Hasheel
Hasheel is a South Asian Queer Hindustani Classical Musician. He began training at the age of five under his father. He also started playing the bansuri under the guidance of his first teacher and original flautist on the Life of Pi score, Shri Jeetu Sharma. He quickly excelled in both Indian and Western music and started composing and writing his own pieces at the age of thirteen.
Hasheel lived in India to pursue his musical training and is currently a senior student of the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Hasheel has performed around the world and across Ontario. He is also featured in numerous albums and film scores and his collaborations include those with Balkan musicians all the way to electronic House and Drum and Bass artists.
Hasheel pushes gender fashion norms that exist in and outside of India. He often gender bends while wearing clothing inspired by Indian bridalwear. His music mixes hip-hop, electronica, R&B, and Bollywood with a steady undertone of traditional Indian Classical.
Performances have included those with Kailash Kher, Hariharan, Karthik, Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, Karsh Kale, and for academy award winner A. R. Rahman. He has also headlined stages at Pride Toronto, Small World Music Festival, Basement Bhangra Beyond in NYC, and Iceland Airwaves in Reykjavik. His most recent work includes ‘LIMCA’ and ‘RaagRani’. Released as a spin on Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’, ‘LIMCA’ is a celebration of Indian culture and queer expression. ‘RaagRani’ is a documentary style music video celebrating the union of his cultural identities.
As a fulltime performer, he does not often record his music as he believes live music will always be the key to the soul. You can check out his live performances on Instagram and YouTube!