By Nick Ruffini for Drummer’s Resource

Listen to the podcast here.

It’s hard to put a label on Madame Gandhi, and my guess is that’s totally fine with her. Known for her work with MIA and Thievery Corporation, drummer and percussionist Kiran Gandhi (who goes by Madame Gandhi) is far more than a drummer. She’s the Georgetown and Harvard grad, the viral, free-bleeding runner at the London Marathon, the activist pushing women’s rights forward, a songwriter, a producer, a speaker…a badass. To top it all off, Madame Gandhi is a kind, warm, and welcoming human being with a lot of important things to say and multiple ways to say them.

Madame Gandhi talks about:

• Surrounding herself with things that inspire and energize her
• The choice to only do what she want in the moment
• How modern music often contradicts feminist values
• Aligning herself with people who share her ideals
• How she discovered her desire to be an activist
• What self-care means to her
• Starting drums at a young age and choosing to pursue music, despite outside pressure