039: Reji & blvperd - Consciously creating (and the benefits of getting serious)
Reji
For more than 20 years, Reji has played many key roles in the development of Mumbai's non-commercial & electronic music tapestry. Off the decks, he has been an accomplished music educator, a renowned industry expert & is one of the most exciting party curators in India. On the decks, he is notorious for spinning his signature brand of eclectic party music - boundless by genres, tempos & eras - which he simply calls GDM i.e. Good Dance Music. Since 1998, Reji's never-ending pursuit for timeless presentation, inimitable style, deep music knowledge and technical flair has entertained & inspired generations of music aficionados in his city.
blvperd
Travelling far and wide in his musical pursuits, Blvperd has been pushing avant-garde electronic music through his productions on reputed labels like UM Records (as KAPTAN), Typ3 Records and Whiteline Music. His Latest single “Mwanajuma” charted at #12 on Beatport Melodic Techno genre and he is super excited about his releases in 2020. He runs the online podcast series “DeeperCast” aimed at promoting quality music and also as an artist focussed showcase. Major performances include WMC Miami Music Week, Burning Man, Mixtaped! (Mumbai), Amsterdam Dance Event and many others tucked under his belt and is as an integral part Deeper Secrets and Holy Moly Festival.
LINKS
John McLaughlin & Shakti “Joy” (Live in Montreaux 1976)
Various Artists —Delusions of Grandeur (Hardkiss, 1995)
TRANSCRIPT
039_ Reji & blvperd - Consciously Creating (and the Benefits of Getting Serious)
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[00:00:00] Hi and welcome. The Artful Podcast is an interview show where you'll get to know the people behind the creative brands we love. These open, casual, and candid conversations will shed a light on what it's really like to reach your true potential with joy, fulfillment, and freedom. Presented by Artful and hosted by Gabe Ratliff, an award-winning artist, entrepreneur, and coach. Are you ready to create your artful life? If so, then tune in, turn up, and listen hard.
[00:01:05] Reggie Amol, hi. Thank you so much for being here. I'm so excited to have you on the show.
[00:01:10] Thank you Gabriel.
[00:01:11] Thanks.
[00:01:12] So we just played holy moly, here in Goa together, and before you guys head back home, I got the opportunity to sit with you here in Leoni Resort in Goa, and have a little interview before you pop back home.
[00:01:24] Sure. Yeah. I wanted to start off with your story. Where's the best place to begin your story? Reggie,
[00:01:30] we'll start with you. I guess when I was 15 years old, I just like the mu when the music bug bit me, it just bit a. bite out of my ass. You could say. So a big chunk out of me. So . So basically I just want, I was very excited with the whole concept of DJing.
[00:01:44] I didn't really know what DJing was, and luckily there was a DJ school in 98 in Bombay where I was lucky enough to learn the art of DJing using records and vinyl. and that's where it all begins. What about you Mo?
[00:02:00] I mean, yeah, I'll try and answer your question. What is the best place to begin this story?
[00:02:04] I think the best place is Leoni Resorts in Gora right now because today we are here because of this musical journey that I've been on. Of course it started many years back. Right? Sure. And today, this is where it is. And we can start right here over what we are doing here today, . And yeah. So this festival has come about with the idea of me trying to play music and make music, inspire my brother to do the same, and eventually decided to do this festival.
[00:02:33] And yeah, so that's the brief of the whole thing. And now we have this festival going on. We wanna make more of it in general. That's all nice. Yeah.
[00:02:42] What kind of music did you listen to when you were growing up? What got you into this?
[00:02:45] Everything which was on mtv. Everything like, you know, that was like a big culture shock to most of us.
[00:02:51] and yeah, like the sounds were fresh. I mean to say you had like some European music, like, you know, all the Euro pop trucks, like, you know, in Saturdays and the other days you had a lot of American music going on, on mtv. Yeah. Yeah. And then the radio, there was a radio explosion in Bombay, at least in 98 when FM frequency bands like, you know, were properly utilized.
[00:03:15] So there was a big, there were DJs playing on like, you know, on radio shows like, you know, regularly and so on. So for someone who couldn't enter club, there was a right place to at least get exposed to what's going on. Like, you know, the new tracks once in a week, at least on the. Yeah.
[00:03:34] What about you Mo? I started playing first, like, a guitar and a keyboard very early before I started DJing or producing.
[00:03:43] So, and plus I was growing up in Vai where there was a very heavy influence of all the Indian classical sounds, and they have total households based on their musical lineage. Hmm. And I started understanding and making a bit sense of the whole system of Indian music scene. There, there were rocks that were made for the morning and for the night trying to make sense out of all this at the same time trying to, you know, learn how to play the guitar and the keyboards and stuff like that.
[00:04:15] And I think it was just the right moment when computers made the admin and the internet. And the internet. Oh, I hadn't, I didn't have an internet for a really long time. Okay. Before I eventually got the computer. and I realized that I could record my guitar playing on, on the com and then I started exploring the dolls and, you know, the other ways and means of doing that, and then opened electronic drum machines all of a sudden.
[00:04:39] And yeah, I was lucky enough to be introduced to some very great music by German traveler in Vai, who sent me like a CD pack full of all sorts of music. And it kind of opened up all, you know, thoughts and mind processes of how I was thinking about music and trying to decipher about how Indian music is working and stuff like that.
[00:05:02] And yeah, that's where I started making music on the computers and yeah, so on and so forth. , I
[00:05:09] was curious about, for each of you, what did you grow up in Creative households? Was that. an element that was also an influence
[00:05:16] on you? Not really actually in my, like, family lineage, if you go to CV come from a very orthodox background.
[00:05:24] So it's just that my sister and I, we were lucky to be born and brought up in Bombay. Like, you know, while my entire lineage has been in Kerala for like, you know, first centuries. So for me, like I had to fight through a lot because with Indian kids especially, there's a, there are a lot of like academic pressures.
[00:05:43] I was into maths, I was into like sciences and stuff like that. I still am, still am a nerd, you could say. So, but yeah, but then they just didn't understand the whole music aspect of it. So it really took more than 10 years for them to understand that I could really carve an alternate career and like, you know, a name, a place for myself like, you know, By staying out outside of the conventions you
[00:06:08] could say.
[00:06:08] So like, yeah, I was just hearing that from gin last night, that the academic pressures are insane. , he said it was like eight in the morning to eight at night, and then you have two hours of study time and it's just constant. You have one month off, so, is that correct?
[00:06:24] Yeah, pretty rigorous. Pretty rigorous.
[00:06:26] But I dropped out of college right away. Like, you know, in the first year I just, I just wasn't feeling it. I wanted to pursue electronics. Yep. But I didn't get the admission in the right college and I didn't like the way how they were teaching the concepts to me. So I just dived into DJing, like, fuck this.
[00:06:42] Like, you know, I just, yeah. . Yeah. And it paid off, I mean, to say like, you know, I really don't feel that there was any lack of education anyway, because whatever skills had to be picked up or picked up, like, you know, anyway with awareness, of course, like, you know, you could definitely develop on more skills and so on.
[00:06:59] The process is still going on, so,
[00:07:01] yeah.
[00:07:02] What about for you, Amal?
[00:07:03] Like for me it was slightly different. Of course there was a lot of pressure of the ade and stuff like that. I was somewhere there. I was happily sailing, you know, through that journey. And whole musical exploration was totally on my own.
