ZENRequiem

Karmanjot Hanjra, famously known as ZENRequiem, is a musical artist and songwriter from Sacramento, CA.

What makes you different?

What makes me different as a person is my transparency with everyone around me, but moreover with myself. I am real with myself. I tell myself when I am not performing at my optimal potential. I deal with the consequences of my actions without holding anyone else accountable. When I first started making music at 16, all I did was give up and blame myself for my inability to play the guitar how I wanted to or why my singing voice sounded horrible and why I had no real rhythm in my soul. I could have chosen to blame my parents for not nurturing my musical interests or my day zeros for not supporting me when I started writing my own songs, but in reality I knew I was just scared. Scared of making horrible music. Scared of not being able to bring to life what I heard in my head at 16 on the guitar or 17 when I sang or 18 on the piano.

Tell us more:

Now that I’m making music everyday, that same characteristic of being real with myself stuck with me as an artist. Some artists listen to their music without being able to critically critique themselves...they need others to do it for them because they don’t really understand what they want to hear from their own music. I know what I want to hear and to this day there are songs of mine that are released and I know they aren’t reaching the full potential of what I hear in my head. That doesn’t mean the songs are bad, it just means that I have a lot more growing to do and more skills to acquire. I’m real with my current ability and that’s why as an artist...I have no limits.

My true goal is to reach sustainable peace. Zen. Like my artist name says. I want to be able to provide it for myself as well as guide others to their own sense of stability. My actual name refers to Karma. I believe that if you provide for others what you want, then you will ultimately achieve what you want for yourself. It sounds selfish, but it’s not a matter of selfishness or selflessness. If it’s universally beneficial then what’s wrong with a little selfishness? If my music gives my fans a place to find comfort or solace, then that will come full circle to me; not because it is supposed to, but since my intentions are pure and my intention is to help people through music.

This is probably my favorite question because you literally reply with your dreams. And if you don’t use that to reply to this question, then your fear outweighs your ambition. I see myself rocking arenas. I see myself with family and all the ones who rocked with me during the struggle. I see myself fitter, wealthier, happier, and in a position that enables me to help communities around the world. I see myself making music with the people I’ve always wanted to work with. I see myself working on an inspiring, psychological anime with an OST made by me. I see myself maintaining all that I worked to achieve. Manifestation is 1% of the process but 100% effective in accelerating the other 99%. What I don’t see myself doing is failing in everything I stated above.

In the beautiful world of music, I add a mix of everything I grew up on and continue to listen to. I add all the japanese music I have in me, the punjabi culture from my heritage, all types of hip-hop and R&B, 2000’s alternative/punk rock, house/progressive house, soul, acoustic piano, piano compositions, and infinitely more styles. But the most wonderful thing I add to the music world is my relatability. I am a normal Punjabi kid who grew up in the states. I was the worst at everything musically and I had to work hard to gain the skills that I have. You are no different from me. We are literally the same energy. The only difference is that I’ve learned to focus and shut out all the surrounding noise that disrupts my flow and lets me unlock my hidden power.

What type of legacy do you want to leave behind?

I want my legacy to be one that is inspiring to the children of the future. I want them to know that they can be normal and achieve whatever they want with their time here. No one is required to have lived through “this” or “that” just to be credible for what they want to do. My legacy is going to be one that inspires people to be exactly who they are and not what this corrupt world wants them to be. The more that I think about what I want to leave behind the less I want to leave behind. I say that because it is best to learn for yourself. Humanity cannot be taught unless we accept the source of the teaching and even then we only learn from the source; it does not teach us. We can only adapt and learn.

However, I should say I want to leave less materialistic things behind. It’s more important to me to part from this life leaving an ideology. An ideology can influence billions of people and if it’s a good one…it’ll last for generations. The intention of that ideology must be pure and beneficial to the world or else I wouldn’t want to leave it behind. I see no reason to since it’s not going to help anyone. My legacy will be my own and I want to make it righteous. That’s what everyone in this world deserves.