Nagpur Today.
DJ or a Disc Jockey is someone who plays recorded music for an audience, generally in a club or a party. They may play music in the bars, nightclubs discs or rave parties. They may select and play music or may even do some turntable scratching to create percussive sounds. In short, they are the life and soul of any club or party. They can make or break the mood out there; have the power to get every feet on the dance floor!
DJ NYK
In an exclusive interview with Nagpur Today, Nikhil Sahni aka DJ NYK said that he aims at becoming a Music Producer eventually. DJ NYK plays in various clubs and concerts in India and abroad.
DJ NYK, while speaking of how he started being a DJ, said that he started DJing at the age of 17, while at school. He added that he did his schooling at Delhi from Apee Jay (APJ) School. From his childhood, he has been playing Keyboards and Drums. He said that Music has been in his blood and he has been dabbling in different forms of music on his music system.
He claimed that his first break came when he started playing at Club Moets in Delhi. After that there was no looking back. He has been training himself on becoming a DJ at home.
Talking about DJing, he says that DJing is an Art form. One has to be adept at doing it to stand out in a crowd. He said that the music that he plays has to be Dance Floor Centric. He chooses a mix and match music where he mixes western rock band music and Indian Bollywood numbers. One should be sensitive to the taste, feel of the crowd and accordingly play music, which keeps the dancers on the groove and going. While speaking of his experience as a DJ, he said that he has 9 years of experience. “I always do my homework before every show. Every club, every state, every city, every country is different. So is the taste of the crowd.”
While elaborating about the technical preference, he says that he uses Performance Rider of CDJ-2000.
While speaking about his educational qualifications, DJ NYK said that he could not do his graduation with regular classes in one college, since he was travelling frequently. So he opted for Correspondence Course. He added that he has not learnt music from any institute. He plays only through listening.
When asked if he inherited Music, the DJ said that his father is an Engineer and his mother a housewife. “My mother was a singer. However, music was inborn in me and right from childhood, I have been into different forms of music. I have composed new songs. Recently I had finished getting the recording of the singers who sang the songs composed by him at London. I did the conducting of the entire recording.” NYK has also given official remixes for Bollywood movies like Billu, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, De Dana Dan, Paathshala and Golmaal-3.
However, Nagpur Today observed that he was pretty meek and well balanced in life. Unlike other DJs, NYK did not have any Tattoos on his body, spikes on his head, nor any piercings.
In his message to the youth of Nagpur city, he said “Follow your heart, Be realistic, Whatever you do, do it with 100 percent commitment. Have patience and Perseverance.”
DJ Sway
DJ Sway
DJ Sway is a Delhi based Diva with a smile to kill for. While speaking to Nagpur Today, DJ Sway said that she has a teal in her music which makes her more proactive, very gen-next DJ of our times.
DJ Sway said that when she stepped into her youth, she wanted to be a Choreographer. However, since she used to dabble with different forms of music from her childhood, she started trying out DJing. However, she added that after doing her graduation in Commerce, she tried dancing and music from the Hip-Hop Genre.
However, she added that she is fairly new to being a DJ. She claimed that she does not limit to one particular genre. DJ Sway serves the best and finest sounds from the diverse realm of digital music. “I feel the crowd and after that provide the right dance-floor centric music from my chosen track list. One has be very sensitive to the mood, timing of the crowd. My innate musical sense and energy behind the mixer and the equipments makes me one of the best DJs in a short time that I have entered the industry.”
When asked what does the crowd generally like, she said the crowds enjoy Bollywood numbers, club music numbers etc. However, she said that Electro House/Progressive House are her favourite.
DJ Sway added that the Lounge and Ambience makes a big difference.
In her message to the youth of Nagpur, DJ Sway said that “Believe in Music and Chill out.”
DJ Dallas Kandi
DJ Dallas Kandi who grew-up in Texas but settled in Los Angeles arrived for an exclusive interview with Nagpur Today, dressed in a very conservative manner but had a hat that was a combination of Stent and Cowboy stuff. A very lively, young lady who emanated youthful exuberance said her career as a DJ started right from the time when she was in High School. She said that she used to have a life which involved plays, theatres, film-making, music etc.
