Culturewww.livemint.comL16 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2009

LOUNGE

MUSIC

B Y K RIS H R AGHAV

krish.r@livemint.com••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Back in 1997, the instruc-tions to DJ Arjun Vagalewere clear� he could play

half an hour of electronic musica t t h e D e l h i c l u b w h e r e h eworked, but that was it. After thathe had to go back to the usualrepertoire of Bollywood songs.Today, Vagale, a founding mem-ber of the electronic group Jale-bee Cartel, is helping organizethe third year of the Sunburn fes-t i v a l i n G o a � t h r e e d a y s o funadulterated blips, beeps andbeats of what is called electronicdance music (EDM).

Most EDM is produced on lap-tops and synthesizers, and usu-ally played at nightclubs. Whilesome EDM compositions areintended purely for dancing, andplayed as part of � sets� that lasthours, many electronic artistsalso write songs� often with theuse of multiple instruments(actual or mimicked) and digit-ally enhanced vocals.

� The EDM scene in India isgrowing really fast,� says Vagale.� In any given week you can catcha big international act playing inone of the metros.� When West-ern rock bands go on an � Asiantour� , it usually means stops inJapan and Singapore before fly-ing to Australia. But when itcomes to electronica, the trend� schanging: An India stop is fastbecoming mandatory for mostDJs and groups.

At a typical EDM concert in aDelhi club, Jalebee Cartel plays tocrowds of over a thousand peo-ple� the � band members� standcrouched over laptops, facesshrouded in smoke and reflec-tions from the psychedelic lightshows that accompany theirmusic. An EDM � concert� followsa certain arc: The music buildsover time, with the DJs layeringnew elements on top of a basicbeat and bassline; once at a cre-scendo, the songs break downinto skeletal elements like a stack

of building blocks� the beat dis-appears, a discordant guitar lineplays on repeat� and the piecesare rejoined in different combi-nations. Every hour or so, themusic is put on autopilot whilethe group takes a break, some-times even joining the dancefloor. � India is a new hub,� saysVagale. � It is often compared tothe burgeoning undergroundscene in Europe 10 years ago.Everything is raw and fresh andedgy, and the audience wel-comes experimentation andisn� t judgemental.�

In the last two years, the Sun-burn festival has attracted namessuch as the Dutch trance duoGrowling Mad Scientists (GMS)and Armin van Buuren, bothelectronic artists with large inter-national fan bases.

Local talent has also come tothe forefront. � We have loads ofIndian DJs who can stand shoul-der to shoulder with the bestinternational artists and playincredible music,� says the formerMTV veejay Nikhil Chinapa, whonow runs Submerge, an eventmanagement firm that organizesEDM concerts. A telling sign ofshifting trends is Global Groove, asecond EDM festival starting thismonth in New Delhi. Its main

sponsor? That venerable institu-tion of rock-and-roll journalismin India� Rock Street Journal.

In 2009 alone, three Indianelectronica acts have gone onnational tours to promote theirnew albums� Delhi-based MIDI-val PunditZ, Goa-based TaTvAKundalini and Jalebee Cartel.Electronica-centric record labelssuch as Mocha Musica, ChillOMRecords and Qilla Records haveemerged to scout for new talent.Jalebee Cartel tracks appear inNokia advertisements, and Indianartists are now regulars on theinternational circuit.

But electronic music has alsohad to face uncertainties alongthe way� from unsure audiencesand wobbly access to technol-ogy, to Bollywood� s dominanceo v e r c l u b c u l t u r e . I n t h emid-1990s, when electronicmusic in India was nothing morethan � a few parties on the beachin Goa� , artist and producer MaFaiza remembers selling cas-settes at the Anjuna flea marketin north Goa. � No one here hadaccess to this kind of music,� sherecalls. � You only heard newsongs when � aunty � went toAmerica and bought you a Mich-ael Jackson CD.� At first, onlysome foreign tourists were inter-

ested, but then Faiza began tonotice a lot of Indian youth try-ing out electronica� first as � acool new tape they could put inthe car� and later as dedicated,discerning listeners.

