30 Aug 2009, 0105 hrs IST, John Sarkar, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: A certain section of the society is going into a collective state of bodily transcendence. Hypnotic rhythms are being laced with

fluorescent cocktails, as the country’s young swish brigade walks deeper underground. It’s being considered the biggest mind altering influence since Woodstock, but the shamanism may soon be out in the open.

From being a strictly underground genre, Indian electronic music is slowly creeping out into the limelight. The crowds are swelling and the number of desi world class acts is broke no more. Groups such as Jalebee Cartel, Kohra, BLOT, Jayant, Sattyananda, Shaair+Func, Tatva Kundalini, Anil Chawla and a whole heap of smaller artists are working all over the world and pushing the scene forward.

This spark of recognition is being seen as real and has spawned quite a few record labels such as DadA Music, Qilla Records, Shivlink, Audioashram and Thirdeye, in a very short time. These are mainly labels launched by the artists themselves. But the gig is not over yet.

Despite satellite radio stations such as Worldspace and BBC beaming electronic music, the country now also has its first indigenous full-time online music station, Radio79, broadcasting tub-thumping electronic tracks 24/7. The station has tied up with over 250 international labels and has seen over two lakh hits in a month.

Nikhel Mahajan, the brain behind the channel and an electronica artist himself, feels that electronic music is the future. “Already, Bollywood is playing electronic. People like Suketu, Himesh Reshamiya, Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy, Vishal and Shekhar, all have electronic undertones in their music. Just because, the vocals are in Hindi, the music is being passed off as commercial mainstream,” he says.

It’s a similar situation in America where electronic dance music is often classified as only electronic and accounts for 1% of sales, according to the NPD group (a market research company), compared to 8% in Britain, according to the British music industry group BPI.

Indian sales figures are quite comparable. In India, electronic music now accounts for nearly 3-4% of sales (The Indian Music Industry has pegged the size of the total music industry at roughly Rs 700 cr), according to industry estimates. “It’s a far cry from the time where it hardly mattered,” says Mahajan, who is also planning to launch an alternate lifestyle magazine called Ggrunt by next month, which would be the first Indian magazine on electronic music et al.

As a genre, Indian electronica might seem to be relatively new, however, its roots go deep down to somewhere back in the mid nineties. Sprouting in the UK, with the Asian underground movement that comprised of Talvin Singh, State of Bengal, Barmarsh and Shri, TJ Rehmi, lament and a whole lot more, there were small parties and outdoor gatherings that created a great vibe and atmosphere to promote the music.

“Sounds Of The Asian Underground” was the first real release that put Indian electronic artists out on to the global platform. Much later, when Talvin Singh went on to win the Mercury Music Prize, alongside artists like Roni Size, it was clear that the Indian community had some sort of an uprising and things started to stir up in the clubs and amongst music lovers.

And soon after, artists such Joi and Nitin Sawhney made waves in the music industry. A few years down the line and another uprising of sorts took place with a massive Asian crew from the US and India, comprising of artists such as Karsh Kale, Medieval Punditz, Zakir Hussain, Bill Laswell, DJ Spooky, Atul Ohri, Vishail Vaid and the likes.

After this wave of musicians, artists were on the roll in India and overseas and Indian electronica has, since then, grown by mammoth proportions, with more and more musicians breaking barriers and making noise on the International EDM scene.

The sound of the new millennium is very diversified, with DJs and music producers churning out anything from psychedelic trance to progressive, house, minimal, tech, tech-house, dub, breaks, and a whole lot more.

Indian clubs have come a long way from playing just commercial Bollywood and are now open to this new wave of Indian and international electronica with some popular night spots such as FBar, 360 degree, Bluefrog, Zenzi, all catering to this genre of music and offering the electronic experience to punters.

At the same time, the country has its own electronic sound festival which is held in Goa. Called the Sunburn, the fest usually has a mix of House and techno music. But the scene is not yet comparable to the best festivals in the world such as Germany’s Berlin Love Parade, Portugal’s biennial Boom Festival (where the Portugese government has allotted land to the organisers), Australia’s Rainbow Serpent trance festival or even some of the smallest electronica fests in Brazil.

Also, electronic music is being increasingly used in fashion shows here as well. Says Rashmi Virmani, Delhi-based fashion choreographer: “Earlier we used to use a lot of lounge and fusion music. But suddenly, electronic music seems to be in vogue. The pace of shows has become faster and crisp, and designs have become more edgy. Hence, electronic music fits the bill just right.”

But there is a catch to this groovy feeling. Some artists such as, Madhav Shorey of “Kohra” who is also an ex-member of Jalebee Cartel, feels that here, electronic music still has a long way to go. “Electronic is not about fashion. It’s more of a movement and cult.

