Nordra: experimental composer blends industrial, noise, and dance

Key facts

• Nordra is the solo project of Monika Khot, born in Virginia in 1992, of Indian origin from Karnataka, based in London.
• Her music blends electronic beats, live guitar, pocket trumpet, and ethereal vocals into cinematic creations.
• She grew up with classical guitar and later explored improvisation, ambient, and psychedelic music in the trio Zen Mother in Seattle.
• In 2018, Wire Magazine named her score for Pylon II the best noise and industrial album of the year.
• In 2019, she released Ascent, inspired by Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain, commissioned by Cue Northwest Residency.
• In 2021, she was a resident at Pioneer Works in New York.
• In 2022, she played in Zola Jesus's live band during the Arkhon Tour.
• In 2023, she won Best Sound Design at the Tallgrass Film Festival for the dance film This Is Concrete with Malacame company.
• She has collaborated with Marissa Nadler, Cassandra Jenkins, and Anthony Braxton.
• She performed in Italy with Divide and Dissolve last winter.
• She is working on Selected Dance Works, a collection of pieces originally for dance scores, collaborating with choreographers in contemporary ballet, modern dance, and Indian classical forms (Bharatanatyam and Kathak).
• Her favorite visual artwork is Francis Bacon's Head of Woman (1960); her favorite song is Death By Fire by Roger Doyle.