DJ Brendan Gregory, popularly known as Chymera, likes to set his own standards in music. The Irishman, based in Berlin, likes to make unique sounds that are far apart from the signature soundscapes DJs have. “I don’t really care about trends that are in music right now. I just keep doing what I love to do and I hope people like it.”
Brendan was in the city recently to conduct an Intelligent Dance Music workshop and party at the Goethe-Institut with Berlin-based Indian DJ Pawas Gupta.
On his first visit to the country, Brendan says he’s having a great time in the city. “I’ve been walking around and meeting people. India’s music scene is also very vibrant like the country itself. It’s becoming a lot stronger and diverse. I’m really impressed.”
On the IDM workshops, he says the term has been around since the early 90s. “Now it’s just to differentiate from EDM which is different from what I do. I play underground and exotic music that is not commercial and it’s not going to fill a stadium anytime soon. That’s the way I like it.”
The aim of the workshops, he hopes, will be to inspire musicians. “Pawas will talk about the DJing aspect and being Indian DJ making it in Europe, while I’ll talk about production, history of computer sequencing and bunch of techniques for making melodies.”
The takeaway from the workshop? Brendan hopes the participants will be inspired and create something productive. “I can encourage them to take that leap of faith. Someone like Pawas is from India and did it himself. So I hope he can inspire people too.” He also advices musicians to do what they love to do. “Don’t do something until you like it yourself. Don’t jump onto any new bandwagon that comes by. Be honest and find your forte.”
Brendan hopes this collaboration will go forward. “We’ve never played together before. But we are going to be neighbours soon since Pawas is moving back to Berlin. We’ve been friends for years. Let’s see.”
He affirms that while Pawas is rooted in rhythms, at the heart of his music is melodies. “That is the strongest element of my music. I always concentrate on the melodic aspect.”
Having been a guitarist before he took up DJing, Brendan says the transformation happened naturally. “The background has given me a good sense of melody. I already knew the concept of scales and chords and it translated well into my music. It’s an advantage to have some kind of musical theory. But sometimes music theory can hold you back from making music while some people should just stay where they are,” he points out.
When people listen to him, Brendan wants them to enjoy it or at least find something interesting in it.
“Music was a natural kind of choice for me. It’s not always easy being a freelancer. There are some good months and some bad months, and there are some good years and some bad years. As long as I’m not broke on the streets I’d like to keep doing it. I just want to keep living for my music and making it for people.
If I can do it till I die, there’s nothing like it,” sums up the 33-year-old musician.
