“Eight silver rings curl around my finger joints. They sleep with me, eat with me, play with me,” says Nu-Jazz maestro . The Indian-American artist’s newest album, ‘’, is a joyous celebration of how he’s evolved as a pianist and a producer since his Ehlers-Danlos diagnosis completely altered his ability to compose.

One night, as he was experiencing a flare and couldn’t play himself, he had the idea to build the song over the phone by conducting his friend note-by-note, chord-by-chord. That session turned into a newfound ethos based in collaboration, trust, and learning to play piano with his toes. 

‘Eight Ring Revival’ is jazz-fusion at its core; synthesizing funk, hip-hop, and surrealist devotional textures. Along with a stacked ensemble of musicians, Telemakus jubilantly explores new dimensions of this ability and sound while honouring the ancestral knowledge bestowed unto him—be it hereditarily or culturally. It’s evident on tracks like ‘2054’, which was originally titled ‘HerieRiem’, as it sonically imagines his heroes Herbie Hancock and J Dilla meeting. In fact, Telemakus describes the entire process of creating this album as something channeled through him by spirit; his collaborators, toes, and eight silver-rings as mere conduits.

The Bay Area-born musician sat down with CLASH to discuss ‘Eight Ring Revival’.

How are you today?

I was tired after I got back from New York, but I watched so many movies yesterday that I feel good.

Can I ask what movies you watched?

I watched this movie, Past Lives (2023), and then Dìdi (2024). My friend actually scored [Dìdi]. It was nice. 

Have you ever scored anything before, or would you do it in the future? 

Yeah, I did actually. My first official scoring of a short film was by my friend Matt [Matthew] Kim called My Father Was A Footballer. It’s a really breathtaking short documentary about his father, who pursued professional football—soccer—in Korea and it changed his life. He kind of grew up alone with his siblings in LA, in Orange County. Scoring that was amazing. It felt like jumping off a cliff because I had no idea what I was doing. Every chord I play or any texture I make will change the whole scene, and I’m entering my friend’s personal life and story. So I told it with a lot of grace, and it took time, but I actually used a song from the album. That’s the first scene of it.

Speaking of your album, ‘Eight Ring Revival’, how have you felt since releasing it out into the world? 

It feels surreal. I’m taking my time to process it, but I’m so grateful. The more I sit with the album and see it being out, I don’t feel like I made the album. I feel like my ancestors, or spirit, or my inspirations guided me—especially with the health journey. Seeing it affect people is just very humbling and really emotional. I was just in New York and I would just be crying. I’m so California-coded that being there felt so overstimulating. I love it, but dropping an album when you’re there was new to me. I see it taking a new life in other people’s lives.

This album is as much a rediscovery of self as it is a musical composition. What was that journey like creating this album while navigating your health journey with Ehlers-Danlos?

Now that it’s out, I can really reflect on the fact that like, wow, I did that. When I look back on how I created it, what surprised me was my own perseverance really. My real name is Abhay. I don’t really reveal that much, but it means fearless. Lately, I’ve been really feeling that; how I truly took a fearless approach to this music. The most shocking part that I’m still reeling from, is that all my heroes just converged onto the album in a natural way. Working with Liv.e and Karriem [Riggins] and all my friends here in LA, to have a community like that truly lift me up is such a great experience.

I thought a lot about the idea of time travel. Especially with my health journey, there’s different stages of recovery. You look to that future self with hope. I will get better. Now I’m trying to go to that past version of myself and lift him up more. Like on the song, ‘By Any Feet Necessary’, that’s where Karriem enters the album. To me, it’s like a tribute to myself. Like, “Hey, man. That song you made with your feet, Karriem is holding your hand through that.” I’ve entered a river of creativity in LA, with so many brilliant friends and collaborators. I’ve been working a lot with Groove, this amazing producer. He’s done a lot of Smino’s stuff. I feel like he breathes back life into my creativity. I loved working with my friends Curran [Sinha] and Raghav [Mehrotra]—who are on the album— and sending things to Demae. On the mental tip, I’ve been journaling a lot to get those feelings out. Nature helps. I live by the mountains in LA, so I go there a lot to centre myself. 

That’s beautiful, and thank you for sharing that about your name. Speaking of you collaborating with Liv.e on the track ‘Toes and Rings’, this was the first time you sang lead vocals on your own song. What was that experience like?

Yeah, I would say terrifying a little bit to be put in that position. I was actually saving ‘Toes and Rings’ for Fousheé. I just love her voice. But my brother and I had a session and he’s like, “You have to sing on three of the songs.” And I’m like, “Shit…” Working with Liv.e, she told me to just cherish the shyness, and it made me feel okay to be a shy boy. Someone like Clairo for example, there’s a shyness to her voice and that style of indie music. So I brought this song back home. I’m such an instrumentalist-producer, so every time I sing it becomes background vocals even when I try to do lead vocals. But this time, I just tried to kind of belt the voice.

My friend Salami Rose Joe Louis gave me advice early on about how to mix vocals; that if you feel shy, you should just add more layers of your own voice and pan them. Then I just improvised lyrics, similar to the way Ari [Sparklmami] would do, which is just saying whatever came to me immediately, kind of like freestyle singing. I took a lot of advice from different singers and worked with so many people. And after, I started really singing lead vocals which makes up a lot of my next album. I don’t know how much I’m trying to reveal yet.

I loved that you freestyled the vocals. The spontaneity of freestyling perfectly sits at this crossover of jazz and hip-hop, and the fusion of those sounds come through so clearly in your music.

