Being a disco jockey (DJ) in India, or anywhere, is almost as easy as it is difficult. Like in any other field of art, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish a good DJ from others. The fact is that a good DJ does not limit himself/herself to DJing. They are musicians in their own rights. One such artiste is Anish Sood, a DJ-cum-musician who has carved a niche for himself over a span of ten years. It will not be wrong to say that Sood began his career as young as when he was 9, because that is when he began collecting music. “I grew up listening to a lot of music. Majorly rock and jazz, at home. My father and my uncle played the guitar and I began collecting cassettes and CDs when I was 9. There were a lot of the Beatles, the Scorpions, etc. at home. But I discovered dance music when I was 15,” says Sood. He soon built up a case and began playing with friends, often Djing in college and parties.
Challenging task
As an art form, DJing is no piece of cake. “You have to keep a hundred or thousand people in the room really locked in that space. You really control the vibe of the entire party and nobody realises that the music has changed. The real art lies in the fact that you make people listen to music that they have not heard before. It is quite easy to play things everyone has heard. But, to make them dance for two hours or longer, without them really listening to anything they have heard before is what makes it an art,” adds Sood.
Sood began producing music back in 2011. His original compositions and live sets blend between genres such as house, electro and techno. He has supported artistes like David Guetta, Steve Aoki, KSHMR, Dmitri Vegas and Like Mike, Martin Garrix, Tiesto, Afrojack, Axwell + Ingrosso to name a few. He was also the host of popular podcast Sunburn on Air. He remixed Autograf’s single Metaphysical that clocked 700k plays on Spotify.
In his recent debut all-original studio album titled Future Perfect, he has collaborated with none other than the remarkable Jonita Gandhi, who is known for her versatility. She features as the sole vocalist from Bollywood on the album’s second single ‘Castles’. This will mark Gandhi’s entry into the dance music genre. This comes shortly after Sood’s massive success of the single ‘Starry Night’, featuring Zach Sorgen and Kelechi. ‘Castles’ is packed with energy and makes it difficult not to dance and “straddles the boundary between pop and House”. On why he collaborated with Jonita, Sood says, “She is Indo-Canadian and has a great accent. There is something very natural about how she approaches the song and her vocal talent is great.”
Bridging the gap
From collecting music, Djing, mixing and now producing, Sood has come a long way. Mixing and producing music are two worlds apart, and Sood approaches both with a lot of clarity. “The entry barrier to being a DJ is not really strong. As compared to music production, it is easier because the music already exists, and you only have to mix it. There are so many people trying to become DJs every day that the only way you can stand out is if you have unique music. I figured that out early on, and spent time learning how to produce music. It was solely perseverance,” Sood signs off.
