Hotel Kali

The album release programme with the artists

On their self-titled debut album, the German-Indian collaborative creation Hotel Kali presents the results of what started as a brief residency for Theresa Stroetges a.k.a. Golden Diskó Ship in Kolkata, organized by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata and supported by Ableton, Berlin Musicboard, KaterBlau, Wild City and Magnetic Fields, and ended in her joining forces with double bass player Debjit Mahalanobis, synth enthusiast Varun Desai and the versatile songwriter Suyasha Sengupta.

The resulting album “Hotel Kali” is a living, breathing entity that theoretically picks up on many different musical traditions but in practice challenges them all. Four different individuals find a common ground somewhere between and far beyond cosmic rock, experimental dance music, and adventurous post-rock. In this virtual event, coinciding with the official release of the vinyl LP, they talk us through the album and how it came about.



Artists: Debjit Mahalanobis, Theresa Stroetges, Suyasha Sengupta and Varun Desai.

The programme will be moderated by Kristoffer Cornils. 

Join us on the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata Facebook page for a live stream of the full programme.

Details of the artists:

© Debjit Mahalanobis

Debjit Mahalanobis

Physics teacher turned musician, Debjit Mahalanobis is a unique confluence of western classical music and the influences of Indian classical music. Being familiar to the nuances of sound that Physics teaches, he is able to connect to the various trajectories of rhythm and melody through his instrument – The Double Bass. He has been performing on the double bass with national and international orchestras such as the Indian National Youth Orchestra, the Bombay Chamber, the Bangalore City Chamber, the Indo-European Chamber, the Kolkata Symphony and the South Asian Symphony Orchestra. 

Sara Perovic_Klein

Theresa Stroetges

Theresa Stroetges has and always will be a traveler. Under the name Golden Diskó Ship or as a member of bands like Soft Grid or the improv collective Epiphany Now!, the Berlin-based multi-instrumentalist has continuously been moving through the fringes of experimental music, but also extensively explored the possibilities of tried and tested formulas - whether folk, rock, techno or pop. With her fourth solo album, her first for the Karaoke Kalk label, the Golden Diskó Ship is yet again venturing into unknown territory. ‘Araceae’ is inspired by environmental changes and the eerie feelings that arise when faced with natural beauty - when everything seems perfect on the surface but something feels off underneath it all. As a whole, it is notably more focused on electronic grooves that provide the foundation for Stroetges’s poetic long-form storytelling.

© Suyasha Sengupta

Suyasha Sengupta

Suyasha Sengupta’s aka Plastic Parvati is a  Kolkata based musician who venture into the world of electronic pop music which she uses as a platform to initiate conversation on healthy sexuality, gender binaries and de-stigmatising mental health concerns. After releasing her debut record in collaboration with the celebrated producer Miti Adhikari in 2018, she has been focussing on her role as a music producer and activist, enabling dialogue through her lived experiences as a performer and a creator. She was selected as one of the ten artists from around the world as part of the Goethe Talent Scholarship, to attend the Pop Kultur Nachwuchs Program in Berlin where she performed live set at the festival. She has also won the Toto Award For Music and is currently on a mission to write, record and break more boundaries as a performer.

© Varun Desai

Varun Desai

With a 15 year career as a promoter, label manager, producer, designer and video artist, Varun Desai’s culture work has taken him from Burning Man to Berghain, and as a DJ to tour Poland, Switzerland, Portugal, Nepal and India. Producing concerts for Jazz legends and pioneering underground club culture in his hometown of Calcutta, his sound draws its identity from dance music while his performance pays its dues to those who step onstage to create a live experience.




The Moderator:

© Kristoffer Cornils

Kristoffer Cornils

Kristoffer Cornils is a cultural journalist who works and sometimes lives in Berlin. He is an editor at field notes and in two past lives has also edited GROOVE and Spex. He co-runs the ANTIME label on which “Hotel Kali” will be released.