Thank you. I’m so excited when I’m making stuff and I love that it comes across on the album. I’ve grown up in the U.S. but my parents immigrated from India. My dad’s side is also from Mauritius, and I think that contributes to my rhythmic palette. So I feel very connected to that part of my heritage. However, a big part of why I think I’m so drawn to Black music in general, is what my brother and my godfather instilled in me. My brother showed me John Coltrane, and all these great songs when I was really young. My godfather Uche Nkwo was from Nigeria and grew up in New York. It feels like he raised me culturally, subtly. He showed me Gang Starr, Guru, and a lot of that jazz-hip hop intersection. He’s my hero. He passed away when I was 12, so I feel like everything I do now is a tribute to him and what he would listen to. 

It’s funny you bring that up, because I grew up in Delaware around Donald Byrd who collaborated with Guru on the ‘Jazzmatazz’ albums. I grew up listening to the Blackbyrds, and Art Blakey, just from him and my dad being so close. Culturally, certain people raise you that may not be blood related.

That’s so dope! No, it’s pretty wild. My brother and I have been talking about how you can just choose your ancestors. Like, fuck it Alice Coltrane is my ancestor. I’m gonna pray to her, and talk to her and do this [song] for her. I have these sorts of “mashups” in my head. Like, what if Alice Coltrane met Dilla on that wave of devotional beats. Dilla’s beats are already devotional, but what if it leaned more into Alice on that? So it’s a bit more surreal. And I do think my album has those “mashups”. J Dilla and Alice Coltrane have been huge inspirations lately. I totally resonate with that.

Can you pinpoint a memory of when you first watched a jazz musician live? 

There’s two that come to mind. I remember around the time my brother first found [John] Coltrane, we would go to Mountain View and walk. Once, we saw a poster of Monterey Jazz Festival. I was probably five or six, and my parents brought us to the festival. I remember seeing Dr. Lonnie Smith play the organ. It was so life-changing to see him perform. The coolest thing was getting to see him backstage and he hugged me as if he knew me. I was such a baby! I remember he smelled really good. The other one that really affected me was for my brother’s 10th birthday. We went to Yoshi’s in Oakland, a great venue. We saw Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and Hiromi. They had a trio. Lenny playing drums, that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I was so enamoured by it. Because we were so young, they let us backstage there too. Yeah, they just would bring us [backstage] as if this is the hang for the babies. Those are the coolest people ever. 

Returning to your album, can you also speak to the creative direction behind your visuals—the visualizers, videos, and album cover?

I think my friends know I’m such a sound guy, so visuals don’t always come naturally to me. But I was lucky to find early on in my previous album Dohee Kwon, @kimchisuperpower on Instagram. She did the artwork for my last record, and that just made me realise I’m always going to do vibrant colours. Also that is a part of my heritage, you know, growing up experiencing the Holi festivals where you splash colour on each other. Being in touch with that vibrancy, like that is who I am. Ari [Sparklmami] and I are close. She’s a creative director and she understands my music so deeply. So for the album cover, it was her idea for me to be on it. I sent her some pictures, then she took one and made a very rough cut of it. Then my friend Jamie, @flatspot_ on Instagram, designed it. I rely a lot on friends like Ari, Mackai Sharp—who directed most of the videos— and Abe [Azab]. Even my mom, who’s a painter. My ideas are far reaching, so I feel like I have a team of people who will help filter it. 

Speaking of Sparklmami, I just want to highlight her and Mndsgn on this album—two of my favorite collaborations on there.

Yes! I’ve looked up to Mndsgn for many years, growing up in the beat scene. So to have him on my album is an honour. I remember the first time I met Mndsgn, I would go to his house and at the time I had just found Sparklmami. I remember telling him he should check her out, and I didn’t even know her yet. It’s cool how naturally they became more hip to each other, then me and Ari [Sparklmami] got really close and bonded over FaceTime. It’s been two and a half years but it feels like a long time being her bestie.

What song off the album are you most excited to play for audiences when you go on tour?

It’s tough to pick one but I’d say ‘Five Hands Pt. 1’ and ‘Hands Rejoice!’. Those are really fun to play. ‘Hands Rejoice!’ because it’s just super catchy. My thing with the devotional aspect is also learning how to make a melody that’s really catchy, but that’s also really empathetic somehow; where it’s stuck in your head but it’s a loving melody. I wanted to ask you, how does the whole album feel to you? What does it make you feel? 

I feel it in my feet, like I can’t sit still while listening. There’s a lot of joy, a lot of dancing. It also feels refreshing, like taking in a deep, full breath and exhaling.

You’re gonna make me cry. 

Well, how does it sound to you? 

It sounds really fresh, which is crazy. Somehow I don’t get tired of it. I’ve not had that feeling with stuff I’ve worked on. My family sees me listening to it a lot, and they’re like, “Why are you still listening to it?”. I love the track ‘Holy Matrimony’. Tallulah Rose is a great singer and I feel like me and her will make a really great album. She’s out in Europe. Her singing on that song is so touching to me. I’m so moved by it.

How do you hope this album is received by others?

I hope it’s received how it’s received. I do want the album to uplift people; to remind them that their creativity is really powerful. Instead of being like, “Wow, look at Telemakus, and what he did”, I want people to feel like they can do this too. I want people to receive this work as a loving gesture, a reminder of their own intimate relationship with the music and the spirit behind it.

‘Eight Ring Revival’ is out now.