The story

It started with a sticky note.

On a video call early on, my partner and I kept noticing how many of our circles were lining up: our values, where we come from, our humour, our politics. She said, “It’s like all our circles are intersecting.”

I thought, that’s a song title. I wrote it on a sticky note, and a few days later, still replaying that feeling, I wrote the song.

I’m a visual composer. I usually start with an image, or the emotion it stirs in me, and translate that into music. This song was just like that.

I’ve played it many times since, and its meaning keeps growing. It began as a conversation between two people. Now it feels like it’s about everyone: our values and worldviews can be very different, but where they intersect, we are human, and we all feel.

The people

Recorded in the Telus Studio at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

With gratitude to the team at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity: Michael Falk, Ben Ewing, Theresa Leonard, Ivy Pan and Caroline Hollway.

The process

It was only meant to be documentation.

On August 14, 2025, during my Jazz & Sonic Arts residency, I was given a session in the Telus Studio at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity to record whatever I wanted.

I used it for two quick projects: songs I had composed for my ensemble, Dhaivat Jani PLUS, and a solo improvisation on my hybrid kit, which waits for you at the end of this song.

I called friends from the residency, a couple I knew from Toronto and two I met there. We had one quick rehearsal that morning, and I loved how each of them brought their own self to the music.

We did about two takes of each song, and then I had to move on to my solo ideas. It all happened so fast that I never had time to listen back.

A few months later, back in Toronto, I finally heard the recordings, and I was really happy with how they sounded.

I also knew it was a one-time feeling. Niran is from Sydney and Amelia is from Italy, and the five of us may never be in the same room again. So I had the songs mixed and mastered, to share them with you in the special way they were made.

The artwork

I heard the first mix and saw a collage.

The artwork is a big part of how I present my music. When the first mix of All Circles Intersecting came back, I knew it had to be a collage.

I thought of Mark Vargo right away. We had never worked together, but we’re both part of the artist collective ArtRemains. I handed it off to him, and this is what he came up with. I love it.

In Mark’s words

Much of my work begins in a feeling or experience. This piece of artwork was no different, having been inspired by Dhaivat’s music and our conversation. With his stories in mind I listened to All Circles Intersecting for a first time, sitting outside on a warm day. I spent time thinking about his vision for the music and came back to the song the next day, this time with materials in front of me to begin composing my collage.

While listening to the song, I selected paper from my collection of recycled books, photos, and bits of paper that people have shared with me over the years. I attempted different arrangements, scrapped a few ideas, until I found what felt like a representation of the ideas that Dhaivat sought in All Circles Intersecting.

I chose materials that represented the brightness, timelessness, and multi-layered dimension of human relationship. Circles were formed in the composition that challenged pattern and organization. These circles instead came to represent the imperfect but beautiful network of human life. This was finished with layers of washed-out acrylic paint, china marker, and pencil to create a visually dynamic and engaging artwork to pair with Dhaivat’s music.Mark Vargo, artist

Why no streaming

An invitation to slow down.

Music moves fast now. It autoplays, it skips, it becomes background. I wanted these songs to be an invitation instead: come to one place, pause, and give the music its full 5 minutes and 44 seconds.

When I was a kid, my dad took me to hear the greats of Indian classical music at a festival in Ahmedabad. There was no hurry. We were simply present. That memory sits deep in my core, and I keep returning to that feeling whenever I hear live music, watch a play or walk through a museum. This is my humble effort to bring you a little closer to it.

Streaming platforms are a wonderful way to discover music, but I think they’ve changed how we value it. This way may reach fewer people, but I’d rather share it with listeners who give it their full attention.

Thank you for being present.

Bonus