---
title: Shahzad Ismaily
description: Shahzad Ismaily, the multi-instrumentalist and producer, who played with Sarth Calhoun in Lou Reed Drones at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 2019 and the Winter Garden in 2023.
url: https://www.sarth.net/conspirators/shahzad-ismaily/
credit: Shahzad Ismaily and Sarth Calhoun played together in Lou Reed Drones at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, March 13, 2019, and at the Brookfield Place Winter Garden, March 2, 2023; Calhoun’s “I Just Believe in Christmas” was recorded at Ismaily’s Figure 8 Recording in 2015.
author: Sarth Calhoun
---
[Conspirators](/conspirators/) / Shahzad Ismaily

Conspirator

# Shahzad Ismaily

Multi-instrumentalist, producer and owner of Figure 8 Recording. We have played together in Lou Reed Drones.

[Shahzad Ismaily](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahzad_Ismaily) (born 1972) is an American multi-instrumentalist, producer and studio owner based in New York, the son of Pakistani immigrants, who plays bass, guitar, banjo, drums, percussion and analog synthesizers and holds a master’s degree in biochemistry. He has been the bassist of Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog since 2006, scored the film *Frozen River* (2008), and has played on close to 400 records, among them Laurie Anderson’s *Homeland* and Arooj Aftab’s *Vulture Prince*; *Love in Exile*, with Aftab and Vijay Iyer, was nominated for a Grammy. He owns [Figure 8 Recording](https://www.figure8recording.com/) in Brooklyn.

![Shahzad Ismaily playing bass on stage, 2009.](/images/conspirator-shahzad-ismaily.jpg)

Shahzad Ismaily with Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Innsbruck, October 2009. Photo: Svíčková, [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shahzad_Ismaily.JPG).

The credit: Shahzad Ismaily and Sarth Calhoun played together in Lou Reed Drones at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, March 13, 2019, and at the Brookfield Place Winter Garden, March 2, 2023; Calhoun’s “I Just Believe in Christmas” was recorded at Ismaily’s Figure 8 Recording in 2015.

## Lou Reed Drones

We were both participating musicians in Lou Reed Drones at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on March 13, 2019, for Lou’s 77th birthday, curated by [Stewart Hurwood](/conspirators/stewart-hurwood/), with [Laurie Anderson](/conspirators/laurie-anderson/), [John Zorn](/conspirators/john-zorn/) and Stan Harrison. On March 2, 2023, Lou’s 81st birthday, the guest performance at the Brookfield Place Winter Garden was the two of us with [Kevin Hearn](/conspirators/kevin-hearn/) and Laurie Anderson. “[I Just Believe in Christmas](/conspiracies/i-just-believe-in-christmas/)” was recorded at his studio, Figure 8, in August 2015, by [Phil Weinrobe](/conspirators/phil-weinrobe/).

The profile is from public sources, linked where they appear. What we made is the record on this site and the sources cited above.