Start time: 8pm. Doors open: 4pm. Opening acts: 2; followed
by the main event. Fans begin to appear in hordes, as the clock ticks by, just
to get a good spot from where the stage can be seen clearly or to get as close
as possible to see their idols tear shit up! This is a very tiny glimpse into how the people of India have grown
to accept, and deeply love, the Electronic Dance Music culture. People
of all ages gather at one venue to rave together and forget the rest of the
world for a small, yet awesome, period of time!
It’s not that hard to trace back the beginnings of dance
music culture in India. The first name(s) that comes to mind is Nikhil Chinapa
& Sunburn Goa. Conceptualized & started in 2007 by Nikhil Chinapa,
Sunburn today has grown into an internationally acclaimed festival, the world
over. With attendance going well past the 100,000 mark in recent years, it’s
safe to say the ‘EDM’ culture has entered, grown, and established itself in
India, and it’s here to stay for the long run!
We are starting to see not only
a growing number of festivals (introduction of EVC & VH1 SuperSonic in
2013) but also a growing number of concerts/gigs that feed the appetite of fans
nationwide. Even though major gigs take place in Mumbai, Delhi &
Bangalore, you wont be surprised to see fans nationwide
spend huge amounts of money to travel and stay in 1 of these 3 musical hubs
just to experience a 2-3 hour show of their favourite DJs. This just goes to
show the behaviour and thought of the earning youth, i.e., earn and save
to spend and rave! A huge number of Indians are travelling abroad, too, to
attend leading festivals such as Ultra Music Festival, Tomorrowland, Awakening
Festival, etc.
The catalyst to this growth in EDM culture is, without a
doubt, a certain Mr. Nikhil Chinapa. Nikhil simply followed his heart and
introduced, in a big way, a new genre to the people of India. And today, the
people of India are reaping the musical benefits! From the inception of Sunburn
Goa to regular gigs/concerts around the nation to introducing the new
‘underground’ music scene, it’s safe to say that Nikhil is a
musical trendsetter. What he listens to, India listens to. This can be credited to
his taste and love for dance music as well as his visionary approach of introducing new concepts that keeps the music culture fresh amongst fans across
the nation.
In comparison to recent years it isn’t tough to see a growth in number of Facebook posts, Youtube videos, Soundcloud posts, Tweets, etc.,
relating to Electronic Dance Music songs, gigs, upcoming shows, news, etc. In
fact, in 2013 alone India welcomed the following Internationally acclaimed DJs:
·
Zedd
·
Hardwell
·
Swedish House Mafia
·
Dannic
·
Alesso
·
Tommy Trash
·
Above & Beyond
·
Nicky Romero
·
Dash Berlin
·
NERVO
Just to name a few (that’s right, there were many more twho toured India). These were just for gigs/shows. Then we have the
Indian fests, of which the line-up can be found below:
The future of the EDM culture in India is set to grow &
improve even further. In my opinion, we’ve barely witnessed the beginning of
the EDM culture. In the west (Europe & USA for example) you have a number
of DJs touring simultaneously around Europe & USA ever so frequently.
You’re just one Google click away to see that there are shows every day
somewhere in the USA or Europe. I believe India is still another 2-3 years away
till we see the EDM culture grow to such gigantic proportions where we can
expect shows in a number of cities happening at least 2-3 times a week. There
has even been a growth in the number of event companies that organize
gigs/shows to cater to the EDM marker. We’ve even seen the introduction of an
underground culture, with DJs such as Neelix, Tube & Berger, Funkagenda,
Luciano (set to tour end of Jan ’14), etc. having already toured and loved the
dance music culture in India. In fact one of my top 3 DJs, Neelix, has even
gone on to say that the next EDM capital is India.
Acts such as Deadmau5 & R3hab have already announced their tour dates for
2014. Plus this Tweet from Nikhil further shows my predictions could be on
track!
I could go on for pages citing my thoughts on
the future of the EDM culture in India, but I’ll leave with one last thought:
The youth and younger generations (high school, college going kids) have
already embraced the EDM culture by attending shows in large numbers, so just
imagine 2-5 years down the line when they become earning members of our society.
Just think about the number of shows they will be willing to attend without
monetary and parental restrictions then? I leave it to your imagination!
