DJ Zaeden a.k.a Sahil Sharma sounds fresh and ready for conversation after a nap at his hotel in the city post an early morning flight. While he’s on a city-hopping spree to promote his single ‘Never let you go,’ the prospect of being the youngest TedX speaker (at a the session to be held later this month) has got the 21 year-old pumped up. “It’s a forum I’ve always looked up to and have heard inspiring stories from the pep talks hosted all these years, my personal favourite being by one Usman.” Sahil says the objective would be to take inspiration from the people who’ve talked about music and other issues, but be equally original in what he’s to speak on.
Being a DJ at 14, with studies not exactly working out and little or no parental support initially, Sahil had several challenges to conquer early in his life. Establishing his repertoire over these years has turned his parents into his biggest fans now. “The major challenge in starting early was managing my academics between my performances and travels.” However, he’s compensated that with his sound-engineering course and brief online courses.
His latest cherry on the cake was an opportunity to play at Tomorrowland. “That was an amazing experience! I was with Bourgoeis performing my track ‘Yesterday’ and alongside Justin Bieber for ‘Love yourself’. It was wonderful being on stage with 40,000 people in front of you, coming from as many as 75 countries. I’ll wait to be back there next year,” an excited Sahil states.
Beyond the glitzy life in the nights, is a DJ’s life lonely? “Things do get taxing and annoying sometimes, but I’ve my manager beside me, who’s also a good friend. When I have something like 12 to 16 performances in a month and travel a lot (which I actually love), there are those little lonely moments,” he replies. He wishes to explore more of the cities he travels, which for now is rare, given he hardly has an extra day when he’s on a gig-tour.
However, in the Hyderabad trip, he’ll do his best to gorge on the Hyderabadi Biryani. He feels the city has an educated music-enthusiast audience, one reason that prompts him to perform here every time. Musically, he tries not to fall prey to persisting industry trends and rather prefers to start something of his own. Not being pompous, he wants to see himself as a ‘trendsetter’ rather than a ‘trend-follower.’
In two years time, he aims to reinvent his sound, make new songs and churn out a ‘kickass’ album.