[00:07:17] I was just listening to all these sounds and I wasn't making much music. I was just trying to play things and, you know, get some little tunes out of my keyboard or my guitar and stuff like that. Very explorative like that. Yeah. I couldn't find a proper guitar teacher at that time in Varanasi, and I tried to.
[00:07:34] Get to many teachers, but by that time I just played with people who were traveling there and stuff. Kind of developed a certain level of skill there that teachers said, you don't need to be taught anymore. , you are fine. Whatever mistakes you're doing, you have no idea what you're doing, but it's okay , you know, so it's okay to do mistakes.
[00:07:51] Yeah. Yeah. It was cool. I mean, and I was liking that I
[00:07:55] was liking my little space of
[00:07:56] mistakes and you know, this thing and I just kept holding onto that. I believe that that is my sound and is continued with that. That's all. Yeah, yeah. And now expressing that while DJing too, of course, while producing is much more personal, if you could say that, you know,
[00:08:13] you'd mentioned about the, before the internet finding music, and I also was into music young when that didn't exist.
[00:08:23] I'm curious here, how did you find, besides, you know, mtv, how were you finding the new, the new cuts. And the new artists,
[00:08:31] well, through the normal, like, you know, pop compilations, you would always find some underground music sneaking in. And these tracks really like, you know, they really stood out. So then later on, like, you know, it was like a con conscious search for this other side of.
[00:08:47] Cheese or pop or anything like that, like, you know, and so on . So yeah. But back then in Bombay, things were very different. The clubs were very invested in I mean to say the owners of the clubs were very invested in the venues, which they had. So basically venues had their own music collections. So the owners used to travel abroad and buy the latest records and like the light equipment, or they were like, you know, which was needed because clubbing is a new concept in India, like, you know, so it had to follow with the standards of what was happening in like, you know, all around the world and so on.
[00:09:19] Like, so yeah, clubs used to have their own music collections. The resident DJs used to play music the whole night from that collection itself. And of course the collection would get updated. Not that frequently, I mean to say even if we hear a song now, maybe we'll catch hold of it like two or three years later or something like that.
[00:09:37] Yeah. Yeah. And that's definitely different now . Yeah. Now the scenario is different, like when you have a res resident DJ in a club, they expect the DJ to have all the music, basically. Like, so that kind of a touch is missing in the Bombay clubs right now. Otherwise, every venue you are known for the music collection that they had.
[00:09:57] Like, you know, like any DJ could just drop in and just start picking up CDs or anything like that and start spinning.
[00:10:04] Yeah. What was that initial process of starting to DJ when you actually got into the process of, I know for you, which we'll get to, there's the turntable side, right? The tech technical side, but then just in general, that beginning of starting to put music together, how did that begin for you?
[00:10:23] For me I think I'd, I'd started to. Of course, with the advent of mtv, I had figured out that there are these nice beach parties where the DJ spins and all the girls dance, you know? Yeah. I mean, just with that idea we tried to throw a party in Vai, and by that time I had already, the computers were there, I had my tapes, I had some series, a little collection, very hard to, you know, gather their environ.
[00:10:47] So I had to like literally steal off my friends if somebody, a good CD was there or something, and I threw a party. And yeah, 1998 was the first one. And it was a very hybrid setup. It had CDs tapes and a computer book plugged in, playing MP3s of that time. And yeah, that's pretty much the start of it.
[00:11:06] And then, yeah, then I'm mixed on various formats and, you know, things and like that. It was always about expressing and letting people have fun, you know? That's all. So, yeah, that's the whole idea of it. You definitely do both of you . Yeah. Yeah. This has been a great trip. Yeah,
[00:11:24] for me, I have a pretty unusual trajectory.
[00:11:28] While I started with DJing, I just, I was lucky to learn how to mix beats on vinyl, on records, on techniques. And that made me future proof for sure. And then later on I got introduced to DMC because the DMC vitals used to happen in India. It just happened for two, three years officially in India.
[00:11:46] That's around 98, 99, 2000 and yeah. And back then again, this is again pre-internet times, so some DJs used to come back from UK with the dmc VHS tapes. Yes.
[00:11:58] Yeah. , we used to sell those story. Yeah.
[00:12:01] So I was just lucky enough to be in the room with my master and like he was training someone to participate in the DMCs that year.
[00:12:09] Like, you know, so I was just in the room with them watching these tapes and I was like, holy fuck. Like, you know, what the fuck
[00:12:14] is
[00:12:15] this? Like, right. Yeah. Mind blowing . I remember when I first saw the, cause I, I would watch those, you know, and we'd watch Cuber and Mixmaster Mike. Yeah. And just be like, are you serious?
[00:12:29] This, this is happening? Like that. You can do that. Yeah. In the early days for me, just starting to understand the difference between like beat juggling and scratching and those different elements of turntable versus the mix. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And electronic music. Yeah. So I wanted to also ask you guys when and where did you guys meet?
[00:12:49] Oh we met through a common friend of ours. His, he's a dj. He's a legendary DJ in Bombay now. He's based out of Dubai. Mr. Rohan. Noons. . And yeah, a got introduced to Amul through Rohan and Amul then started coming to my party, party every Wednesday. Nice. And one of these days we got and mixed it.
[00:13:10] Yeah. Mixed it. And both of us are bald, so it doesn't take much .
[00:13:15] Turn it off.
[00:13:16] By the way, guys, we're all bald. So th this entire gig of holy moly, we were all bald. It was amazing. A attack of the skinheads. Yes. You know, one of the other things I wanted to ask you guys about in those early years, so what I remember when I was coming up similarly, right, dmc, it really set a standard.
[00:13:36] Yeah. And back in the day when you were learning on vinyl, you really had to prove yourself. You really had to, you know, it wasn't, you couldn't just roll over to your buddy's house and be like, Hey, teach me how to dj. You didn't have YouTube. Yeah. You didn't have these guys that are like, here, let me show you how to do this so you can, you know, pop out, grab a laptop, start dropping beats.
[00:13:54] So I'm curious, was that similar here in India? As far as I remember some of the guys that were mentors for me when I got going, you know, you really had to show the, you were putting in the work. Yes. Yeah. Before they would even Right. Let you hang out. Yeah. Much less. You didn't really get tips. You would just watch Yes.
[00:14:11] Right. And DJ together. Yeah. And kind of see how they mixed and play around with how they mixed. And did that work for you? Was that
[00:14:17] similar here? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very much. Now actually, that's not the. Those dynamics have shifted. Now, maybe those ethics are, or those values are not considered now, like, you know, whatever.
[00:14:28] But at least when I was coming up, as I said earlier, I didn't, I wasn't playing in clubs for at least 10 years in the first 10 years of my career, but since I was working with the school and then I was really good at, I was like assisting my master, like, you know, and like doing some kind of apprenticeship with him.
[00:14:48] So then suddenly I just got pushed into this world of DJ schools. So I was like, I was just teaching for the first 10 years and I was trying to get my way through clubs and I was finding it as a tough job. I didn't have any residencies back then, but the thing. I knew what the, the status quo was like, you know, like there were a few DJs, there were fewer clubs in Bombay, few DJs, few music.
