For Indian singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad, the past few years have been a period of change, both personally and professionally. And much of that journey has found its way into his latest album, Full Moon Chamber, a collection of songs that explores the process of rediscovering oneself.
Written and recorded over several years between New York and Los Angeles, the album marks a new chapter in Kuhad’s musical journey, one that saw him step away from his typical songwriting process and embrace collaborations with other writers and producers.
Now, the singer is gearing up to bring the album to the stage, with Dubai set to host the opening night of his global Full Moon Chamber Tour at Dubai Opera. Having performed in the city several times before, Kuhad says he’s both excited and slightly nervous about introducing audiences to his new music.
In a conversation with Khaleej Times, the singer opens up about the experiences that shaped the album, navigating the pressures of the music industry, finding his way back to himself and what fans can expect from his upcoming Dubai performance.
Your new album is called Full Moon Chamber. It’s such an evocative, almost cinematic title. What does that phrase mean to you and what kind of emotional space were you trying to create with it?
A friend once told me that during the full moon, my emotions are heightened. It became almost a joke that I needed my own Full Moon Chamber to go into and process my feelings. That phrase just stuck. I had made a list of like 50 album names over time, but this one just felt right.
The ideas of love, identity, belongingness and emotional transformation were already running through the songs, so when the title came along, it felt like it connected everything together.
A full moon can suggest themes of solitude or even a kind of emotional reckoning. Which of those feelings most shaped this album, and was there a particular moment in your life that unlocked the record?
When I was writing the songs, I wasn’t consciously trying to document a particular period of my life. I was simply writing about whatever I was feeling or trying to understand at the time. Looking back now, the album almost feels like a diary because it captures those moments so honestly, but it also became a way of making sense of that period while I was living through it. It helped me understand myself a little better, and I think that’s one of the things music can do best.
The first half of the album has some tension, while the second half is more settled. It explores the feelings of identity and emotional reckoning quite strongly. I went through a lot of uncertainty for a couple of years. The music industry changed. A lot changed for me personally as well. But through it all, I ended up finding a part of myself that I had lost. The album follows that arc. This album was recorded over a long period of time, and I don’t think one particular moment shaped it. It was more like a phase of a few years. The themes became clear in retrospect. It wasn’t really planned that way.
You have described the album as a period of personal and artistic evolution. What had changed in you by the time you began writing these songs, compared with the person who made The Way That Lovers Do or The Silhouettes Project?
The process of writing and making this album, along with the period of change and transition I went through during those two or three years, has made me a slightly more grown-up version of myself — with a little more patience and humility. I think that will affect how I approach songwriting in the future.
The key difference between the way I made the two previous albums and this one was the way it was created. I have always written my music in solitude, usually on a guitar but this time I wanted to challenge myself and be more open. I wrote a lot of these songs in studio sessions with other writers and producers. The level of rigour and attention to detail that I put both the songwriting and production through has also remained intact on this album.
You wrote and recorded Full Moon Chamber between New York and Los Angeles. How did those two cities influence the music?
Those cities definitely became part of the album, although maybe not in an obvious way. I spent a lot of time in Los Angeles writing and collaborating and the pace of life there gave me a lot of space to reflect. New York brought a different kind of energy. I don’t think the songs are about those places, but they became part of the environment in which the music grew. Every place shapes you in small ways and I think those experiences naturally found their way into the record.
This Dubai show launches the global ‘Full Moon Chamber’ Tour. Does beginning a new era in Dubai carry a particular feeling for you, especially given how often the city has welcomed you back?
It’s always been a fun experience playing in Dubai, during my last Dubai show I got to meet a lot of fans and just seeing how many people relate to my music is always a wonderful experience. I am excited to play the new album live for the first time, a song really transforms on stage and the audience adds to that transformation. I am excited and slightly nervous to see how the audience responds to Full Moon Chamber. You feel the energy of the people around you interacting with your own and that often leads to unexpected moments. That, to me, is the beauty of live music. I am excited to experience that after a while.
You last told Khaleej Times that Dubai is always a delightful place to perform. What has kept that connection growing over the years?
I remember our conversation in 2024, when I said flying over the desert is always fascinating. I think this time, it will certainly remind me of shooting the ‘If I Cannot Be Yours’ music video. When we were thinking about the visual imagery of this album, one of the key themes that kept coming back to me was the lushness of nature, but in unusual ways. Not just forests and trees, but also deserts and their vastness. I feel those are more introspective.
When we spoke in 2024, you talked about the challenge of filtering external noise and staying connected to your inner sense of self, particularly as your visibility grows. Has making this album helped you find that centre again or has success made protecting it more complicated?
The time I took between the last album and Full Moon Chamber, was partly because I was filtering out a lot of the external feedback. I think when you are an artist, a lot of opinions surround you, not just about your own music but also how the industry is moving. I wanted to take time off from that, experience life and write something honest to where I was in my life emotionally. I still believe that you have to be internally secure and mentally fortified to be able to still protect your honesty and authenticity with all the opinions around. I think that’s important for all artists.
You once spoke about how the old divide between “independent” and “mainstream” music was becoming less meaningful. Looking at your journey now, what does artistic independence mean to you in practice, today?
In the last few years, the independent music scene has become richer, with so many new voices and songwriters coming up and it’s wonderful to see. The audience for independent music has also grown, almost to the scale of mainstream music. I don’t see music through that divide particularly. I think with digital media, that divide has reduced exponentially and also blurred, as more independent artists feature in mainstream ‘movie’ songs.
For me, it’s always been about being honest with the music I make. I am grateful to have a team and label that respect that and give me the space to be myself through my music. Artistic independence, to me, is just having the space to experiment with my process, making music as it comes to me rather than forcing a narrative.
You have performed in Dubai before, but Dubai Opera is a particularly iconic and intimate room for a singer-songwriter. What does it mean to bring Full Moon Chamber there, especially as the opening night of this tour?
I started my journey with intimate venues and while arenas have their own magic, this album is very intimate in emotion. I think it couldn’t have gotten a better opening night. It’s a rich venue both infrastructurally and culturally. Intimate shows have a more give and take of energy, the audience contributes to how the songs sound and feel and that’s always magical to experience.
Lastly, what can the fans expect from your Dubai concert?
I really don’t want to spoil much, but I have enjoyed making this setlist. It has this beautiful journey as the old favourites, both English and Hindi, blend and move into the songs from Full Moon Chamber. You’ll just have to be there. It’s turning out to be one of my favourite setlists.
The concert takes place on October 24 at Dubai Opera, with tickets available through Dubai Opera and Platinumlist Dubai
Source: Khaleej Times
