With EDM taking a backseat in the music capital, a lot of emerging and established underground trends in electronic music are taking over the city, with contemporary electronic music infusing with jazz, grunge, metal and even darker improvised soundscapes. MetroPlus explores the dynamic changes emerging in the electronic music scene.
DJ Vishal Gaikwad says what he has seen of the electronic music scene in Bengaluru is still very pop cultured. “A lot of music that tops Billboard is taken and remixed. Half the hard-hitting producers play nothing but pop. There are pockets of underground music but in Bangalore it is mainly pop. However, when you explore the electronic scene, there are a lot of new and emerging trends coming up. That is how it works – a genre dies out, another one replaces it. And post the EDM drop, a lot of electronic music has plenty of scope to take over the scene.” Ish S. who performs as diFfuSed beats + edGeCut and directs Sound Reasons, a sound art and contemporary electronic music festival organised by the Swiss Arts Council recently at Shoonya, says his perception of electronic music is different. “Almost 90 per cent of electronic music is played with a track or CD and dumbs down the experience. Actual electronic music goes more into the concept of improvisation. The medium is more about invention and creativity. It was really important for electronic music to become more live and open – that’s why we started Sound Reasons.”
He adds that in his opinion, the definition and what people are jumping onto the bandwagon called electronic music is a very thin one. “When I started off, a lot of interesting things were happening in cities like Bangalore, Delhi and Goa and I really hoped these cities will shift the scene towards electronic music. Bangalore is one of the best potential places to make a difference on a global level and change things for electronic music. There are only pockets in London and Berlin that are similar to the scene here.” However, there is still a need for more spaces for electronic music producers in Bengaluru, he points out.
“Contemporary electronic music artistes don’t get to play much. That’s why people aren’t exposed much to it. Others are DJs and they are not doing anything significant to push the scene forward. Festivals like Sound Reasons help push the diversity of electronic music. We try to incorporate its homogeneity in our performances. There are installations and gigs and a whole lot of improvisations involved.”
Musicians Shreyas Dipali and Nikhil Narendra, who used to perform with alternative band The Bicycle Days, found their calling in electronic music. “It feels great to be playing what we love.”
This is what we were meant to do. This is a complete new direction from our Bicycle Days sound.” The duo performed at the Sound Reasons festival recently. “We bring a whole bunch of experiments together in our music condensing our influences into one solid sound. Right now it always works for a niche crowd but we don’t want it to be that way. We want our music to work for everyone. People aren’t exposed enough. So for someone who hears this for the first time, it might take some getting used to. A lot of people don’t have the opportunity to listen to this kind of music. But we are hoping to change that. Collaborations go a long way in promoting this kind of music. We are thinking of sessioning with other musicians and instrumentalists.”
Bengaluru definitely a huge amount of talent, but no one is really doing enough, they point out. “We hope to push that forward. There is a need to be organised. We need more promoters and festivals for electronic music – that will mutually benefit all artistes.”
DJ Talk
DJ Vachan Chinnappa, a stalwart symbol of electronic music, believes a niche will always be a niche. “That’s the way it is supposed to be. It is experimental music and it is meant for a mature audience. Only an audience that has clubbed enough will understand this progression of music. It should remain a small room experience rather than a big room kind of sound. It will always last but in pockets. People who have done their share of EDM and techno and want something more - they will find this kind of music really appealing. It doesn’t need to change. If kids who club are exposed to this kind of music – they won’t even understand it. They have to go through the whole process. From EDM, which is the easiest music to understand, they should move to house which is the next level, then to techno, and finally head to improvised electronic music.”
SOME TRENDING GENRES
- Ambient music
- Drum & Bass
- New-age
- Darkstep
- Electroacoustic
- Space rock
- Industrial music
