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 Shankar, Nitin Sawhney, Akram Khan, and the BBC Singers, as well as large-scale projects through his own organisation, Soumik Datta Arts. But what makes his story compelling isn’t the résumé — it’s the restlessness underneath it. In this conversation, we revisit the early years and the quiet ways we both learned what it meant to be ‘othered’, long before we had the language for it. We talk about the invisible labour behind becoming a professional artist, the parts of the iceberg that rarely see daylight, and why the industry’s current definition of a “professional musician” might not be serving anyone — not the artist, not the audience, not the art. This is the official edited release of our exchange. The complete, unedited version — with all the silences, laughter, and contradictions intact — lives exclusively inside the community. https://www.soumikdatta.com/ https://findtl.com Complete Episode