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Hold onto your hats once you press play on this one. Timeslave III, the latest sonic boom of an album from Bay Area staple Kush Arora's artist project Only Now, pummels across razor-sharp drum currents with the urgency of an Akira motorbike chase, aiming its relentless percussive attacks squarely at the chest of oppressive power.
The word "unhinged" cameos quite a bit in talks with Arora to describe music he loves, his own work included, but that doesn't do the airtight, laser-like nature of these songs justice. Yes, the interspersed moments of relative hibernation on tracks like "Fires, Bodies Part II" or "Rivers of Despair," which trade tumbi runs and Hindustani ragas for lavaflow ooze, carry a blurrier edge — temporary recharging before beams of resistance settle back on their targets. Altogether, though, the knives are out on Timeslave. Drawing from Bangladeshi sound systems, kuduro rhythms, and a life-long relationship with the sounds of his own Punjabi lineage, Arora finds pure bedlam and channels it toward our collective enemies.
We spoke with Arora about local histories, internationalism, sound design, identity politics, early SF zine culture, and lots more. A big thank you to the great Athena Yasaman for helping make this story possible, and thank you for reading, listening, and supporting. Stay safe and inspired out there <3
Siber: Timeslave iii is relentlessly surprising, from the gradual elegance of “Rivers of Despair” to “Merciless Destiny,” which hits me like an infinite spiral tumbling out of itself. All of it turns my brain into a projector. What do you see as you listen back to this album? What forces are you facing off against?
Only Now: Thanks for conjuring those visions upon listening… I can agree with it being a spiral that’s tumbling out of itself. Feels like my life at times. Only Now and my art does focus on our relationship with time, shared consciousness, and paths to mental freedom from enslavement, spiritually and literally. The “Timeslave” series and identity that’s been built through these projects tackles the eternal problems we experience as people. From war to racism, famine to depression, things we face as people. Almost always, for no fucking good reason, other than the peasant like existence we continually find ourselves in, through eons.
As the Timeslave, the perpetual observer: I see a world in which I wonder why I had a child when she will witness such senselessness, despite knowledge being instant across every sphere of the Earth. I see a world in which brutality as the ruling force of humankind still reigns. I cried so much while making this record, late at night, wondering when it would all end, pulling myself together knowing that it just won’t. The ambient material was catharsis, mourning, from personal and global events. The rhythm is me picking myself back up for persistence.
But music is my own method to have love as a guiding force through the world, that with true perseverance and determination, we will get through it. This is a more uplifting release through rhythm than most of my work. Hopefully through the force I offer a brief moment away to a mindset that embodies that. It’s not an escape… it’s a dive deeper into the madness and with an aim to use that force in a positive way.
Siber: While the first two editions of the Timeslave series are represented by ornate, fantastical illustrations, iii appears to feature a snapshot of history. What’s the story behind it?
Only Now: That photo is really something, isn’t it? I found it after digging and digging through historical books. It’s an impactful story set in the ruins of British architecture in India. Here's backstory from the Getty Museum:
”This scene of the Secundra Bagh palace courtyard at Lucknow, India shows the aftermath of the Sepoy Rebellion by the native soldiers (sepoys) of the Bengal Army of the British East India Company. The story goes that the Bengalese soldiers feared that their foreign employer was trying to force Christianity upon them by violating their cultural taboo. They had purportedly been issued rifle cartridges lubricated with pork and beef lard, which was in violation of Hindu and Moslem laws. In defense of their beliefs, the soldiers attacked an English garrison and colony at Cawnpore. The British retaliated in November 1857, and the scattered bones of some of the 2,000 rebels killed were intentionally left unburied in the courtyard. “
For me, there are two or three angles behind choosing it for the album...
I draw parallels to what I see happening to people around the world, time and time again, and we’re watching it in this country now: pit the natives against each other. In the time of this image, sadly, many Punjabi’s had been bought over and sided with the British to enforce their rule, as with other local groups within India. It's a classic strategy for fascism and financial domination that's alive and well. Sensible people are speaking and fighting this in the streets on multiple fronts, in a way I've never been more proud to be part of. The grim truth, in the case of this photo, is that we’re looking at the loss of those who tried to fight back. Absolute decimation — at that time, but not forever. I know and see that this same slaughter is happening by those now, and that ain’t gonna fly.
The record itself is a blend of that same kinda tension. Musically this is my first dip into non-Punjabi sounds, taking a lot of inspiration from the Bengali sound system movement I’ve watched grow over time, it’s different rhythmic structures that land squarely between some straight up almost gabber-like treatments and classic Indian sounds.
Side note: It’s also a pretty controversial photo because, as with many battle photos at the time, it’s said that the photographer and his pals may have moved all the bones into the frame to heighten the drama. Another funky twist. Giving you that 'old school' fake news vibe!
