Electronic Bhakti Music Artists.
Aks & Lakshmi are a composer-vocalist duo who combine Hindu devotional bhajans and stotras with electronic and pop genres to create powerful spiritual experiences.
Aks & Lakshmi are a composer-vocalist (and husband and wife) duo who pioneered Electronic Bhakti Music. Through engaging live shows, albums and videos, Aks & Lakshmi present the peace, love and pluralistic vision of poets such as Adi Shankaracharya, Kabir, Mirabai, and Surdas to multi-faith audiences.
In their live performances, EDM chants, bhajans and stotras (devotional song and hymn) interconnect with storytelling and visual media in a celebration of ecstatic devotion. In 2013, their music and media company Eclipse Nirvana released “The Bhakti Movement”, a project that modernized traditional songs and was distributed worldwide by Sony Music.
Bio
Aks is an Indian-American composer, producer and vocalist with credits spanning albums, film & TV, and video games. Trained by Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, he creates music that blends electronic orchestration with catchy melodic hooks. He has produced music for over 200 original songs and teaches in UCLA’s Film Scoring program. Lakshmi is a vocalist-scholar who brings singing, scholarship, and storytelling onto one platform. With an M.A. in Religious Studies from Stanford University, she performs and writes on the great Indian saint-poets of the Bhakti Movement. You can find her articles in international publications such as Hinduism Today. She has recorded several devotional albums with her mother and guru Padmini Chandrashekar in her hometown Singapore.
As guest presenters at Princeton University, Stanford University and the Global Conference on World’s Religions, the content of their sacred music brings strong educational value to institutions. They have been featured as cultural ambassadors at the American and Indian Embassies. Aks & Lakshmi have also presented major concerts at spiritual organizations such as Chinmaya Mission, Vedanta Society, Brahmakumaris and Aurobindo Society. Based in Los Angeles, California, Aks & Lakshmi perform across North America and beyond. Audiences describe their music as “healing”, “meditative” and “transforming”.
Concerts
Immerse in a bhakti-filled musical experience at one of Aks & Lakshmi’s upcoming concerts. They combine singing, contextual storytelling and visual media to present poetry in Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil and other Indian languages. Appealing to older and younger audiences alike, the 70-minute shows simultaneously educate and entertain.
Reviews
“The vocal and instrumental music show was a beautiful rendition of cultures coming together. Informed by their roots, the four were able to pull Sanskrit slokas, and lyrics in various other Indian languages together, with the sounds and rhythms of western music. The blend was a delightful one.”
– India Journal, Los Angeles
“The trio enthralled the audience with beautiful devotional songs rendered with a New Age twist…Parents were pleased that their children were able to connect with the spiritual messages of the songs while being entertained at the same time.”
– Khabar Magazine, Atlanta
“Lovely evening with Aks & Lakshmi, a very talented couple who are presenting ancient devotional material in new ways. Sincere and inspiring. Beautiful voices. Excellent storytelling. Kindles the flame of the heart!”
– Swami Sivasankariananda (Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center), San Francisco
“[We were] enchanted by their spirit and the sounds of interfaith harmony that stayed true to the couple’s pluralistic Hindu roots.”
– Patheos, Indianapolis
“From explaining the history and significance of the composition before they began, to both of them smiling brightly, to Lakshmi closing her eyes and placing her hand at her heart in reverence while singing “Namostute,” the devotion was palpable to everyone present. While the arrangement had several modern elements and the interludes demonstrated their flair with various styles of music, it was obvious that the intended spirituality of the piece was not compromised.”
– Narthaki, San Jose