Around 1995-96, childhoodchums Gaurav Raina and TapanRaj of the group MIDIval PunditZbegan to throw EDM-focusedparties in Delhi. � The partieswere called Cyber Mehfil, wherewe� d play some DnB music (shortfor � drum and bass� , a subgenreof EDM characterized by fastbeats and heavy basslines) we� dgotten from the West, � saysRaina. The mehfils (gatherings)initially attracted small crowds of20-30 people who, Raina recalls,� listened to the music more thandance� . Gradually, the fan basestarted growing. � That followingbecame a lot. Cyber Mehfi lstarted attracting people in threefigures. Our gigs become larger,and bigger,� he adds.

At the turn of the century,clubs in the metros began to getinterested in EDM, and thedemand for DJs grew. On certaindays of the week, most clubswould take a break from Bolly-wood music to give electronicmusic a chance. � At the time, itdidn� t matter what genre you

played. You could be playingalongside a tech house artist (anEDM genre that mixes ethereal,ambient sounds with prominentbeats) and a DnB person and itwould just be called � ElectronicNight,� � says Vagale. With thed i v i s i o n s b e t w e e n g e n r e sbecoming clearer, it would bemusical sacrilege to put themtogether today.

It was the arrival of cheapbroadband Internet access thatcatalysed that change. Electronicmusicians now had easy accessto sounds, inspiration, and thechance to promote their ownmusic online. � Compared to, let� scall it the � pre-broadband� era, alot more original ideas are com-ing out of Indian electronica. Actshave been creating their ownoriginal sounds,� says Arjun S.Ravi, editor of online music mag-azine Indiecision.

Indian EDM is now spreadacross the genre spectrum� fromtrance music (driven by artistssuch as DJ Sanjay Dutta and Puneband Lost Stories), tech house(Jalebee Cartel) and techno (artistMadhav Kohra, band Bhavishya-vani Future Soundz). Festivals,says PunditZ� s Raina, are the cul-mination of this long, steady, andnow rapid growth� from adver-tisements and websites to eventhe background music for news,EDM is � one of the most preva-lent genres today� .

For Vagale, the the surest signis in omnipresent Bollywoodfinally taking notice. � Electronicahas always been the anti-Bolly-wood. Now, they� re taking influ-ences from us� the remix cul-ture, the production techniques,�he says. Faiza found affirmationfrom another unlikely source. � Iwas watching a Godrej advertise-ment the other day, and thebackground score was, like,full-on 135 beats per minute,pounding dance music, � sherecalls, � and I� m thinking, c� mon,Godrej is using electronica?!�

With two forthcoming festivals, a numberof new albums and growing popularity,electronica is hitting a high note in India

CRASH COURSECurious but not quite sure how tostart listening to Indian electronicdance music? Arjun S. Ravi, editorof music magazine � Indiecision� ,lists the five tracks that shouldget you started:Atomizer by MIDIval PunditZ(Hello Hello, 2009)Listen: www.punditz.com/Tonic by Teddy Boy Kill(The Exit Plan, 2009)Listen: last.fm/music/Teddy+boy+killTough Cookie by Jalebee Cartel(OnePointNothing, 2009)Listen: http://www.myspace.com/jalebeecartelDestructive Forces by TempoTantrick(stand­alone track, 2008)Listen: http://soundcloud.com/tempotantrickHilltop by Medusa(stand­alone track, 2009)Listen: http://www.gimmesound.com/Medusa

The Global Groove festival is on19 and 20 December at Tivoli Gar­dens, New Delhi. Passes are avail­able for Rs500 (www.globalgroove.in). The Sunburn fes­tival will be held from 27­29December at Candolim, Goa. Athree­day pass costs Rs3,000(www.sunburn­festival.com).

Digital nativesElectric version: (clockwisefrom top) Jalebee Cartelplaying live in Singapore;Avinash Kumar of BasicLove of Things (B.L.O.T.);Gaurav Malakar (in the fore­ground) of Qilla Records.