Siber: You have a song called “Compromised Parasites” on here... anyone you care to shoutout and call attention to?
Only Now: Some solid examples who particularly piss me off are folks like Kash Patel, Kamala Harris, and any other person that tries to use their race as a veil whilst just becoming another slimelord politician. One could call them race traitors, but I’ll just say they’re compromised, and they’re parasites just like the rest of the political class. What really gets me insane is when I see my own people infiltrate spheres of power to still push terrible agendas. It’s happening more than I can ever recall. What the fuck is going on Indians?
If you challenge them to it, they act like they’ve somehow infiltrated the white man’s club and they’re going to switch it up, all whilst playing their game harder than anybody, almost groveling to a level worse than another person would. It’s happening on a national and local level, and I see right through it, setting back decades of hard work people have made in the civil rights movements. Nothing but excuses and lies from these folks about why they won’t put their counterparts to task on anything that impacts our communities.
The best part is this: they always lose. Everybody I named above, and I could list a litany more, all get used up, never accepted for nothing more than a chess move in those power circles. Play that conservative white man’s game, get used, and lose.
Siber: What was your door to kuduro, and other Angolan rhythms? Is it kuduro’s role as a form of youthful resilience during Angola’s civil war that played a part in its appeal to you? I see your music doubling as a method of archiving, and I wanted to ask how you crossed paths with some of these lineages of sound you're pulling from and uniting together...
Only Now: My door to kuduro came from my interest in dance sounds from the African continent, paired with it slowly finding it’s own way into 'global club' sounds. The most unhinged, sick beats and energy and vocals hitting all at once. No filler, all killer, pure power and the most refreshing thing to me since IDM or punk sounds many years before. Resistance is built into every aspect of it, and that's understood even through the language barriers someone like myself may have. As a random dude living in the Bay Area, I’ve never claimed to be anything more than a huge fan and inspired wildly by it. I have read articles my pals have written in Africa Is a Country, listened to specials on its history, and spent my time connecting with the electronic diaspora between here and Lisbon. For me, it was music first, and then I learned more about the context as time went on, but it was for sure during the era of second-gen kuduro, like Os Lambas, that really made me appreciate it. I'm beyond stoked to be bringing DJ Lycox to play the Timeslave III release party, a first for San Francisco hosting the Príncipe crew. I try to draw a line from my core sounds to others without just lifting an entire style.
Siber: Are there any special memories behind some of the collaborations and tools used on Timeslave III? Whether it be working with jaijiu in Argentina, for example, or if any analogue instruments held personal significance for you? if you jumped through hoops to source them, or find players like you did for local drummers when you were younger?
Only Now: Connecting with Shubho [for "Merciless Destiny IV"] was a very, very long process. My fault mostly. He was part of Jessop & Co. which is an experimental collective dating back a while in Kolkata, which, at the time I heard it, was hands down the most fucking bizarre shit I’d heard in India. Instantly I searched to find and connect, and eventually we did. What then ensued was an honestly overwhelming amount of wild and off-kilter material coming to me from his vault. I searched through many many files and iterations of his SuperCollider and AudioMulch sessions, field recordings... Audiomulch is software I used around 1998 through the early 2000s. It's a brilliant modular processing environment. That tune we made was basically an entire EP. It kept getting reduced, months would go by, I’d lose my vision with it, then we wouldn’t talk for some time. I’d get back into it, redo it, but ultimately basically made a whole mini-tape into the song. For sure the toughest song to assemble in many years for me. Getting my first Ableton session with Jaijiu [featured on "Rebel Cry"] after our mutual enthusiasm for each others work, seeing his one-of-a-kind methodology for beat creation, was exciting... getting to retool another operator’s work and making it your own. Dave Sharma [featured on "Merciless III"] delivered me some insane, raw dhol tasha material, with no particular backing track that I then built out our song with. Working with him is always enriching and learning, he teaches me so much each time we trade songs and engineering notes.
Siber: You've spoken openly about your love for sound system cultures and their influence on you and your music. Have you participated firsthand on trips to India, the Carribean?
Only Now: I went to Jamaica once in junior high and I was fully aware of dancehall and dub at the time, but didn’t experience anything notable sadly. I’m one of the few people who has made so much dancehall / dub-influenced music or collaborated with artists from these places but hasn't taken a vacation or musical sabbatical out there. Just haven’t had the time and money, or when I had it, I ended up elsewhere somehow. The musicians were around, or global collaboration made things possible. I really want to tho soon. In India, I’ve played a few wicked shows over the years with crews who have gone on to be very crucial within Delhi, but nothing like the sound systems you’re seeing these days. I was talking to a large festival about it this year, and waiting to hear back so I can see the real deal in person. I did record in India in the mid 2000s, and honestly, some of my music then was pretty similar to what’s being done now, but nobody was into it. Just baffled and was like goddamn that’s got lots of bass and is distorted. So it makes me EXTRA happy that it’s come full circle and we’re ready for FULL BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Siber: You’ve spoken before about drawing inspiration from centuries-old music. How far back do some of the inspirations behind Timeslave III go?