[00:15:13] Again, like, you know, as I had mentioned so earlier, like, you know, if you had to join a DJ crew or anything like that, you would've to like just hang around and like, you know, do all the odd jobs go and like, you know, fe some cigarettes or whatever like that. Like, no, that's it. And you want to get. A chance to touch the decks or anything like that.
[00:15:29] Maybe you'll clean all the, wipe the records clean and like, you know, keep them, or maybe you'll play some tunes and like, you know, just to start off things but not like, not the main tracks and save it for the main dj, like, you know, and so on. Yeah. I mean to say like, and then you have to win the confidence of your master, like, you know.
[00:15:48] Yeah. And then he will like, you know, it was like exposure over sometimes like, you know, over a long, across many years you could say. So like, you know, but yeah, there were like some legendary senior DJs in Bombay and like the first wave of DJs like, you know, were their Cruz, like, you know, all the boys who were working with them.
[00:16:10] They took all the other clubs, which came up in the city and the residencies and all that, you know, so a standard was set. As far as being a resident DJ in Bombay is concern.
[00:16:19] The thing I really appreciated about it was it kind of had that old school sort of master apprentice Yes. Vibe to it. Yeah. Which I think is, you know, it's interesting how much, especially like in hip hop, right?
[00:16:29] You've got like the, the Wutang Yeah. And the 36 chambers and Chalin and all these things, you know, and they've got all these references to martial arts. Right. And it's similar how that's also a part of, you know, MCing and DJing and all these things. Like you, you had to come up. Yeah. Same thing with graffiti and street art, you know, and I've had some artists on the show, and it was the same way you had to earn it.
[00:16:52] You couldn't just roll up and be like, this entitled, Hey, I've got money, I've got techniques, I have a computer. Yeah, yeah. I've got a laptop in, in Serrato, I'm good. So, you know, it was this, it's a proper process, right? Of developing a craft. Did you notice the same
[00:17:10] thing all for me, actually, like I said, the whole idea of having a DJ.
[00:17:15] Playing for a party or throwing a set down was basically based around, if people are dancing, that means you're doing the job. Yeah, of course. I had this very nice music collection, you know, thanks to my friend who was working for a radio station in Berlin. Mm-hmm. But to be able to present this music to people who have never heard this music, it was not an easy job.
[00:17:38] Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And I, I thought I did that very well. I was playing in drum and bass to people who had not even heard Odell, California ,
[00:17:46] you know?
[00:17:46] So, and that's what brought my confidence up of being behind the consoles of being able to, you know, let everybody, the best compliments are when people say, listen, I hate electronic music, but today you changed me.
[00:17:58] I'm like, oh, ooh, that's nice. Yeah. You know, so. Right. I just believed in that, you know? power, you know, . Yeah. That impact
[00:18:07] of
[00:18:08] music. Yes. And it's possible, you know? Mm-hmm. for you to un explore new music without ever heard something like that before presented like that
[00:18:16] Hmmhmm. Yeah. And then to open someone's mind.
[00:18:19] Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Along with yours.
[00:18:22] Along with Yes. Along with, yes. I mean, yeah. I remember I was telling you last night, I remember when I heard delusions of grandeur rabbit in the moon out-of-body experience, and I'm a drummer and hearing break beats. Yeah. And that level of break beat, I was just like, wait a second, what is happening When music, I worked at several record stores over the years, and I remember people would come in and they would just be like, what is it with this electronic stuff?
[00:18:46] It's like a fad, you know? And they kept talking about it as a fad, and I'm like, it's real. No guys. Listen, I, I'm into this shit. Like, no, it's not gonna wait and look at it now. It's so infiltrated. Hip hop, pop, everything. I mean, it's like in scores.
[00:19:02] Everything is electronic
[00:19:03] music now. Yeah. And for me, I wasn't just fortunate to find a teacher.
[00:19:07] I couldn't find a guitar teacher. Forget somebody who could teach music production or sound design or anything like that. Mm-hmm. . Sure. So internet was truly their teacher. It was a very, you know, long learning curve, but still is. Yeah. I would totally credit the, you know, the technological advances that we made.
[00:19:26] Yeah. in the past years to this, you know, freedom. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:19:30] Mm-hmm. . So we were just talking about the impact of music. I'm curious about the impact of artists on you. Like who have been your influences that have gotten you here?
[00:19:41] For me, primarily it was sas. Mm. And I used to play a lot of progressive house.
[00:19:47] Mm-hmm. . It's just that since 2009 my taste has got like, no really eclectic, like that's again, a reflection of the parties that I do like, you know, which is mixed tape. But I was very like, no, locked down to the progressive house sounds. So Sasha really like, blew my mind open. Like, I mean, you say he's a wizard.
[00:20:05] He's a wizard, yeah. . And and on the flip side, over the years, I've really like to appreciate Mr. Scruff. Oh, . He's my all-time favorite wholesome, complete artist. Artist. Yeah. Not even a dj. Produce producer. Way beyond. Yeah. Yeah. I really respect what he. From his car catering to the parties that he throws and the commitment in like hauling all the gear and setting up and playing five, six assets every time like you know, and somewhere in the corner maybe sell his tea too.
[00:20:40] He has a brand of tea. No way. Yeah. It's called Make Us a Brew
[00:20:45] Toy. Didn't
[00:20:46] know that. He's so underrated and music is brilliant. I always actually end up playing, there's always a Mr. Scruff rack in my site.
[00:20:55] Nice. Yes. That's awesome man, because he Yeah, he is, he is underrated. He's definitely one of those people you don't hear about as often.
[00:21:02] Like And Mr. Ozo.
[00:21:03] Yeah. Mr. Azo is a video, is a
[00:21:06] filmer, right. Film.
[00:21:07] Yeah. Make rubber. Yeah. Yeah. What about
[00:21:10] you? Well, so like I said, I was in Vai and listening to all the music that was around me. My mom was listening to some music. Mm-hmm. , all the old Hindi music. Very heavy influence of Indian classical music around me.
[00:21:25] So I think one of the most impressive albums that I heard was by John MacLaughlin and Zakk, which was guitar being played with a tabla in the most powerful fashion. Wow. You know? Hmm. And then the idea of combining Fusion. Fusion, yeah. Kind of. I'm like, that's like true jazz played in, you know, yeah.
[00:21:50] Indian classical style. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. So, yeah, then I started exploring more jazz, you know, and more Indian classical also trying to understand. It's very difficult. It's very complex, but and plus, unless you understand, you'll probably just sleep off to it or something like that. Sure. I had a friend who was, Who was a British girl from London Sterling trooper.
[00:22:13] It's a form of Indian classical singing, which is basic. It's little Lan Lan, yeah. Lan, you know. Yeah, yeah. She had invited me over to her gigs. Then I saw player, and I was listening to Joyce Satani and mm-hmm. , you know, all these people playing brilliant guitar. And I saw Cheiwe on, on stage with his satar.
[00:22:34] He would just beat everybody just through his playing skills. Yeah. Blew me away. Totally shawe. And then I decided there's literally no boundaries to this. You can do anything with this. You know, the kind of emotion you can generate is just unimaginable, you know, just with this seven notes, same guy, you know, and, you know, instrument is just, expression is different.
[00:22:59] Yeah. That's all you know. So, yeah. And then started exploring more of that. That's all. Collecting music. Internet of course, was there by then, rather slow. And then as I just grew up with, as the technology kind of, you know, started growing, there were more softwares, there were more synthesizers now. And you know, there was more piracy.
