A party in the kitchen. And guess where the DJ sets up his console? “In the sink,” laughs DJ Adam Rahman who was in the city to perform at Leather Bar, The Park.
Born and raised in Chennai, the Dubai-based music maker started Kitchen Synk with a few of his friends in 2016. The idea is to host small parties in a kitchen. “We got the idea from the concept of after parties, where most people end up at someone’s house, specifically in the kitchen. It’s a place that always has food and houses the fridge, so people can always grab a beer or two,” he says. But these parties typically start by 4 pm and end by 10 pm. “You don’t want the residents association complaining, do you?” he laughs.
“We have a certain formula and if it’s your kitchen, you can add your touch. For example, we once had a cook making sushi. At one time, we had a variety of sandwiches. During occasions like Halloween or Christmas, we do up the place with season-appropriate decorations,” he says. And how popular are these events? “We do one every month and just finished number 29. We Facebook Live the entire party. Often, people reach out to us to organise something similar at their kitchen,” he adds.
Adam is also part of a venture called 81115, that he started along with six of his friends. The team organises small parties, with EDM being the crowd-puller. “The party is by invite only and is for closed groups. The first party happened in Goa 2016,” he says. What started with 42 people grew to 93 last year in Chikmagalur. The venue keeps changing too. 81115 is his way of trying to make people experience EDM at a deeper level. He believes that party-goers in European countries have an understanding of this genre because there are a dozen radio channels playing even the various sub-genres. “In India, people listen to what’s on the radio or television. But with more people travelling and attending festivals like Coachella and Glastonbury, they are exposed to different types of music.”
In fact, it was a trip to Ibiza in 1999 that made Adam’s style of music undergo an overhaul. That’s when he realised he was far behind by at least a decade. He was surprised to see the huge turnout at music events there. “My technique and sound changed. I needed my house music to sound tougher and have lesser vocals,” says Adam, who also plays techno.
When Adam lived in Chennai, music CDs from Landmark were all he had access to. He knew he had to up his game and often requested friends travelling abroad to bring him more music from there. Ministry of Sound was the answer to all his music-related questions. “Visiting music festivals was like educational tours for me,” he adds.
While Adam has been playing at the glitzy clubs of Dubai for 16 years now, it was at Gatsby 2000 in Chennai where he first started out as a DJ. He was working in Park Sheraton, doing night shifts at the front office. His seat overlooked the nightclub. The resident DJ hadn’t taken a day off in months and needed someone to take his place. “So I stepped in,” says Adam and adds, “He actually spoke to my parents before giving me the job, maybe to make sure I was serious about it. My mother wasn’t too pleased and my father said he would give me two years and if nothing came out of it, I would have to go back to hotel management.” And then Adam folds his arms and with a triumphant grin adds, “I didn’t have to!”