Only Now: The songs that feel the most ancient to me are the flutes across the whole record. These have been around since at least 200 BC, if not earlier. Those feel the most ancestral. I'll be honest: I’m not a music historian or particularly well -ersed person in the history of Hindustani or Punjabi music origins. If there was only enough time in the day to do that, create, work, parent… shit, asking me this question just makes me think I HAVE to set aside more time to do that. I am the type of person that tries super hard to keep digging. Then I pick up an instrument or hear a sound and boom, fucking 8 hours later I got a whole song ready but I haven’t finished the book or research I was doing initially. I’m continually inspired, but that does interrupt me getting in deep dives. I’ll take it!
Siber: I know BAM issues in BART stations and high school radio in the Bay were major catalysts for your falling in love with music. CyberDen and Columbia House were sacred spaces to hear and find sounds. Where does your curiosity for digging lead you in 2025? What zines and underground spaces are persisting in SF, and what have the past two years brought (or not) when it comes to investment in the music scene there?
Only Now: Thankfully, there are tons of inspiring and incredibly dedicated and wonderful people doing things around the Bay Area and beyond. Some fun spots would be Coneshapetop, a wonderful space in Oakland for art, music, writing, visiting the record store, radio. All with the most open taste and no boundaries. Also Mission Synths, this wicked synth shop that also has great events, and a really well-curated music selection.
As far as underground spaces go, there are some staple places like Church of the Buzzard or Oakland Secret that continue to persist. The rest come and go. Lots of warehouse stuff in SF and Oakland and even Richmond. Some pretty consistent outdoor renegade spots that I’ve performed at. With zines, I get bits here and there but there are more local newsletters and writers I follow that share music from the Bay and beyond. Whitecrate SF, Chris Zaldua, Emily Pothast are just a few writers I follow that have been at it. I’m searching for a music-focused local zine that really opens my eyes to stuff that I am not seeing by default. I guarantee you I’m missing something just due to my lack of time to investigate.
Siber: Are there any copies or archives of Tunnel Magazine?? What’s a story you worked on that you remember fondly and feel proud of as, a contribution to the local music community?
Only Now: I WISH! I have some printed out somewhere that I couldn’t find for this interview. There are some amazing stories I had a chance to write about: lots of the local raves in the 90s in the PsyTrance, ambient, and local Oakland scenes. I remember a lot of community engagement from that time that built up quite a mailing and promo list. I got going from being willing to review the material that was releasing, being out and about. I got some of the very first MEGO records vinyls sent to me, like Fennez and General Pita. All the Cold Meat Industries and early-era black metal... Dark ambient folks would load me up on things. Lots of local ambient, metal, noise.
Siber: Is there anything in the music industry that’s bubbled up that’s giving you optimism, amidst everything going on now?
Only Now: Sites like your own and the fact that people are getting super fed up with Spotify, Apple, shitty playlists, and they’ve found their own economies, tastes, and don’t want a bunch of suits dictating to them what it is. Suites do hire DJs and tastemakers who need work who actually know what’s up though too, so the lines become more blurred by the day when you’re talking 'curated content.' You gotta be pretty careful to weed out the veil. Once you understand the booking agencies, the press agents and the writers/outlets who favor their stories, a lot of the same barriers persist. Independence is always the way to go.
Siber: ‘Mastering’ time has been, for you, a form of godliness, transhumanism. Why do you think you have that ambition? How have you gotten better at wielding time, over time?
Only Now: Time is god. What force can actually undeniably rule our existence, without debate or question, interpretations or beliefs. Only Time. Without trying to sound like a sorcerer, I think it’s everybody’s goal to maximize their understanding of this force. And I’m not talking about making a productive day, like the nauseating alpha male influencer videos I get served on Instagram: “Wake up at 4am, workout for three hours, run my first business, fuck my wife, eat a steak, start my second day in crypto, work till midnight, wake up four hours later and repeat” type shit.
We’ve all experienced moments where time lapses. Psychic moments. Intuitions. Déjà vu that’s undeniable. Predictions and visions that mirrored reality that you could have never predicted, even on insignificant items. This is the most fascinating thing in the world to me. How does nonlinearity transcend and collide with human consciousness? There is increasing studies and shared experiences that challenge the concept of reality. I definitely have no answers, but I’m here for the journey, and I’ve had some life changing experiences.
Siber: With much life left to live. Thank you, Kush.
Only Now gets paid the moment you buy his music on Catalog.
