For an Indian artist to perform the national anthem during NBA half time inside a packed Los Angeles Staples Center is a rare feat, unless of course your name is Sandeep Acharya. A 27-year-old musician from Ocean Township, NJ, Acharya mixes a number of musical genres, ranging from hip-hop and R&B to Indian classical and Carnatic to produce a truly unique sound. As he looks forward to the release of his debut album, From the Outside, Acharya sits down with DesiClub.com to chat exclusively about his journey in music, from his first bout of public exposure with Penn Masala to how he balances life as a second-year student at Harvard Business School with a budding career in music?

Sabrina Siddiqui: Why don't you begin by telling us a little bit about how you first got involved with music?
Sandeep Acharya: I really wasn't super involved with music growing up. I used to play the saxophone and piano, but I didn't really sing until I joined Penn Masala in college. Being involved with Penn Masala was a great experience for me, because it exposed me to a lot both musically and culturally. I hadn't grown up around a lot of Indian people, so it was a great way to get involved. I began to become more involved with the group and eventually became the music director and, over the course of directing the group, I got exposed to arranging. I had already been writing music with friends at the time, and then I started to get this itch to start producing my own music. When I was in the group, I started producing my own music and wrote an original song for the group back then, so the interest kept snowballing from there. Once I left the group, I was trying to write and produce as much as possible and find musicians to collaborate with. When I graduated from college, I was able to produce my own tracks to the degree that I wanted to, and I was just hooked.

SS: When were you involved with Penn Masala and what instigated you to try out for the group if you had not really sung much prior to college?
SA: I was with the group from 2000- 2003. To be fair, I had done a couple of talent shows in high school, and we grew up singing bhajans in the household. I wasn't formally trained before, but it was something I knew I wanted to do, because I was always so interested in music but just through different ways, whether it was the saxophone or the piano.

SS: How did your parents react when you told them you wanted to pursue a career in music?
I think they reacted as you'd expect Indian parents to react, saying "don't let this distract you from what you're supposed to be doing?. It took them a really long time to accept that I was passionate about music. They're pretty supportive parents in general, so they didn't try to tell me what to do and what not to do, but every time I made a decision to do something related to music, they would always fight. It was a bit of a struggle in the beginning, but I was able to win my parents over when I pulled my dad aside and showed him a song I had written about being Hindu. From that moment, he was a little bit more supportive of me being a musician.

SS: How does your South Asian heritage influence your music and your writing in particular?
SA: Being South Asian really allows you to bring in a lot of different influences that might not be there in other music. I just think of it as being able to have more sound access. When I was writing some of my music, I wasn't just listening to hip-hop; I was listening to A.R. Rahman Hindi film music. And so that naturally bleeds into the kind of music that you end of making. In terms of lyrics, I'm not directly trying to represent being South Asian in my music, but I think the fact that I'm South Asian will end up finding its way into my music. For instance, in one of my songs, Nothing Changes, I write about the fact that my father was an immigrant and the things he went through. I don't think that would be achieved if it wasn't for me being a South Asian.

SS: There are not a lot of South Asians in the English-medium music industry, save for artists like Jay Sean and Raghav who are mainly big on the U.K./Asian scene; what do you think it takes to break the mold and how do you plan on achieving this through your music?
SA: First off, I think what Jay Sean and Raghav were able to do was amazing. When I was writing my music at the time, just to see Indian or Asian faces on music that I really liked and thought was very mainstream-capable was awesome. There's also M.I.A, and one of the things you learn from her is that M.I.A is M.I.A. She's not trying to be South Asian, but the fact that she's South Asian does end up in her music. The most important thing for South Asians to hit it big is to not try and be something else. I know the music industry always tries to put together artists that have a certain image, and I don't think you should try to copy anyone else's work. You don't ever want to call yourself the "Indian X"; no one wants to be known as a "South Asian X". The artist that will make it are those who are kind of like M.I.A and just be themselves and let that show up in their music.

SS: Who are some artists you would like to collaborate with? Are there any Indian musicians who inspire you?
SA: When I was in Penn Masala, we did take a trip to India and get to meet a lot of musicians out there. In particular, we worked with Sunidhi Chauhan, and the talent the artists have out there is phenomenal. In terms of people I'd want to work with out there, I've always wanted to work with A.R. Rahman and Shankar Ehsaan Loy. I'd love to go to the U.K. and work with the artists out there. I'm open to collaborating with anybody, because I think particularly in the South Asian scene there's just not enough of that going around. Over here, I'd love to work with Q-Tip, Timbaland [and] I'd love to work with Raphael Saadiq [and] collaborate with John Legend.

SS: Tell us what it was like to perform at The Staples Center during half time at the Clippers/Trailblazers for India's Republic Day?
SA: On one hand, to sing the national anthem at half time was just amazing. At the half time show it was really interesting to see all these South Asian performers coming by and representing half time. And with a big stadium, it's a whole different feel than an audience of 1,000 people or less. The crowd just makes so much noise; it's like a sea of people and something else really.

SS: How do you balance being a student at Harvard Business School with your pursuit of a career in music?
SA: Rukus Avenue is really good about being flexible, so to have people who understand me and how I go about doing things makes life a lot easier. I also write and produce all my own music, so I can work on my music in my own time. A lot of times it's easier to multitask, so it's been great overall.

SS: Finally, tell us what to expect from your album and any other upcoming endeavors.
SA: [The] album is kind of handcrafted in the sense that I made every track and tried to bring in experiences that I really went through into the album. Music-wise I try to make you dance at times and try to make you listen at times. More than anything I'd say the album is authentic. No matter what you may say about the album, it's really a product of my emotions and my feelings.