Revolving around two archetypes of American identity—cowboys and immigrants, Wild, Wild East pays homage to the immigrants and indigenous people that built this country, while offering a new perspective of a cowboy—a cowgirl! An immigrant! This musical project finds both inspiration and nemesis in the deep influence these narratives have on our history, and their continued impact on our socio-political landscape today. Wild, Wild East sources musical inspiration from an array of influences, from the scores of Bollywood’s Curry Westerns to Ennio Morricone’s Spaghetti Westerns, from Punjabi folk to jazz improvisation, and from South Asian languages to English prose.

Wild, Wild East looks to Jain’s family history of migration for inspiration by mimicking spaces, characterizing changes, which can be felt within different communities, with the heartbreak faced by familial diaspora. Shifting tempos, key switches, and disintegrating rhythms will contribute to these aims in various forms. Arrangements will embody the melodies found in contrasting references and sounds. Further audiovisual influences include Rajasthani desert music, the history of the dhol and Indian brass bands, the lyrical structure of Sufi songs, Bollywood’s curry westerns, and 1960s revisionist Westerns.