Disco Station

Wednesdays have never been better. Make that Thursday,Friday,Saturday and Sunday too. From retro nights to karaoke syncs,deejay spins,scratch on the turntables,unplugged soirees and solo soul-stirring flights — music is playing loud and clear almost every night of the week and Chandigarhians are loving it. At the English Pub Peddlers in Sector 35,there’s a lot of musical action on the Open Nights,a platform where local artistes can display their talent. “Our aim is to promote local talent,and give a new sound and feel to every night here,” says Vipul Dua,owner of Peddlers,who sets the mood with his medley of musicians. While Wednesdays are booked for artistes like Swastika Band,Thursdays are open mic nights with Tomi,where anyone can sing for 15-20 minutes,and if it works,Dua hires them. Fridays are reserved for open jam sessions with musical duo Saahil-Ipshita,who perform fusion numbers and even belt out popular ad jingles. On a Saturday,the mood is somewhat soft,with Stanley and Aman Suraj singing Sufi rock and Punjabi songs on the guitar. “Almost every night is followed by Karaoke parties and deejay concoctions,and there are unplugged performances too,” adds Dua.

For a long time,places like Score in Sector 8,Aerizonna in Sector 9,and Blue Ice in Sector 17 were the spots to dance and jive. But city-based deejay and music producer Sameer Sandhu has tweaked the game. Currently playing at Hotel Altius’ rooftop restaurant,10 Downing Street,Sandhu has made it a point to fly in national and international deejays and musicians to give the city folks a chance to lend an ear to newer,fresher tunes. This week,it was Ukraine’s deejay Teri belting out progressive tech,progressive trance and house music. The launch party had one of the best Bollywood deejays of the country,NYK,followed by world’s number 54 deejay,Jon O’Bir . Next Saturday will see Psycho Baba in action — he is the man behind the

Beyond Spirit Music festival held in Manali. “We will be hosting Karaoke World Championships here,from mid July to mid

August,” says Sandhu. He feels it is important to bring in different kinds of sounds in order to lend some spice to the place. “One has to experience different cultures,backgrounds,and only then can we be in a true sound space,” says Dj Teri,who has been deejaying for three-and-a-half years.

With the opening of lounges and clubs across town,especially in the fine dining line of Sector 26,restaurateurs are going out of their way to replace jaded ghazals and an overkill of Kenny G instrumental music. While Kava Lounge has independent artistes like Bohemia and DJ Motiv8,the newly-opened Blue Blazor at Pewter Room in Sector 26 flew in DJ Austin from Kolkata. “He has been deejaying for 28 years and has an amazing grip on retro,” says owner Annu Bains,who feels that club,hip-hop or electronic music does not work on a week night. “People are looking for something to relax with,enjoy good food and conversation,so we give them the ambience,” says Bains. Next week,DJ Vikk of Roadies Season 5,also known as DJ Audiogram,will be playing here.