FEATURE: Spotlight: Tara Kumar — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Tara Kumar

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I will come to…

PHOTO CREDIT: Eljay

a couple of more recent interviews with the wonderful D.J and broadcaster, Tara Kumar. I want to quickly bring in an interview from 2024. This is a D.J. who has played across some massive festivals and stages around the world. Hotpress caught up with Tara Kumar ahead of her playing the Smirnoff Stage at Electric Picnic 2024:

“She has played at massive festivals and exclusive private parties around the world – but the lush fields of Stradbally Hall remain the backdrop to some of Tara Kumar’s fondest memories.

“What I relish about EP is that you get to see all these people you love that you might not get to see all the time, whether that be musicians or friends,” she says. “One of my favourite moments was seeing Björk in 2013 – I remember going, ‘Oh, my God, this is crazy’. She had a special, purpose-built instrument on the stage, which was used on the album she was touring. It was outrageous, over the top, and everything that is amazing about Björk.

“I’ve played a couple of times myself. The crowd at Electric Picnic is always full of good vibes, good energy. Everyone is there to have a good time and enjoy this shared experience.”

That’ll be even more keenly felt in the up-close-and-personal setting of the Smirnoff Stage.

“At a festival, I tend to go bigger than I would for one of my usual shows,” she says. “You have to read the crowd a little bit more because there’s so many distractions! It means a lot for someone to choose to listen to you, and spend that time with you, when they could be at another gig or watching someone else. That’s why it’s really important to give your all and bring people into your world.”

Of Irish-Indian-Malaysian descent, and currently based in London, Tara was raised in Australia. She categorically embodies Smirnoff’s emphasis on platforming a diverse crop of performers. Musically, she has been inspired by a broad range of sounds since she was a child.

“It’s a bit of a blessing and a curse,” she laughs. “Growing up in Australia listening to Triple J radio was a really big part of falling in love with music. At the same time, I grew up in a pub surrounded by live trad. I started playing the flute when I was nine years old, so I’ve got that classical element too. I’ve also worked in a CD shop and an instrument shop. It can be hard to distil all those influences in my DJ sets.”

From Kumar’s perspective, increasing access for musicians and DJs is vital, enabling artists to broaden their sonic horizons. It’s a feature that makes the Smirnoff Stage ultra appealing.

“You always want to have an open door,” she says. “I think you should continuously grow your network and friend circle, because getting inspiration from different people is really important. It’s crucial to cross-pollinate. The music scene, like anything, can be very cliquey and it can be intimidating to rock up to a gig or event on your own. I really value when people are kind to me, so I try to pass that on.

“Better inclusivity and diversity is slowly and surely growing in Ireland as well. We’re seeing a lot more people from different types of backgrounds coming through. But it’s a big project. The work never stops”.

This incredible talent who has presented on major radio stations and brings this sense of togetherness and community to her D.J. sets. Whether she is on the radio or doing a set, there is this desire for everyone to feel included and heard. Four Four Mag interviewed Tara Kumar about her ethos of uniting people and “why the best club nights should always feel a little bit like home”. I like spotlighting artists, but when it comes to D.J.s and broadcasters, they perhaps do not get the attention they deserve. Tara Kumar is someone that everyone should know about:

“There’s something distinctly communal about the world Tara Kumar creates. The Australia-born, Dublin-raised, now London-based DJ and broadcaster has built a reputation for blending big tunes with big heart, and maybe a pint of Guinness on the side.

From RTÉ 2FM to BBC Radio 1, and from bush doofs to packed pub takeovers, Kumar’s journey has been shaped by community, curiosity and a deep love of a proper banger (no such thing as a guilty pleasure here). We caught up with her to chat about radio, Kumar Klub, and why the best nights out feel a bit like home.

You’ve lived around the world, from Australia to Dublin and now London. How have these different scenes influenced your musical taste and approach to DJ sets?

In my teens in Australia, I was going to parties in the bush with soundsystems in the back of utes, hanging out underage in my parents’ pub around music every night. Then, when I hit the big ol’ age of 18, I was going to the local club that was attached to the casino called The Juicy Rump, dancing to Rihanna – Only Girl in the World every weekend, haha. But that definitely shaped my love of pop music at the time. Triple J, the radio station, shaped my love of dance music. Then, when I moved to Dublin, I was exposed to even more sounds and my tastes grew and expanded, from going to The Workman’s, POD, Hangar and Izakaya.

I have a really wide, varied taste in music, and my DJ sets definitely reflect that. I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, a banger is a banger, and I’ll play it if I want to.

Kumar Klub has really bloomed into a brilliant community spot. We’d love to hear about where the idea came from and what the space means to you, both as a DJ and as the person putting these nights together.

Thank you! To hear it being known as a community spot means a lot, because that’s exactly what I set out to do. I grew up in my parents’ Irish pub and Indian restaurant, so that space was my community. That background, I think, is the reason I love to meet new people and learn about their stories and life adventures. And that is where Kumar Klub comes from; it’s inspired by the blend of music and food in my parents’ business. They had live music every night where I used to play, and my Amma was cooking up stews and curries every night of the week. I wanted to bring my background into something that can slot into different locations and different vibes, a club, a pub, a restaurant.

