After trotting around the world in search for the best club gigs, Nakul Mehan (an electronic music producer in his own right) and his friend Kunal Seth decided they needed to bring the same experience to India.
At a time when club gigs with DJs and electronic music has become synonymous with just partying and a night out for many in India, Seth and Mehan are launching a new monthly gig series called Oscillate, which travels to four cities this week, kicking off in Bengaluru on October 26. They’re bringing down not just international artists, but also ensuring that there are high-quality sound systems at venues and a bent towards an aural-visual experience.
The idea for Oscillate – which will feature sets by German producer Isolée (Raijko Mueller), Nakul’s own project Lukan and DJs such as Stalvart John – was born out of the duo’s time spent at venues such as Fabric in London, Tresor and Watergate, both in Berlin. Nakul says, “What led us to go to those clubs is nothing but our love for the underground realm of electronic music. Non-sanitised clubs, intimate secret parties in warehouses, bunkers and parking lots are probably what excite us the most and that’s what we want to translate into the Indian scene.”
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They count world-renowned club Fabric as “the clubbing mecca that got us both into this never-ending loop of discovering more clubs and music and finally having launched our own brand in the electronic music industry” and since the news of the public campaign that saved it from shutting down was spread far and wide, it’s clear that it was a message of positivity for club promoters and owners across the world. There are challenges aplenty, of course. Nakul notes, “There are many, especially as we are launching. There’s a lot of taxation work with international payments. Marketing is also really hard as our artists are not from the more commercial realm of electronic music.”
German DJ Isolée, who’s making his India debut with these run of shows, is understandably excited. He’s expecting “many intense and new impressions in all areas of life” but that’s probably outside of his shows. He adds about his setlist, “My shows will reflect the variety of my music but more focussed to the dancefloor. I want the people to dance when playing a live set.” The DJ adds that he also has plans of unwinding in Gokarna and Hampi after the shows. “But we are not sure of our travel plans. So, we might just do things spontaneously.”
Oscillate kicks off in Bengaluru on October 26, marking not just a new gig series but also a new clubbing venue on Brigade Road for the city. Nakul and Kunal say, “In Bangalore we got the opportunity to launch our brand with a new venue, Double Decker. We felt that it would be good for us and for our market as they would be getting a package of both a new party brand and a new venue.”
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Oscillate 1.0 takes place at Double Decker, Brigade Road, on October 26, 9 pm onwards. Tickets: ₹400, available on Insider.in