[00:23:19] More piracy. I went to a lot of that too. A lot. I mean, firstly, I think all of that, that music that I got was pirated. Yeah. But it was a mind, like, mind-changing event.
[00:23:28] There was no other way. There was no
[00:23:30] other way . I mean, I would wait for months to finally see something that has come to the store that I can pick up.
[00:23:37] I didn't really, didn't have a choice. Sure. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. I would have to go as like, what's there. Okay. And thankfully, but I did manage to score some amazing music in. only the best ones used to make it to wireless. The top sellers used to make it to wireless. Wow. You know, so whatever was coming there was already filtered off the riff raff like that, you know,
[00:23:58] So Top Knotch music was coming but rather slow. I was in no rush. Yeah. I soaked it all in . .
[00:24:05] It shows for both of you. Yeah. Reggie, for you specifically, you've won several championships. I mean, you mentioned DMC 2000 dmc Pune, yeah. 2000, yeah. Times War of the DJs. DJs Bombay, 2007. Yeah. And then King Fisher altered dj.
[00:24:20] Yeah, yeah, yeah. What, talk about that experience, cuz I mean, that's, you know, not everybody knows about it. Like, we know about it. I mean, I, I read it when I learned that you were getting on the ticket or the bill, and I was just like, what? You know? And that to me, I, I, that immediately says he's earned it.
[00:24:37] This is earned respect in my book. I, I know him personally, but we both know Vara now Chris, Chris Carnes, and. , you know, I got to see him come through that process. Talk about that experience of working to get to that place and then, and then winning these championships, what that was like.
[00:24:54] in India.
[00:24:55] Honestly, I could say this now, since DMC is not happening officially in India at the moment, it was a big scam because I mean to say you would win the nationals and yeah, you do get to go abroad and like represent India in the world finals. But when you come back home, you are tied up with a big local Bollywood music label and you're bound with a stupid ass contract for less money.
[00:25:21] And you have to churn out like a remix album of Bollywood music to really make it back then. So there was the first wave of, it's surprising, the first wave of DMC champions of India. They are, they are now the biggest Bollywood. In the country, like, you know, because that gave them the exposure, the money to have the solid product and they became household names because these videos like, you know, these Bollywood videos are like well produced and stuff like that.
[00:25:49] So yeah, that was a different trajectory. I was just doing it for the fun of it, like, you know, I mean, you say, I was not interested in the volume. . .
[00:25:59] I was gonna ask about that. I was like, I have to
[00:26:01] ask them. No. But then again, I'll be very honest to also admit that for a long time, for Indian DJs, it was like, if you have to really make it big, you have to have a remix album.
[00:26:11] That was a standard like, you know, because we saw the first breed of like, you know, all these DMC champions making it. Yeah. And they're still like, you know, 20 years later they're still big. Like, you know, the name still holds value, like, you know. Wow. So, even in the Bollywood industry, like, you know, which is a big scene of its own if you go to sea, but I was doing it for my own kicks.
[00:26:31] And over the years, if you see like DMC was vinyl, then there was Times War of the DJs, which was like CDs and vinyl. That was the format. And then towards the end king Fisher, king Fisher was only CDs. So that was also a change in the technology. So I was also interested in like, you know, putting some tricks like, you know, some cart and stuff.
[00:26:56] Even if it's like any kind of music, like, you know, techno or whatever like that, like. So that was, it's very competitive. Like it's a five hours slot, the same DMC kind of like, you know, format and yeah, they were all different contests. I mean, to say the last one was better, the Kingfish one, because that I went on a national level.
[00:27:17] So I was tied up with Kingfisher as the official dj and I got a chance to play all over the country for a year, basically like, you know, whatever music which I wanted to play and so on.
[00:27:26] Nice. Yeah. So now I want to switch modes a little bit because you're also an educator and you give back Yeah. As music lover to people who wanna learn.
[00:27:35] Can you talk about that? Sure.
[00:27:36] Yeah. As I mentioned earlier, I was not DJing as per se for the first 10 years of my career. So I was pushed into this school scenario, basically like, you know, because I was assisting my teacher. Then later on, some other guys opened up their schools and they knew like, I was assisting, I was like teaching at my teacher's school.
[00:27:57] So they gave me an offer. I tried to like set up like, you know, schools for them. This has happened, I mean to say through the past for at least 10 years. I think I've trained around 600 boys and girls all over the world on different formats. Again, like you know, whether it's turntables or like CDs or anything like that.
[00:28:17] And the thing was you need to understand that vinyl was not really big in India. I mean to say even right now it's very tough to source. So through the nineties when the CD technology came in the DJing world, it really revolution revolutionized the entire scenario. And the pioneer decks were not that popular.
[00:28:38] Oh yeah. The Denis were really. Popular. So I had to, I also saw that there was a need to really update the format on which the DJs are really playing on. I mean to say you learn on vinyl, but when you go to a club, you still have CDs over there. Like, you know, so I had to like design like a syllabus on CDs, like, and how to burn and cd, what kind of strategies you could have, how many tracks can you have on a cd, how you build up your entire file, like, and how you pace it, like, you know, grow with your own collection, like, you know, ripping and so on, like, you know.
[00:29:12] So I had to devise something like that in the past. Wow. My last job as a proper educator, , was at the True School of Music. It's in Bombay. I was the HOA of the DJing department out there. So I had written like three to four different courses and syllabus, CDs, turntables, mixing on vinyls and turntable performing live on Ableton Live.
[00:29:35] Just the DJing or else the looping and all that. Like, no. Aspect of it. Mm-hmm. and on the Native instruments, machiner. So I had written all these course materials and right now I do have some students, I train people in private and at the same time as I run mixtape, which is my night, which is again like an open format night, if you go to see, I encourage a lot of people to come and play.
[00:29:58] Like he knows that if you are a regular at mixtape, you have a better chance to play at mixtape than anyone else. Just trying to like, no, come and, and I was
[00:30:07] that
[00:30:07] guy. . Yeah, yeah. . Yeah. I was that guy. Like, okay,
[00:30:10] I know this guy.
[00:30:11] Firstly, it is a, it is a great party. It is the only party that, you know, I have been attending for the past couple of years.
[00:30:18] I mean, there are many parties, but something that is a little different, a little more creative expression is there, and you know, Some genres that I don't even even dig so much. But at the same time, it's fun to go and, and definitely great party. I was just hanging out there and then Reggie's like, Hey, you want to
[00:30:36] play?
[00:30:36] I was like, why not ? Yeah. So when I ask, like, I usually push a lot of music join list to go and play for three hours. It's like you, no. Put them in a spot like, you know, you're just talking about music. It's very easy to sit back and like, you know, critique , like, no, come on, now you have three hours. Like, you know, make people move.
[00:30:53] Like, you know, I like pushing people behind the console, basically. Oh, that's great.
[00:30:59] And that's so great. Put your money where your mouth is, bro.
[00:31:05] So in that, in that context also, I try to help them out. Like, you know, you have to play four, three hours, make a playlist of four, have some tracks as the last. Two, three tracks, like, you know, whatever, plan it out. Work your way backwards and like give them, give them the experience of how to play on a cd.
