Nayar is not your traditional musician—he’s a fungi whisperer. By connecting cables from his custom-built modular synthesizers to mushrooms, fruits, and leaves, he transforms their natural bioelectric signals into captivating sounds. During his performances, he works with focused precision, adjusting the knobs and buttons to fine-tune the rhythmic and peculiar sounds that are created. Over the last five years, Nayar has jammed with myriad types of fungi, including trumpet-shaped chanterelles and the glorious, red-roofed fly agaric mushrooms. He has also collaborated with a giant ficus tree, clumps of bamboo, sword ferns, a pineapple, and even the odd-looking citrus fruit called Buddha’s Hand. “It’s an intoxicating feeling to be able to make all these crazy sounds and program really interesting melodies, many of which will probably be impossible to play on a traditional instrument,” he muses.
www.atlasobscura.com
Meet the Man Who Finds Melodies Inside Mushrooms
With his plant-based compositions, biologist-turned-musician Tarun Nayar wants to change how we engage with nature.