class at 10, which he later quit to learn keyboard. “I was about to quit that too, but somehow, I started growing into it,” says Aron.

“My father used to take me to the classes meticulously. My weekends were busier than weekdays when I was a child. He sacrificed his weekends for me. And that is when I started giving my music the dedication my father gave to my music,” Aron recalls, practising nine hours a day.