[00:31:23] Like, you know, give them the whole real deal. Like, you know, at least like, okay, get your music on a pen drive if you're up for it. Come early. I will teach you, come through the week. I like, you know, at the club. I'll give you some hits, tips, like that. Yeah. The music together. And we love a party. Oh, I love
[00:31:38] it.
[00:31:38] Because that's essentially, actually let's step back a little bit cuz someone was explaining this concept of mixtape to me. Yeah. And one of the things they mentioned that I'd love you to elaborate on is they only get to play once. Yes. That is awesome. But I heard you also have a special Yeah. Rewind edition.
[00:31:58] Rewind that I heard you played them all. Yeah. So been back for two. Two or twice. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. So I was wondering if you could just kind of elaborate on like the vi the vision of mixtape and what you're trying to do with it, you know, outside of what you just said about the journalists. Sure.
[00:32:14] So, mixtape is again, a reflection of.
[00:32:17] Well, it's basically a reflection of my style of DJing. Say it's primarily eclectic, no rules, kind of, confined. And the thing is, over the years what I've realized is like, I used to hang around like after parties and I used to listen to some really cool music out there, like, you know, and it's just interesting, like, you know, like you may see someone at the club and then you go to his house and then you listen to some music and you could never fathom like, no, wow, this guy is on a good level.
[00:32:44] Like, you know, as far as his personal level of like personal taste in music is concerned, right? So I would like to bring his taste of music. Like, no, I like to push people like that. Like, you know, come if you have good music, if you feel like, you know, it'll sound good. Big sound system. Yeah, sure. We can have a party for sure.
[00:33:01] Yeah. And play for three hours. So a friend of mine, his name is Digi he's the owner of the club that then this is where we have been doing this party every Wednesday since 2013. And he asked me back then, like, you know, Hey, would you like to have a weekly residency at the den? And I found it very boring because I thought even after two, three months maybe I will bore myself out of it, like, you know.
[00:33:28] Sure. So I said like, okay, let's try something else. Like, you know, let's start inviting people and just to take a piss on things. What we did is we started numbering the events. So it was mixed tape zero one. And then we said, okay, let's see. Let's not repeat any artists. Let's see how many of them are out there.
[00:33:44] Like, no, let them all come out from the word works, like that. And now we are 202 strong. Wow. . And do you record these? Yeah, we have over the years we have just started them. Now we are getting more like, you know, organized about it at the moment. Sure. I mean to say we also realized that the club also went through a change.
[00:34:03] It was a much smaller club. Now it's got a little bit bigger since 2016. And we wanted to share the experience with people who have played with us in the past again, like, you know, so once a month we have a rewind edition where we call like, you know, seven years of people who have worked with us in the past.
[00:34:20] Like, you know, so just call someone and if they're up for it, sure, why not? Wow.
[00:34:24] It's, it's interesting cuz when I was hearing about this I was like, oh my god, I love this. Cuz it reminds me of the Back to Mind series. Yeah. That used to be out right? Where you'd have faithless and Tricky
[00:34:34] and Groove, mother Nightmares on wax.
[00:34:37] What's that? Nightmares on. Nightmares on. Oh God, that was so good. I have Nick Warren, Dave Seaman, and Talvin sings on Vinyl. Nice. And I just love those because you got to hear. What do they listen to? It's the same thing you're doing, right? It's like listening. What do they listen to at home? Yes. So I was just very moved by the mix tape concept.
[00:34:55] I was just like, yes, I love this. And then I heard about the one d, you know, one time, and then they started implementing the rewind. So I, I'm, I wanted you to definitely share that.
[00:35:05] Yeah. So, yeah, that's it. Like more or less had played with me once in the past. Yeah. And then it was time, I guess after two, three years, no more maybe.
[00:35:15] Yeah. Like, oh yeah, whatever, three years later. And I'm like, yeah, I'll, I'll can, of course. Yeah. Hell yeah. S a regular anyway, so Yeah, I'm
[00:35:23] there
[00:35:23] Anyways, I'm like, yeah, okay, I'll, I'll be there. I'll be there anyways. You know, if I'm
[00:35:27] there in town on a Wednesday, there is no other place I'll be, I'll be
[00:35:31] there.
[00:35:31] So what, what's that been like as far as the, the experiment itself with, you know, wanting to have that kind of a intention behind it and wanting to educate? The listener, right? And like let them learn more about music through these artists you're bringing on. What's that been
[00:35:48] like over the years? I think the biggest positive thing has been that at the club we have been able to build a community.
[00:35:55] I know some friends of mine who are never DJs and now they are like, you know, they're DJs now and they're like, you know, they, they're playing at like some big techno festivals and all that and like they were just on the other side of the console, console, DJ console. What I really like to see is the transition of someone who's dancing in front of the speakers and now the next thing this person is like, you know, behind a DJ console.
[00:36:17] Like he or she's spinning now. Like, you know, so for me it gives me my kicks, like, you know, just to give that experience to someone like, you know, like people do get inspired, I mean, to say like, no, they think that they can't pull it off, and they do, and then like, no, it really gives them more fire and more power, like, you know, to go and work on it and so on.
[00:36:39] So that's been good. We have definitely built a name. We are well known now all over the country. Seven years of persistence, like, you know, which, it's a small club. We don't have any sponsors. It's diy. He knows the whole operations. It's very transparent, like giving out the sound, but
[00:36:56] it's not going to change.
[00:36:58] sound is not all that bad. It's not bad at all. So it's like to creep, that's all
[00:37:05] Yeah. Every day there is a chance to tweak. Ah, maybe there's something wrong with the eyes. Like, no, no. And plus no. I mean,
[00:37:12] what's most important is that this party would, it does to the city. It establishes Mumbai as a part of the scene musically like that. Otherwise, Bollywood industry is really heavy.
[00:37:26] It's really heavy industry. It just sits on top of the popularity of everything else, you know? Wow. And what this party does, it establishes itself as a very good medium. Like, listen, people are coming to this party to enjoy this. Hmm. And they come here everywhere day. Yeah. You know, and it's working. Yeah.
[00:37:45] And for me, it has also been a place where I meet new people from the industry, collaborate with them, you know, and take my musical musician friends over for a drink, for something exciting, you know, rather than landing up at some, you know, very dirty bar. Right. . Yeah. You know?
[00:38:03] Hmm. So it's, it's definitely
[00:38:05] a place where people collaborate a lot.
[00:38:07] I see that happening all the
[00:38:08] time when you're hanging out at the club. Yeah.
[00:38:10] And yeah, people meeting, oh, you do this? Oh, you do this? I, let's meet up. I've had, like this past February, I've had like three, four very big collaborations just coming out to the den and meeting people,
[00:38:20] you know? Yeah. And over the years, again, the crowd has also got a hang of it.
[00:38:25] It's called Mix Tape. So it's anything goes. So one Wednesday it'll be hiphop. One Wednesday, it'll be like some live electronic modelers shit going on. Like, no. Then there's a lot of housing and techno for sure. So people early used to come with requests and now they have got the score. So I think that's a good benchmark for me.
[00:38:44] Like, you know that okay, people are getting it now.
[00:38:47] Like, you
[00:38:47] know, I'm so . That's so great. I love, I love how that has so many layers to it, like how it, like I'm all, like you said, it's evolving the city. Yeah. And it's creating this space to bring definitely people together, whether it's professional, it's the missing, it's the
[00:39:00] missing link.