This led her to many ventures in mixed media. She said that she had dabbled in creative mixing. In college, while she did her graduation in Film Making and Media Productions (Honours Course), she had undertaken many event-management ventures. This led to her starting her own venture called Music In My Soul (MIMS). She said that she is presently based in Delhi but has offices in Middle East and Thailand, which makes her shuttle around.
When asked if she inherited Music? DJ Dallas Kandi said that her dad is an Engineer and her mom, just a house-wife. She said that it was her brother who is into various forms of music. “It was always me and my brother that were involved in creative ventures in Films, Screen, Writing and Music.”
Asked if she ever wanted to make the music score, background music for any movie? Dallas Kandy said that in near future, she would love to do that. However, she would love to do it only with her brother. She believes in and loves Organic, Real, Interventional Music.
Dallas however added that she would prefer to be humble in her approach. She added that DJing is playing with Music. However, that is what keeps one going since it is following one’s passion.
While elaborating about her likes and preferences, she said that she personally likes Jazz Acoustic Guitars and Piano. She added that Country Music reminds her of her home in LA. However, when she is on the dance floor DJing, she prefers Electro House. She said that on the dance floor, she mixes Commercial Remix.
Dallas claims that while DJing, she plays a music at the beginning of the show and when the dancers are warming up, she plays a wild banging Electro number, which surprises the dancers and they get on the groove. She added that she does a mixing of old and new numbers. She added that almost every day some or the other new music from different genre appears on the net. New charts are released almost every week or every month. So it is not very difficult to choose from the vast array of music.
Asked about her choice of music, she said that she personally uses software with new tracks. She prefers Digital Mixing.
While speaking of Indian youth, Dallas said that the emergence of the Middle Class through Empowered Young people is bringing about a change in the scenario. She added that they are working, making their own money, buying and enjoying what they like and how they like. The young people have found their own identity and their culture. The youth in India is trying new things and working to establish themselves. Dallas vehemently added that India is a real cool place to live in right now.
In her message to the youth of Nagpur, she said that “Everyday they get to decide who they are, who they want to be and who they will be. The youth should study hard, change something in the sector of your expertise and bring about the change in one’s own life too. All that is required is for them to decide who they want to be and work for it and work hard for it. Dallas said that the Youth today can be what they want to be if they really want to be and work hard for it.”
DJ Kiran
DJ Kiran
As they say, women have entered into the fray in every field of occupations and are excelling, too. On Friendship Day, Nagpur Today spoke to one of the youngest DJs in the city DJ Kiran. She is very young and vivacious. However, she is pretty well balanced and has her bearings rooted deep into the ground. She is fairly new to this field, as new as nine months. It is her elder bother DJ Ajay Pandey, who has inspired her and it is he who is training her. According to Kiran, she is still exploring different genres of music, which she would call her own someday. Kiran opined that she prefers Electronic Digital Music (EDM) tracks. She does a good mixing of Bollywood, western and instrumental music. She gave an example of the favourite numbers that invoke a groovy dance among any group of dancers in the recent times and that were Lungi Dance, Jumme ke Raat, Aaj Blue hai Pani Pani, Johny Johny, Dhating Dhating Nach” etc.
As most of the DJs opined, Kiran also said that one has to be sensitive to the mood of the dancers on the dance floor.
While speaking of her education, she said that she was a student of Don Bosco High School, followed by her graduation in English Literature from SFS College.
While speaking about her personality, she said that she does not want to succumb to the peer group pressure and get tattoos, piercings, etc, nor does she ever get drunk or smoke cigarettes just to get accepted by her peer group. She says that she does stay with the group that does all these things, but as a policy, she says that she prefers not to indulge in any of them.
DJ Kiran said that she wanted to go for modeling and has done some assignments too. However, DJing is like a hobby. She claims that she has the total support and encouragement from her family members. “I firmly believe that whether it is education, career or even relationships, the decision on everything should be one’s own only. Maybe one can listen to his or her family members, but friends, relatives and others have no right what-so-ever in influencing one’s decisions.”
Her message to other youth of Nagpur is that they should stop following one another, actors and actresses, western culture blindly. One should enjoy the moment 100 percent in whatever one is doing. One should end the fooling around at some point and get serious in life.
She spoke like a very mature person and added that once the time passes away, it will not return again.
– Samuel Gunasekharan
