BASS ATTACK

Years after it was introduced into the Indian music scene,dubstep captures the imagination of clubbers.

When Delhi-based dubstep artiste Nucleya aka Udyan Sagar performed at Zook,Saket,10 days ago,he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout of music revellers. A generation that has literally grown up dancing to hip hop and house,is now turning to the relatively new sound of. The genre has been attracting huge crowds for dubstep,fast gaining popularity across Indiathe last couple of months, says Nucleya. He recalls the lukewarm reception that dubstep received when it was introduced in India five years ago.

The bass-heavy electronic dance music is clearly the current favourite of the youth. If on Saturday night,nU.Delhi at Qba,played host to a number of bass and dubstep artistes,such as Mumbai-based B.R.E.E.D and Piyush Bhatnagar and Delhis Nucleya and Praxis,as part of The Bass Mafia event,in Mumbai,Bonobos monthly Wobble nights,are always packed. Our Wobble nights are superbly popular, says Nevil Timbadia,one of the partners here. A collaboration of four Mumbai DJs Uri,Bandish

Projekt,Pravvy Prav and Randolph Bonobos Wobble nights began five-months ago,at a time when clubbers in India were already aware of dubstep as a genre. And that,Timbadia believes,is the key to the popularity of these nights at Bonobo. Had we started our Wobble nights a year-and-a-half ago,it might have been different, he says.

But Bonobo isnt the only one that has taken to dubstep on a regular basis. Bangalore,for instance,has become one of the most popular destinations. East London born DJ Uri,who has been playing dubstep in India for close to three years,tells us that Bangalore is his favourite place to play.

Delhis new hotspot,Zook hosts two-three dubstep nights each month and in the first-week of August,UK-based dubstep artiste,EBK,will hit the floor with Delhis BASSFoundation. Dubstep is clearly the next big thing, says Ricky Teja,owner of Zook. Apart from Zook,Cafe Morrison in Delhi,also sees a good share of dubstep fans.

Krunk,an all-India artiste booking agency,launched the Bass Camp festival in February 2010,and in its four rounds,so far,it has featured leading

Indian dubstep artistes,such as Mumbais Bay Beat Collective,Bangalores Vachan Chinnappa and Delhis Nucleya,thus contributing immensely to the growth of dubstep.

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While some believe that dubstep is still an underground sound,Bollywood is surprisingly already experimenting with it. Scottish Bhangra group,Tiger Style has incorporated dubstep in a remixed version of Bedardi Raja,a track from Delhi Belly. In the 1960s,dubstep is believed to have evolved from dub music and some 15 years later,DJs began incorporating the dark elements of drum and bass into two-step garage tracks,leading to the evolution of dubstep.

Today,dubstep artistes across the world play their own versions.

Magnetic Man,a group comprising dubstep bigwigs,Benga,Skream and Artwork,released their debut single,I Need Air,in July 2010,and this had a electro-pop feel to it. Drawn by its powerful sound,now even commercial pop artistes use dubstep in their songs. But this may not be an entirely good thing,believes

Sohail Arora,DJ for Bay Beat Collective and founder of Krunk. The rise of a genre too fast often leads to its fall, he says. DJ Uri echoes that sentiment,

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The market in the UK has become very saturated with dubstep, he says. And for this reason,he prefers to play dubstep in India.

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