[00:39:01] Hmm. Yeah. We needed this.
[00:39:03] You know, it's like that. I've always been into that Bridging the gap kind of sports, like that's where I love to be. Like, you know, like that's where, again, mixtape all my DJing style or anything like, you know, it's a pure reflection of that. Like where two worlds meet.
[00:39:21] Yeah. Yeah. So you also have basics India that has a few elements to it that you're doing.
[00:39:26] With that, I wanted to transition to that. So what is,
[00:39:29] what is that? Basically everything that I do is consolidated under the basics India, besides mixtape is a part of it. And besides that, I also. , I've been working with this exposition, a professional audio lights and music exposition. It's called Palm Expo.
[00:39:46] It's like India's nam or music or anything like that. Okay. So we have all kinds of brands and like, you know, all kinds of people from all over the world. Like, you know, it's, it's like a fair, we have like 30 Nam, 30,000 people like, you know, walking in every day. So I curate a property for them called sounds.
[00:40:05] Which is like three days of panel discussions, workshops and seminars related with DJing events, industry and music education basically. So it's just those three. Again, the meeting points like, you know, right between the, and I also have been organizing the Palm DJ Championship, which is a DJ battle on the national level where we get entries from all over the country every year.
[00:40:31] And 20 participants fighted out for two days, on the second they will come to know who the national winner is.
[00:40:38] So I'm sure that's, Pretty exciting. Yeah. Yeah. Because that, that stuff gets hyped. Yeah, yeah. You know, cuz there's all, there's all that like, you know, it's just like break, break dancing battles and all kinds of things like that, right?
[00:40:49] Like, everybody's just
[00:40:50] like, well we have the seminar earlier and then we have the DJ battle. Trust me, nobody's there for the seminar. Everyone's there for the DJ battle. Yeah, yeah,
[00:40:57] yeah. Everybody wants to see who's got it. It's like mc battles, you know, all that stuff. Oh man. That's great. So how, what, what are you seeing with that as far as like how that's affecting?
[00:41:09] I
[00:41:10] mean, to say it's again, a sweet spot where I love to be, I mean to say like, you know, I see that again as far as brands and any guy like, you know, studio equipments or as DJing equipment or anything like that, they do feel that they have a connect to the Indian masses or the customer base, but they really don't have the right mediums through which, through which they could, like for example, they have the products, but most of them, they don't have the product specialists to give them like, you know, demos or at least make someone explore order.
[00:41:39] Piece of kit could do, like, you know, and so on. Like, so I like being in that kind of space, like, you know, where I could integrate the vendors, sorry. The manufacturers also integrate their top products, like, you know, as giving away as prizes, right? For the DJ battles. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's all about the prizes again, right?
[00:41:59] and so yeah, man, at the same time, like, you know, bring them in as sponsors for the DJ battle and then like, give them a chance to do a workshop on the prizes, what they're going to win, so that even the kids are like, you know, more inspired to like, okay, wow, this is something which I could do. Like, you know, okay, I need to get
[00:42:16] this.
[00:42:16] Yeah. They, they see the possibility. Yeah. As opposed to just, it's a thing. Yeah. Yeah. It's a thing in a box. Yeah. Sweet. It's got a bunch of colors on it. Cool. It lights up. All right. No, no, no. This thing, this makes Magic kids . So I wanna go a little higher level here after we've kind of covered. The spectrum for you and your stories and, and the work that you're doing in the, in the scene, why do you think creativity is so important in our lives?
[00:42:42] Like what, how does it bring balance to you or, or how do you look at creativity in your life? Well, I think
[00:42:48] it's a very natural part of anybody. I mean, if we limit this whole thing to musical creativity, it would not be right. Or any other top forms of art, creativity like that. I see people being creative as CEOs and you know, people like that working in daily lives and just making their lives more comfortable just by being creative with their things and, you know, working their ways and methods of just organizing themselves creatively.
[00:43:16] Just that, you know. Yeah. So I think it's like a very natural part and how you develop it is totally up to you. I like to develop it musically. Yeah. You know, and yeah, that's, I think, sums it up for me as for why creativity is so important. I think it's there with. Everybody, you need to use your creativity for your own purpose.
[00:43:36] What I believe is like we have been made in the image of our maker and the maker mix. So as we are in the same image, we also need to keep making and creating all the time. Like, you know, but I mean, you say it's in the moment, like the opportunity is there in every moment. Like, you know, it's like ev every decision that you make, like, you know, is creating a ripple put like, you know, set up like a whole different course for your life.
[00:44:00] So, you should just consciously create like, you know, in that particular moment and take things like for me, It's a very sacred space for me. I mean, to say I get creative in, in many ways. I mean, to say it could be like, you could be creative one, one day I would like, you know, just be on the turntable, just cutting it out.
[00:44:19] And then one day I could like process it with like some FX and then like put some house or techno beats on top of it, like, you know, so yeah, I should, shit goes on. Like, you know. Yeah. So I'm, I see the resonance basically like, you know, like, because I could feel, when I listen to a piece of music, I could see what the person I created, like, you know, at that particular moment.
[00:44:38] And I want, it's again, a chase, right? Like, I mean to say we all trying to chase that magic moment, like, you know,
[00:44:46] Yes. Never ending.
[00:44:48] Yeah. Yeah. And still,
[00:44:50] yeah. Yeah. ,
[00:44:52] I was contemplating that very much yesterday and today after as, as we played. One of the things I love about DJing, And, and just art in general is that each experience is unique in an unto into itself.
[00:45:05] Right? And the crowd's always unique. The music that you play, that set ha has the ability always be different. And the journey that you're on with it, the evolution that you go through as an artist is always ever changing. And that chasing perfection, you know, and that like the moment. The other thing that you mentioned a minute ago I wanted to touch on is you were talking about how it can take you down a path, right?
[00:45:31] Yes. And the thing I love about what we are hearing on this conversation is you referenced at the top of the show how you kind of had to prove yourself to your family, right? Around this off center way of developing a career path, right? And that you could do this thing and that it is possible. And here you are living that example and you're doing it in all these different ways, right?
[00:45:57] As an educator. Yes. As a producer and performer. Yeah. Creating these spaces for people to grow and connect and have all these different elements to lift people up and to showcase the work that they're doing and all these things with the expo, with Palm Expo and things like that. So I just think that's amazing, living that example and seeing how that work can get you here and the benefits of the journey.
[00:46:25] Yeah. We just need to soldier on like, you know,
[00:46:28] defeat is not an option. Yeah. ,
[00:46:31] maybe you just go back home, sleep, wake up next day and start again. Like, you know, that's all I do need, like yeah, some days. ,
[00:46:39] where do you find inspiration when you're working on creative projects? Where does that come from for you
[00:46:44] guys?
[00:46:44] Well, it's usually now for me through Spotify, SoundCloud, more musical exploration where I'm discovering, trying to make my playlist better, which suggests automatically because of artificial intelligence, and then following those artists and the artists that they follow.
[00:47:04] Yeah. It's so much easier now.
[00:47:06] I mean, yeah. You
[00:47:06] can keep going on. Yeah. So most inspiration today to make and or choose them to, you know, play out my sets. Yeah. Is now through music discovery on the internet? Yeah. Just artificial intelligence playing the thing on it. I just try and refine my playlist so that Monday morning delivery is fresh.
