Chad Lawson on recording Still Waters in India: Working in India changed something in me I’m still trying to understand

American pianist and composer Chad Lawson has released Still Waters, the first single from his upcoming album Awakening: The Stillness Within.

The 12-minute composition features flautist Rasika Shekar and marks their first collaboration, blending piano-led minimalism with Indian classical textures in a piece that privileges restraint over density.

The track was recorded in collaboration with musicians in India and released through Decca Records in the US in association with Vedam Records.

For Chad, the idea behind the piece was less a fixed concept and more an evolving way of listening to sound and to oneself.

He says, “I think the emotional starting point was realising that stillness is rarely as quiet as we think it’s going to be.

When things slow down enough, we usually meet ourselves there.

Sometimes that’s peaceful.

Sometimes it’s uncomfortable.

Usually it’s both.

I wanted this song to feel like a reflection where the listener has enough space to hear themselves.” That idea began to transform once he entered the collaborative space with flautist Rasika.

He says, “Rasika’s first note on bansuri set the entire direction of the piece.

Before I touched the piano, there was already a sense that the music needed space more than complexity, and she found it instantly.

That changed how I approached everything.” Reflecting on his own evolution as a musician, Chad describes a gradual shift away from excess toward reduction as a guiding principle.

He says, “I used to think the goal was to play more notes.

My background is in jazz, so I spent years trying to fill every gap.

Over time, I realised the more important lesson was understanding which notes don’t need to be there at all.

Silence is where the listener has room to receive what they’re hearing.” The recording itself followed that same instinct, shaped by responsiveness rather than structure, with the collaboration unfolding in real time.

He says, “My opening line to Rasika was, ‘Do you want to start?’ That was the whole plan.

No chart, no melody, no structure waiting in a folder.

We sat down and let the music respond to the moment.

It stopped feeling like separate roles.

The music started breathing on its own.” For Chad, music is not a resolution but a presence that allows space without expectation.

He says, “A piano piece isn’t going to solve someone’s life.

But it can sit beside people during moments they don’t quite know what to do with themselves.

You are simply allowed to exist for a while without being pushed.” He also reflects on how contemporary life has altered the way people engage with pause and quiet.

He says, “We’ve become so used to speed that stillness almost feels suspicious now.

I don’t think people need more noise.

I think they need somewhere for the noise to settle.” Looking back at the recording experience, Chad says the environment itself became inseparable from the emotional shape of the music.

He says, “Working in India changed something in me that I’m still trying to understand.

The musicians I worked with don’t separate music from daily life the way we often do in the West.

Rhythm, breath, prayer, food and conversation all share the same pulse.

For a record built on restraint, India was the right place to make it.

These musicians hear the way I hear.” Read the latest Entertainment News and Celebrity updates.

Download the TOI App.