All hands off deck

Traditionally, DJing or producing electronic music has been a reflection of the artiste’s individuality. Immersing themselves in a studio, or standing tall behind a console, the DJ has mostly been a singular person — orchestrating and producing beats, or being a conduit at a party. Over the last year however, a few have been experimenting with fellow artistes.

“When you are producing music solo, the track is your vision. When you involve other people, you learn different ideas and techniques,” says Ardeshir, who will debut her live project, Sandunes Ensemble at the Pune edition of this year’s NH7 Weekender in November.

The Sandunes Ensemble is a product of Krunk All Stars, where three electronic music acts from the artiste booking agency Krunk combined forces with guest musicians and played live shows last year. Another artiste who was part of that ensemble, Aditya Ashok aka Ox7gen, will also debut his live electronic music act at NH7 Weekender in Pune.

“I have always wanted to play my music live,” says Ashok, who is known for his liquid drum ‘n’ bass sets. “Last year, it was an experiment to see how all the elements in the music fit in — where does the sub-bass end, and where does the bass player begin,” he says. Progressive house veterans Midival Punditz have also performed live sets in the past and one half of the group, Gaurav Raina, is currently on tour for the launch of his solo-project album Grey to Silver. Raina’s alter ego, Grain, features vocalists and multiple sessions musicians.

The creative process for these DJs going live has a pattern. They have a backing track which plays parts of compositions that cannot be rendered live. From the rest of the arrangement, certain elements are muted and the musicians they are collaborating with are asked to interpret those. Ardeshir explains, “If I gave Bradley Tellis (on guitars for her act) the synth line from the original song, he would then bring his ideas to the track. It is a rewarding experience to see what they do with parts you have written.”

Rohan Hastak, who made a debut with the live band version of his solo act Big City Harmonics at the National Centre for Performing Arts in June this year, is a little wary of the trend.“I don’t want to be in a live band if I am going to take over people’s parts and tell them exactly what to do. I’d like to start a band where everybody has a say in the sound,” he says. Another criticism these acts have faced is that the backing track often has a larger part on stage than the musicians.

But most producers don’t share these misgivings. Ardeshir says that this is too risky for a live performance. She has learned it the hard way by messing up at a couple of her solo live shows. For Ashok, who plays drums with Shaa’ir + Func, his experience as a live musician ends the DJ versus live music argument. “I have played drums which is exciting in itself. In DJ sets, the interaction with the audience is a different high altogether. With the band, I merge both these vibes,” he says.
kevin.lobo@expressindia.com