[00:47:25] Yeah.
[00:47:26] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Inspiration for creativity. Yeah. Movies. Love of movies, books, art. I also dabble in a bit of artwork, like some geometric fracture kind of work and stuff. Nice. And yeah, that's my recreation space, you could say. So happy space. Yeah. movies primarily? I would say so. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:47:49] Books too. books. That's great. I
[00:47:52] connect with that very much. Being someone who studied film and, and just loves them and, you know, do my recommendation
[00:47:59] every week. Yeah. Again, we were talking about the lin yeah, , like the whole resonance that you feel with like, know turn table. Like, no, come on. Like, who would I thought about that?
[00:48:08] Like, you know, and Wang Clan, like, you know, really trapped it in a bottle you could say. So like, you know, the whole essence of it, like, you know, and Yeah. Like it is so crazy, like, you know, like how both of these mediums can coexist on the same plane. Yeah.
[00:48:25] One of the things I really, really love about.
[00:48:29] these elements of art that are very urban. Yeah. You know, like break dancing, street art, , right. Like, it's like very street oriented. I think, you know, it's, it's, it's something that, it comes from like hard work, like we talked about earlier and proving your, you know, actually earning it. It's not like the, the affirmation, it's the proving yourself in that you're doing the work to then earn that respect.
[00:48:59] Right. And that's, it covers all of those different, like, urban types of, of art. I think that's something that's really always fascinated me because it pushes this innovation and it pushes that kind of really tapping into oneself and your roots and even, you know, the futurism element of like your future self and being present and all of these different elements that can come into it.
[00:49:24] I'm getting woo, but. and yes, I said Wu on purpose. So, you know, like with like with Wutang and bringing that whole concept of Chalin and Wutang and, and all of those things. And then even incorporating samples from kung fu woo films, right. And then showing that they did the work, actually watching the films and learning about them, and that they really did care about that.
[00:49:49] But then they brought in their story from the city, right? And how they grew up on the streets and then brought that together and then they were a movement and it's never gonna go away. I mean, they made a big impact with that. Yeah, that's a great example. So what have been some of the biggest challenges on your journey as a DJ and a, an artist?
[00:50:10] I'm sure we
[00:50:11] have different challenges. Mine has been the difficult, most difficult part is to ex, I mean, tell people that I'm also an artist. Hmm. because of course I have a different job profile otherwise. Sure. And they would not take you very seriously, seriously if you are not doing this as your primary source of living.
[00:50:34] But I truly want to express, so I'm an artist, you know, . . Yes. And so I, I really have to make sure that whatever is coming outta the speakers speaks that out loud and clear. Mm-hmm. Hmm. You know, that has been the most difficult task. Otherwise, I'm having lots of fun, you know, otherwise it's all great, great friends and you know, yeah.
[00:50:55] Full power. It's going on. We have this festival going on. I'm, yeah. Land up at the burn things of music for, you know, camps and stuff. It's great releasing some tracks with labels. So, yeah. That is great. I mean, when I started taking things seriously, things got serious, you know? Yeah. So I like that.
[00:51:14] Yeah.
[00:51:14] And you're on. Three labels now, is that correct? Yeah. Yeah. And what labels are you own?
[00:51:19] This is one from Type Records. They're based out of Florida and San Francisco. Then there is another alter ego that I use still called Kaan. They're release, he's release on records in New Zealand. And then recently a label from Mumbai, white Line Records Techno and Heart Techno is what they're doing.
[00:51:37] Yeah, so them two 2020 is looking good with some more new names being added to that list. I heard about that. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:51:45] Mm-hmm. , that's awesome. And congratulations to you cuz I mean, to have that challenges you just stated, you know, to, it's real. You're an artist, you're on three labels. Yeah. It's real.
[00:51:54] Yeah.
[00:51:54] So you have to make it sure
[00:51:55] that
[00:51:56] whatever is coming out says that okay. No, he's not just there. Kidding. You know, he really wants to express. Yeah. What about for. ,
[00:52:05] there have been many. The current challenges I could talk about the recent current challenges is, for me personally, has been that since I've been doing mixtape and everything like that, people have forgotten that I DJ too.
[00:52:18] So . So I'm not getting a lot of gigs as per se at the moment. And I don't know, like, you know, over the years in Bombay especially, like, you know, like now, the, I would definitely say that the nightlife scene is the best right now. At the moment it has never been as good as this. Okay. In the city. But at the same time, people have gone into these micro niches and pockets.
[00:52:43] Sure. So they just can't fathom the fact, You could have all kinds of music in one night, like, you know, and so on. So . So that's one challenge that I'm facing right now. Yeah. But then, then at the same time, I see it as an opportunity to, maybe I just need to push myself more further and harder. Yeah.
[00:53:05] Tweak the plan a little bit more. So I'm also developing a live act of my own, like, you know, maybe like that. , like, no. Instead of just having two series js or like, you know, two decks or anything like that, maybe I just end up with a big box of lights and switches.
[00:53:21] and whistle.
[00:53:22] Yeah. Be and whistle and like No, I'm like, oh, this guy is making some interesting music.
[00:53:27] Yeah. Yeah. But on a serious note, I'm developing, I'm trying to put all the things that I love, put them together. So like, including turntable, portable, and like, you know, using the new technologies as far as iOS is offering right now, iPad dos and so on. And yeah. It's, it's really, you in fact don't even need a laptop now, like, you know, to make music.
[00:53:52] Yeah. He makes music on his mobile phone. Like I've been that off late.
[00:53:56] Totally. I mean, the kind of, the phones are getting better at reproducing sound and. , it's totally possible to, you know, do this just while you're on the flight.
[00:54:06] Yeah. It was great seeing you yesterday. Just break out FL Mobile.
[00:54:09] I mean, it gives me the liberty.
[00:54:11] No, I, I'm traveling a lot because of you know, my job and I don't get that much studio time as I should be getting, so this is like a yes. Whatever studio in my head. Just nice pair of headphones and you can really have your plan by the time you're reaching your studio, you can bounce it and yeah, it's ready to go.
[00:54:27] You're
[00:54:28] being efficient and
[00:54:29] effective in your Yeah. I have a lot of gear that I travel with also and purp on, purp bought on purpose to be put in my bag and travel around and, you know, just have it open. A lot of people do that anyways, so,
[00:54:39] yeah. Mm-hmm. , it's just using your time wisely, you know, and, and, and tweaking like you were talking about.
[00:54:45] What advice would you give for up and coming DJs today and, and, and producers and, and people who want to get into this? Type of life.
[00:54:56] I'm not really bleak about the future generation, like, you know, I'm very positive about them. I mean to say all of us had those phases where like, I mean to say you, a lot of people are disappointed with maybe the current state of affairs as far as edm.
[00:55:10] Sure. Is so popular. Grandkids are so clued onto it. But then again, it's it's a rite of passage you could say. So like, you know that later on, I'm sure they would crave for like, you know, better sounds and they'll find your own niches and like, you know, and so on. So in that context, it's very important that you need to be true to yourself at whatever time.
[00:55:31] Like, you know, say whatever phase you have been in your life, across your career, just be true to yourself, whatever. It's okay. You like Crans yesterday. If you love Deep House today, that's fine. Like, no, it's all right. Yeah. Just be true to that. Like, no.