Kumar Klub can fit into so many different spaces. Some nights it’s a party in a pub where I’m throwing out onion bhajis, with pints in hand, or it’s a sit-down dinner with DJs soundtracking the night, or it’s a charity bingo night. My dream is for it to have my own permanent place one day… DJ, broadcaster….publican? A girl can dream.

You’ve been part of the BBC Radio 1 world. What did that moment represent for you personally in your journey as a DJ?

Aw, it still feels crazy to walk into the studio and pull up the fader on the mic. I’m waiting for security to tackle me to the ground for sneaking in or something! BUT to back myself a bit more than I did in that last sentence, I love radio and music, and I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am now, from my years in RTE 2FM and to now in BBC Radio 1, these are spaces I could only dream of getting a chance in and I don’t take it for granted. Getting to play music and help people discover and fall in love with artists is the dream”.

London on the Inside spent time with Tara Kumar last month. Her Kumar Klub is where Ireland meets India. Kumar growing up in an Irish-Indian pub. I am really looking forward to seeing where Tara Kumar heads this summer. In terms of her D.J. work and the Kumar Klub. I would love to hear and read more interviews with Tara Kumar, as she is fascinating. Head to her website to get playlists of awesome new music and fresh Irish sounds. It does seem though there is a lot more to come through the remainder of the year:

“When it comes to straddling different cultures, DJ, broadcaster and musician Tara Kumar knows the feeling only too well. Being born to a dad from Belfast and an Indian-Malaysian mother, who also owned the local Irish bar-Indian restaurant in Alice Springs in the Aussie outback, is “the perfect recipe for an identity crisis”. It’s also kept life exciting. Growing up in an Irish-Indian pub was “the best of both worlds, two cultures colliding, from Irish stew and Guinness to vindaloo and mango lassi,” she says.

That unique cultural mix is something that Tara is exploring more as she makes waves in London. She had been studying music and playing in bands, and was nearly signed to Sony in Australia as a teen, but she eventually left Alice Springs for Dublin, where she scored a slot on radio station RTÉ 2FM. After a three-year residency hosting the station’s flagship nightly New Music show, and six years in total at the station, she moved over to London, where she’s had regular hosting gigs on BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds and Future Artists, DJed at the likes of the GQ Men of the Year and the Universal Records BRITs Afterparty, and collaborated with brands like Ganni, Levi’s, and eBay.

Fashion has always been a big part of her expression and is one of the key ways Tara represents both sides of her heritage. She’s created a distinctive aesthetic that blends vintage clothing – “I’ve always romanticised the stories behind pre-loved clothes, who wore them before me, and what kind of life they lived” – with traditional Indian elements, like saris, jhumkas and pottus, and streetwear, particularly Irish brands Pellador, Emporium, and Storefront. “My go-to outfit would be an Adidas tracksuit, the biggest pair of Indian earrings I can find, and a pottu to finish the look.”

Tara was always destined for a career centred around music. As well as playing the flute, saxophone and guitar, she grew up surrounded by music, “Irish trad from my dad, my Amma’s favourite Bollywood soundtracks, and Tamil classical music playing on my Thatha’s record player.” Though she loves sharing music, she admits that radio can be quite a solitary job, “when you’re live on air, it’s just you and a producer, you don’t see the people you’re speaking to. That’s why I started hosting in person nights, so I could connect with people face-to-face.”

Kumar Klub is Tara’s way of combining her mixed heritage with her love of both music and food, and creating community at the same time. And yes, there’s merch because you didn’t think she would leave fashion out, did you?

What started as “any excuse to throw a party” has evolved into some pretty epic gatherings, including a South Asian horror movie night featuring Indian-inspired cinema food; an Adidas supper club at Irish-Indian spot Shankey’s; a St Patrick’s Day party at Foundation FM with live trad and Tayto chaat; a collab with Guinness in Cork last year where she took over a back room at Coughlan’s Bar, where they handed out over 100 onion bhajis to the crowd; and a 12-hour St Paddy’s Day party this year at The Fox in Haggerston.

And there’s plenty more to come in 2026, with more parties planned in both Ireland and the UK, sit-down events in the calendar, and a new charity project in the works too. She’s already held a fundraiser in aid of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, a charity very close to her heart, and she’s recently been mentoring at the Dharavi Dream Project, a creative sanctuary for under-resourced youths in India, so we’re keen to see what else she turns her hand to”.

It has been wonderful discovering more about Tara Kumar. Follow her on social media so that you can see where she is playing and what’s in the diary. She did sit in for Sian Eleri on Radio 1’s Future Artists recently, and I hope that she does get more slots and time on BBC Radio 1 and other stations. This incredible inspiring and positive force in music, from her D.J. work broadcasting and her fundraising and charity work, this is someone that we should be very proud of. Ensure that the brilliant Tara Kumar does not…