Anoushka Shankar on Her Father Ravi, Performing With Norah Jones, and the Eternal Influence of Björk

Anoushka Shankar has rounded third and is eyeing home. Her new EP, Chapter III: We Return to Light, will debut in March, completing a triptych inspired by where she was raised: London, Southern California, and India. The sitarist, composer, and producer is also up for two Grammys at this year’s ceremony—her 10th and 11th nominations—and though she is only 43, she’s beginning her 30th anniversary as a touring musician.

As part of her father Ravi Shankar’s ensemble, her debut came early. Credited with introducing Indian classical music to the West, Ravi gave sitar lessons to George Harrison in the mid-1960s, an association which led to the production of the influential film Raga and one of the first major benefit events in rock, the Concert for Bangladesh. In 1966, he released West Meets East with violinist Yehudi Menuhin, a landmark in cross-cultural exchange.

Anoushka’s discography, which began in 1998, has spanned genres even further, from Indian classical and symphonic to jazz and pop and what she has agreed to label new age. (Read on for more details on that.) She’s also long been an in-demand hired gun for other artists looking to add sitar—counting Sting, Lenny Kravitz, Joshua Bell, Patti Smith, and perhaps most notably, her half-sister, Norah Jones, as collaborators.

She’s embarking on another tour this spring—a mix of theaters and festivals—and will no doubt take time to make updates on the road from one of the world’s most stylish Instagram accounts. Anoushka recently spoke with Vanity Fair about her new EP, and growing up with Menuhin, Philip Glass, and Harrison as “uncles.”

Vanity Fair: Why do three EPs and not one album?

Anoushka Shankar: There are fancy answers and the practical truth. Coming out of lockdown I got stuck in my head. I felt I should have something really big to say, the best, deepest work I’d ever made. As a result, I wrote nothing, waiting for the post-pandemic opus. Then I was in a cafe in Goa, on a week’s holiday with my kids and I had the idea to release three mini stories that connect, telling a story over a couple of years, touring in between each chapter.

The idea of three is that I have these three roots, and each dips into one a bit more deeply. I also like telling a story with time. Ragas in Indian classical music are often associated with times of day or season, so I’m quite used to the concept of time having a connection to a mood.

Somehow Riz Ahmed is responsible for putting some of the pieces to Chapter III together?

Riz is a good friend, and I was playing at a surprise pub night here in London. One of those “not listed” kind of things. [Percussionist and producer] Sarathy Korwar came up to play drums with me, just for one song. I was out of my norm, this was in a pub, a very grimy kind of 10 minute thing, but it felt really good. Riz very strongly said , “I’ve heard you in a lot of stages and places. This has legs.”

You are up for two Grammys, your 10th and 11th nominations. Now, I know it’s an honor just to be nominated, but I think the time has come.

The one that cut the most was [in 2013] when my dad, who had passed just two months earlier, was nominated against me, and I went up to receive his award when I lost. That had all kinds of feelings I didn’t know how to process. I’m sad I lost, but I’m happy I lost to him, I’m happy for him, I’m sad he’s passed away.

Might have been easier if they just gave it to the Gipsy Kings.

It was nice it stayed in the family, but it was weird. My mantra every time I lose is to remind myself that Björk is one of my favorite artists and she’s never won one with 16 nominations. Kate Bush never won one.

It’s an honor, and there is an element of truth to excellence being nominated and winning, but within that pool of excellence it’s all so subjective. And then there’s the part I am not a fan of, all the industry lobbying and blah blah blah that feels like it becomes a full-time career to win something. I am a human with an ego that would love to win, but there’s the other part of me that doesn’t want to win so much that I would do all the things that you have to do.