[00:55:47] Yeah. It's more about music. Yeah. And this is the, the love of the Yeah.
[00:55:50] The music itself. What about for you, Amal?
[00:55:53] What
[00:55:53] I would like to say to people who are just trying to explore the possibility of doing this is forget about an aim of achieving like star status or something like that. Sure. And start enjoying the whole process of, you know, putting your sound out. You know, listen to your own, you know, songs and try and make that better.
[00:56:14] And as long as you are doing that, you have your learning process going on, and once you've learned enough, you will be notice. , there
[00:56:22] is no doubt about that. Yeah. And always stay in school. , .
[00:56:28] Yeah, it's definitely, it's definitely very hard
[00:56:31] to, that public service announcement was brought to you
[00:56:33] by Reggie
[00:56:35] It's definitely very hard to really start, make, making a very good living initially as like if as a musical, you know, artist, it's definitely going to be a uphill task. But like I said, the moment you start taking it seriously and hold onto it and believe in your artistic expression, whatever it is, I'm very sure that it comes around.
[00:56:58] I mean, you will be able to be in a happy space where you can express and also maybe not star status or whatever, but you'll be in a happy space. Enjoy. You, enjoy making art, enjoy doing that. Yeah. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. .
[00:57:12] As we wind down now. Sure. I like to always do some fun questions, you know, just to kind of get a little deeper into who you are and you actually set this up perfectly just a minute ago.
[00:57:24] what is your favorite movie or
[00:57:26] documentary?
[00:57:27] Movie or documentary? The top of my head. Have you seen this movie called Hustle and Flow? Yeah. Ah, okay. Oh yeah, .
[00:57:34] Yeah. Yeah, . That's a good movie. But his growth is becoming from Off the street. Yeah.
[00:57:39] From being a pimp to a rapper, like trying to push his cassette, like, you know, to ludicrous.
[00:57:44] I think that's one movie every musician should see. You get a very good perspective on when you, when you listen to these stories of like, you know, like hiphop artists and like gang related shootouts and all, like, you know, what might have transpired. Like, you know. Yeah. It gives you a very good perspective on one things which you don't see.
[00:58:05] Yeah. Yeah. What is, what is. I
[00:58:08] don't know if because movies, I'm not a big movie buff. Sure. But if you ask me for a movie that I really liked, there is a movie called . It's a Hindi
[00:58:18] movie. It's, it means the seventh Horse of the Sun. Of the Sun.
[00:58:22] Okay. I was just scrolling through TV one night and landed up on our national tv dour and this movie had just come on and I just pour myself a drink and, you know, started watching it.
[00:58:34] And as I kept watching through, this just sucked me right in. There were like seven different stories, very different backgrounds, and eventually meeting at the same point towards the end. And how they were connected is what was really interesting in West Bengal in a village. And some guys end up at a train station.
[00:58:53] It's just mind blowing how that story is written. And it is short, close to my house. Wow. In John Studio. You know, it's short at John Studio. In Bombay. In Bombay. Yeah. So
[00:59:03] what is the, the
[00:59:04] book? The book, there's only been one big book in my life. It's James Redfield, Celestine Prophecy. Celestine Prophecy. Yeah.
[00:59:13] That book really changed my life. I mean to say, I don't know how I got hang of that book when I was really young and I'm gonna say some of my seniors, they used to see me with the books and certainly they would like, you know, have a whole new level of respect for me. And I didn't even start reading the book to be honest.
[00:59:34] Like, you know, they just, oh, okay. Like, you know, so I just read the first line in the book and it was written where attention goes, energy flows, and I really like, blew my head. And I have a long story basically with this book. Like this book is like, it's like 10 years of work in my life where this book has appeared and disappeared and come back again at the right moments.
[00:59:56] Yeah. And I've had like some serious. awakenings by like, I've never had my forehead like pulse, like, you know, rapidly by just reading a book. Sure, sure. You know, that has never happened between like in my life. Wow.
[01:00:12] Yeah. Like this. Wow. What about for you
[01:00:14] Al? I grew up in Vai where I was going to a Catholic school, English medium, studying science and computers and everything.
[01:00:21] And the moment you come outta school, there is a different world. There is a very Hindu spiritual world outside environ, there are temples, there are Hindu practices, there are chants and everything going on over. Yeah. I found it a little difficult to connect these two things. Together, you know, at first, but one author I think I would definitely like to mention is Desmond Morris, and a couple of books and documentaries that he has made had a huge impact on my thinking and connecting these dots.
[01:00:54] Nick Rape is one of them, one of his books. Then there's one called The Human Zoo, which is like the next in the series. Mm-hmm. , and I think there's a six part documentary. It's called The Human Sexes, which kind of, he goes through all the historical evidences of evolution and what's happening today and why it was happening differently.
[01:01:18] So that kind of connected to some of my dots, my confused confusion points. I think it had a very big impact on whatever, how I think about things and why we sit and chat like monkeys and stuff like that. Right.
[01:01:35] So what is the number one thing that you would like listeners to take away from this interview?
[01:01:40] I think the three of us sitting over here in Gowa. Mm-hmm. , and we are just like, I'm, I'm meeting you Gabriel, for the first time in my life. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. That's a fact. Oh yeah. And like, I guess everyone have been very true with their musical pursuits, which has bought the three of us together in this particular town.
[01:02:01] So I think the whole, this whole podcast is a testament to just following your, like, not chasing your dream. Like, you know, whatever it may be. Like, you know, I mean, you say like, if this. If you really want to get inspired by the story that, okay, three of us met here in Gowa and now we have had this opportunity to have this quickly squeeze in this podcast too.
[01:02:26] Like, you know, it's, it's almost magical for me, like, you know, . So, again, it's, it comes from a place where you need to be true to yourself. Like, no, like we are winging it over here as far as like the old podcast is concerned and yeah, that's the message to you too. Like, you know, just be true to stay the course.
[01:02:49] Yeah.
[01:02:50] Here, here.
[01:02:51] What about for you, Amal? I would let that be the closing line. Absolutely. I think it speaks everything that I want to speak.
[01:02:58] Is there anything else that you'd like to say or any last parting. ,
[01:03:02] listen to Gabriel's
[01:03:03] podcast. .
[01:03:06] Nice one. You have no other choice. .
[01:03:09] So last question. Where can people find you online and, and be able to interact with what you're doing and, and follow you?
[01:03:16] Sure. You can search for me all over social media as a registry. That's registry with a J, not a G. So it's R E J i S t r Y
[01:03:28] and Mo I produce and play as bleeped. That's b l v, not an E. It's B L V P E R D. Bpp on SoundCloud. Spotify, everywhere else. Yeah. Guys,
[01:03:40] this has been so fantastic. I mean, this has been so amazing hanging out with you playing.
[01:03:46] Getting to know you better and getting to share our stories as as artists and just as humans. And thank you for your time. I know you both have to, to leave tonight to head back, but thank you again so much.
[01:03:57] Oh, thanks Gabriel.
[01:03:58] Thank you, Gabriel.
[01:03:59] Well, that's it for this episode. Whether this is your first time listening or you're already a fan, thanks for being here. We hope you enjoyed the show. All lengths and show notes for this episode can be found at theartful.co. If you haven't yet, please subscribe to the show and leave a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts.
[01:04:24] Thanks again for listening. Until next time, keep being artful.
