DJ Diaries

It’s not everyday that a DJ gets to share the stage with Akon,Bob Sinclair and the Rolling Stones. It’s not everyday that he is invited to entertain Bryan Adams,Enrique Iglesias and Scorpions at their post-show parties. It’s certainly not everyday that he gets to play alongside Lionel Richie for Vijay Mallya’s 50th birthday. DJ Chico sailed through these with characteristic cool — and then another invitation landed in his mailbox! He was placed next to Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Ustad Zakir Hussain during an event in Goa last year and expected to deliver a performance. “That was nerve racking,” says DJ Chico. He is also the official DJ for Kingfisher and plays for the post-match IPL parties that rarely stop before sunrise.

DJ Chico visited the city over the weekend to play at Himani’s Vertigo Lounge in Sector 34 for the Kingfisher Blue Mega Bash. He rewinds to 20 years back,to the birth of the DJ in India at a time when cassette decks were the order of the day and internet was a still many clicks away. “We had to hunt,source,beg,borrow and request people who were travelling abroad for music. Then,I would sit all night and record it on a cassette player and pray hard that no one asks for a request,” says Chico,who knew at the age of 13 that this was the line of action for him. “There was no glamour,glorification or a professional status attached to deejaying at the time. I still remember,I was once paid Rs 100 for a gig.” Now,of course,things have changed and DJs,among them Chico himself,is a star of many a party.

It also means that Chico must live with sleep deprivation and a million miles of flying hours. “We don’t compose,copy or direct. We remix,entertain and make a piece memorable,” he says. “Although I specialise in electronic and EDM,there is so much music happening and playing and I have miles to go.”