With this sudden explosion there is a lot of crap going on there and people are running to make a fast buck,” he says. “In India you get paid a lot more for a gig than you get paid abroad. But the motive is not right.” Artists usually earn from gigs at clubs and bars and a fairly well-known outfit charges between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000 per show.

Shorey also feels there is a lot of competition at present and artists refuse to play with each other, which is bad for the movement. But the race is understandable. International electronic band Infected Mushroom is rumoured to earn around 65,000 euros per gig!

(S0urce: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Media-/-Entertainment-/Entertainment/Electronic-music-now-rocking-with-new-tunes/articleshow/4949770.cms )

File picture of a DJ in a club

NEW DELHI - Disc jockeys are thriving in India’s lively electronic music scene as rising incomes draw more people to nightclubs and Western influence grows.

Remixing, cueing music and scratching vinyl records are new-found passions for young Indians who aspire to be DJs, a career that until recently was misunderstood and often ridiculed.

In a tiny nightclub in India’s capital city New Delhi, lights spin around DJ Nasha whose pulsating music has the hip-shaking crowd yearning for more original remixes.

Late after midnight as he fades the set, enthusiastic fans surround him for a look at his console and flood him with requests for lessons in the art of mixing.

“This acceptance and love has come after years of rejection,” said Nasha, 32, who like other Indian DJs uses only his stage name — which means “intoxication” in Hindi.

Dressed in shocking red trousers and sporting wiry hair, Nasha is among India’s most popular DJs and performs at international music festivals, playing a new genre of Indian songs blended with electronic music.

On weekdays he trains aspiring DJs for a fee in his studio in Goa, a party destination on India’s western coast.

Other sought-after Indian DJs include Aqeel, Suketu and Pearl who travel extensively abroad, perform at high-profile parties, and enjoy celebrity status for gigs.

More than a decade ago, when Nasha chose DJ-ing as a full-time job, his family did not understand why anyone would choose to go to clubs and play blaring western music before a tipsy crowd.

“Go get a real job,” was a frequent suggestion.

In the past five years, however, flashy nightclubs have mushroomed in Indian cities to cater for the young and affluent who choose to unwind in pubs, splurge on drinks and enjoy music.

A recent report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry stated that the music business is booming, with rising incomes leading more and more Indians to spend on leisure and entertainment.

Clubs, discotheques and lounge bars are crowded with chic Indians who understand and appreciate a DJ’s skill and are willing to pay high entry charges to listen to their music.

The interest in DJ-ing is also visible at schools where hundreds of young Indians enroll every year to learn the art of mixing.

“It is now considered cool to be a DJ in India,” said Nucleya who started mixing music in a musty basement using audio tapes as he could not afford to buy compact discs or a vinyl turntable.

Nucleya says his years of struggle are history and he is now paid well. His line of work is even respected by his family.

Performances by popular DJs are well-publicised and covered extensively by the media. Clubs often invite foreign DJs to play alongside the Indian stars.

“A good DJ is like a magnet. He has the power to attract people to the club,” says Abhishek Nanda of Manre, a swanky club in New Delhi.

But not every DJ is lucky enough to make it to a nightclub.

Most home-grown disc jockeys have no formal training in music or in remixing. They play the easily accessible non-stop CDs of Bollywood music and popular sets released by international DJs.

“Be it a wedding, birthday or even a baby shower, DJs are hired to keep the party going,” says Rohan Vijay who runs “MusicMix,” a small DJ training school in Mumbai.

“People in India love dancing. They could go to a posh club or even host a small party in a matchbox-size apartment, a DJ is now a must-have for any party,” Vijay said.

A student at MusicMix, DJ Fire is a 19-year-old school drop-out who thinks the job could be a ticket to fame and fortune.

Fire plays Bollywood music at religious festivals organised in the congested slums of Mumbai. He cannot understand the lyrics of the English songs but says he plays them as people enjoy fast music.

“I am a DJ for the slums and the poor. They have a right to dance too,” said Fire.

A handful of DJs trained in classical Indian music use it as a base to produce new remixes and launch music albums.

Mayur, who performs under the name Bandish Projekt, plays the tabla, a type of Indian drum, along with trance, techno and hip hop genres of music.

His unique blend has won him critical praise and he has been invited to several music festivals in Europe.

“Soon there will an Indian DJ on every corner of the street but only people with understanding for music will survive and many might just fade away like any music track,” he said. – AFP/ar

(Source: 08/2009 ( 18 August 2009 1259 hrs ) channelnewsasia.com – Life Style News)

The Indian Electronica Festival

The Indian Electronica Festival was founded in 2006 as an international endeavor to showcase cutting-edge music fusing tradition and modernism incorporating the aesthetics of South Asia.

In the past three years, 6 installments of our Festival have been hosted between Toronto, London (UK), New York City and Bombay; attracting hundreds of audience members and realizing a successfully international live platform for showcasing the music we produce and promote.

We’re back this year with dates in Toronto and New York.