"Tech house,techno and progressive fused with a lot of percussion," 25-year-old DJ Leon Russell explains the kind of music he plays,when he comes to town for a gig at Zinc lounge in Sector 26. Leon and his partner in rhyme,Doktor Daniel,the percussionist,will play at Zinc this evening,but for now they are intent on telling us about the kind of music they make and their newly-launched record label. "It's called Dazzle On Records,and we launched it a month back. It will have a lot of foreign sounds and collaborations," tells Leon,as he marks this as the next level in his career: the Project Leon Russell and Doktor Daniel act. "Convincing eatablished record labels in the country to buy or even listen to your music is a task. So we thought why not open our very own and support the music we want to play and hear. This project will have works of musicians from all over the world,and we've even bought some of their tracks and copyrighted it," he says. Leon,who started his career at 15,said he spent years playing Bollywood remixes at parites before he moved on to the underground music scene. "It's like cooking. A chef learns every possible cuisine,till it's time to specialise in one," he smiles. Leon chose tech house and techno. "People still want to dance to Bollywood tunes,for it takes time to get used to techno. Let me tell you that this music is intelligent and all you have to do is develop a taste for it," he says. What makes their act a bigger hit are their antics on stage. "It's a show packed with dramatics and digitally produced visuals," says Leon,talking of how the two of them entertain the crowds with masks and neon goggles on,and there are times when Daniel uses glow sticks for his drums! "It's a whole gig with video,music and drums. Showmanship matters," chuckles Leon. In Chandigarh though,they are relying only on their music and dramatics since their projector person is not with them. Enjoy the spectacle anyway!
