Chicago Alt-Rock Duo Aatmaa Talk Debut Album 'Cataclysm' (Exclusive)

Aatmaa is a musical collaboration between husband and wife duo Ashwin and Shara Deepankar.

By Stephen Andrew

On Friday, Chicago alt-rock duo Aatmaa are dropping their debut album, Cataclysm, positioning themselves as a powerful new musical force. With atmosphere-piercing highs and Earth-crumbling lows, the band — composed of married couple Ashwin and Shara Deepankar — has crafted a truly impressive freshman outing of art-focused sounds.

Ahead of their big release, PopCulture.com had a chance to interview Aatmaa to talk about their album, influences, and what's on the horizon. Check it out below!

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(Photo: Aatmaa)

Ashwin and Shara, thank you both so much for taking some time to answer a few questions for us! How are you feeling here on the eve of releasing your debut album, "Cataclysm?"

(Both): Of course! Thank you for having us. This is a real treat! Oh you know, a mix of excitement and anxiety depending on the moment. We started working on these songs in 2020 so it's really exciting to have them completed and sent off into the world. We've found a lot of value in the entire writing process, this just feels like an added bonus to be able to share them.

I believe that I read the two of you have been a couple for more than a decade, and married for seven years, but only more recently began doing music together. What sparked your decision to start this journey?

Shara: Yes, you are correct. We've been together for over 12 years, 7 years married and the pandemic was the longest amount of time we had ever spent together in the same state. Ashwin has been a touring person our entire relationship so this was a really big chunk of time that we were together. Alone. Our project started really organically. 

Ashwin wasn't working since the touring world was on pause so he started making music to pass the time. He was trying to collaborate with others and it was really difficult to do with our friends so I had him play me a song to sing on. Here we are an album later. It wasn't always easy. This is the first project that I've written melodically and lyrically, so there was and still is a lot of impostor syndrome. Ashwin was incredibly patient when he needed to be and tough when I needed to hear it.

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(Photo: Aaron Ehinger)

There are some notable 80s goth-wave influences in your sound (Bauhaus, The Cure, maybe some Jesus and Mary Chain?), but were there any specific albums you two bonded over that helped to inspire songs like "The Worst In People" and "It Sleeps?"

Shara: Oh wow, thank you, that's a huge compliment. I can't think of specific albums, Ashwin might be better to answer this one. I was reading "How to Write One Song" by Jeff Tweedy at the time. Then I had us listen to it together. We absolutely bonded over that book. I still reference this often in the writing process. It's almost like we needed the permission to create this album. 

We weren't sure if it was going to be good or not but we continued to show up to create and we were honest with each other on things we liked and hated. We found a lot of value in simply creating regardless of what the outcome might be. Once we felt like we had a song to write lyrics to, it was a matter of serving the song as much as possible. When we started writing "The Worst in People" I never imagined the lyric 'I hate back home,' but when it came out in a mumble track, we knew we had to keep writing with that lyric in mind. 

Ashwin: Thank you. We were listening to a lot of Idles, These Arms are Snakes and Tortoise at the time. I definitely feel like Shara channeled her inner Idles and PJ Harvey in these songs. I channeled my very best, "These Arms Are Snakes" on guitar. In general, we were consuming a lot of art in varying mediums (TV, Podcasts, Music, Movies, etc.) – this album is a direct result of consuming that art.

Speaking of "The Worst In People," your most recent single, can you tell us a little bit more about that song?

Shara: Sure, as I mentioned, this song really came from a place of creativity. We didn't set out to write a song about hating home. Please think of it as a metaphor but it relates to you and your actual home, think of it that way! We can all relate to wanting to be our most authentic self but there can be external forces from people or places that hold us back. 

This song is about leaving one state of being and finding the courage to create a new home where you can fully be who you want to be. Finding your people who will rally in your corner. It's absolutely enough to hate back home. This song is really meaningful to us.

Finally, with "Cataclysm" out on Friday, June 7, what's next for Aatmaa?

Ashwin: That's a great question, we are trying to listen to the universe for what is next. We hope to book a show in Chicago within the next year. We really enjoy live music and we think this will be a fun album to perform live. On top of that, album number 2 is already underway so y'all can expect to hear more tunes from us soon.

Click here to check out Aatmaa's music, and be sure to follow Aatmaa on Instagram at @aatmaamusic. 

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