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Journalism of Courage
In the interview with Udayan Sagar aka Nucleya,a constant theme running through the hour-long conversation was his different music. When the bass-heavy DJ/ producer talks about being flat broke in Goa five years ago,its because there were no takers for his different music. When he talks of packing massive stages today,like he did at Wolves Den at the NH7 Weekender,Pune,it is because people now like his different music. This passion to stick out from what is being produced,whether it is mainstream or alternative,has clearly worked as a doubled-edged sword for the veteran producer. But today,hes using the edge to murder dance floors with pure bass.
The response to his performance at the Weekender (5000 people were chanting lyrics of one of his songs) is an indication that the industry as well as audiences have finally woken up to the distinct sound he has built over the last decade. Ive been playing for over 10 years,and nothing like that has ever happened, he says. But its the television series The Dewarists,(where he collaborated with Brooklyn Shanti and Mou Sultana) and Sound Trippin,(where he replaced Sneha Khanwalkar with Karsh Kale) shows that mix distinct Indian sounds with contemporary music which define his sound and have helped get his music noticed. These shows have put my face out to a larger audience. When I did a track for Bollywood,they thought it was too futuristic. With these shows,I got to produce my kind of music and also got a music video and a making of documentary for free, says the Delhi-based producer with a laugh. He will play at Bandra Fort Amphitheatre today for an event that celebrates urban street culture.
At the event,one should expect tracks from his latest EP titled Koocha Monster,which released a month ago. It has more genres mixed than the number of tracks on it moombahton,reggae,elements of dub,dubstep,drumstep,Indian folk and street music,among others. Even when Im playing live,I want to jump genres every four tracks. On this EP,I discovered street music. I was producing a track and a friend told me it sounds like south Indian drums. A YouTube search later,I was blown away by the rhythms these drummers created, says Nucleya.
The soft-spoken Nucleya attributes his recent success to a change in management. Only Much Louder,the mother company of NH7 Weekender,has been plotting his moves for the past three years now. The producer tends to describe a lot of his music as radio friendly,but its possibly too futuristic for them just as it was for the Bollywood producer. His last album,Horn Ok Please was a throwback to the Bollywood remixing age it was accessible,even bordering on commercial,but it never got him anywhere. Like with most Indian indie music,the mainstream formula has not been cracked yet. Whether you like his music or not,Yo Yo Honey Singh has figured the formula. He sounds like nothing that is out there today,but people are actually buying his music. With me,I dont know what that is yet, he says.
Mainstream success might still be a long ways away,but Nucleya is not fretting. A lot of his tracks in the studio have no starting or ending point because he is mixing genres that have not been done before and it takes him months to compose a tune. Its a lot like his life,where all he is currently concentrating on is gigging and an album that will be launched soon,but doesnt quite know what the next step towards larger success is or how he will go about achieving it. I did my own thing earlier,when I was not getting paid,and I continue to do the same today,when Im no more broke. That is what I want to do music that is different, he says.
kevin.lobo@expressindia.com
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