Before I start, I’d like to take a moment to really count my blessings; for being blessed with a profession that lets me do what I love doing best—exploring music, artists and festivals across the country and the world. There is no self discovery like the kind music gives to you and through my work and my journey, I’ve been lucky to have experienced and witnessed some of the best musicians in our country and the more legendary ones from outside create and produce music that united the world and every soul, in one way or another. How often do you find something that does that in the kind of world that we live in?
© GoSupersonic
And it’s because of this exposure that I have had, through my own journey without any external help, that I can sit and write this to all of you who are reading this. And if you’re anything like me, then I can vouch for the fact that you’re going to be headed to Pune this weekend for one of the most awaited homegrown festivals in the country—Vh1 Supersonic. It’s every ardent Indian Dance music fans bucket list goal to watch the legendary Eric Prydz perform on Indian soil and it’s finally coming true. Not to forget, you’ve got Macklemore and Zedd to look forward to. You’re probably already counting down the hours to the event.
But, what’s your itinerary for the remainder of the artists that take the stages before our three headliners do? Here’s who I’ll be watching out for and you should, too.
1. Boris Brejcha
© Boris Brejcha
Born in 1981, Brejcha’s childhood shaped his career as an electronic dance music artist; learning to play the drums as well as the keyboard for as long as he could remember. In 2007, electronic music magazine, Raveline named him as the "exceptional Talent 2007". In 2012, the artist created a whole new genre, title high tech minimal which has been his forte ever since. The music is a combination of minimal and electro. The main features are a pumping bass foundation, driving percussion elements, crazy sound effects, melodies and unexpected turns in the arrangement.
2. Aly & Fila
© Ministry of Sound
Aly El Sayed Amr Fathalah (a.k.a. Aly) and Fadi Wassef Naguib (a.k.a. Fila) are an Egyptian trance music duo who host Future Sound of Egypt, a radio show dedicated to trance music; they are also founders of the Armada label of the same name. From Ultra Music Festival, Tomorrowland to Global Gathering, there isn’t a music festival that Aly & Fila have not played at. Their 2011 track, We Control The Sunlight, earned them the title of the Tune of The Year on Armin Van Buuren’s show, A State Of Trance.
3. Protoculture
© Protoculture
South African DJ and Producer, Nate Raubenheimer, also known as Protoculture has been creating what Armin Van Buuren would probably call Gold for the past 12 years and he’s made a name and a niche for himself that remains untouchable. Nate studied music professionally after completing his studies in Audio Engineering at age 20, immediately taking the international psy-trance scene by storm. He debuted at the Glastonbury Festival in UK and released his first album, Refractions to an audience that was craving for more. He has mixed music for well known names, like Armin van Buuren, Markus Schulz, Paul Oakenfold, Bryan Adams, Dash Berlin, Robert Miles, Jeanne Michelle Jarre and Nadia Ali.
4. B.R.E.E.D
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An avant-garde music duo from Los Angeles, B.R.E.E.D comprises of Ritesh D'Souza, producer/composer and two-time DMC (India) champion, and Tara Mae, vocalist/composer and classically-trained pianist. They started out in India and quickly established themselves as an extremely exciting electronic act, and were even named "bass ambassadors" on Mista Jam's BBC Radio show. Along with their amazing sound, they fuse high fashion with their unique animal mask branding.
5. Oceantied
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The solo electronic project started by Ketan Bahirat, guitarist at Until We Last, Oceantied explores Ketan’s music headspace with ambient, dancey and upbeat music that explores two main sides of the spectrum with downtempo tracks, alongside fast-paced footwork & jungle music.
6. Vinayak^a
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Hailing from the small town of Jamshedpur, this talented artist can turn any setting into a boiler room, dancefloor or club, depending on what you’re feeling. He’s performed for some of the most sought after indie dance music festivals in the country, like Go:Madras and is a regular in the dance music scene. Based out of Bangalore, his music is a mix of Experimental, House, Deep and Space and he draws inspiration from the likes of Pink Floyd.
7. Tuhin Mehta
© Ashish Parmar Photography
Tuhin is a qualified sound engineer from SAE, Chennai, further to which he has served as the international ambassador at the Berklee College of Music. He remains one of the most seasoned and versatile guys on the scene. He is easily one of the few who literally pioneered quality homegrown dance music in the country, about two decades ago. He has remained a strong name ever since.
8. Sickflip
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An electronica solo project brought to life by Sarvesh Shrivastava - a music composer, producer and performer from Mumbai, India, Sickflip brings an indefinable mix of serene melodic vibes and atmospheres to contrasting bass-heavy, chest-rattling festivals. Sarvesh has released music on record labels like High Chai Records (US), Rub A Duck recordings (Netherlands), Plain Dope records (UK) & Sony Music (India) and has performed at the major homegrown festivals, like Sunburn Festival, Enchanted Valley Carnival, Vasundhara Festival & NH7 Weekender.
9. Praveen Achary
© Avirat Anuj Sundra
Very few musicians can be as effective through their musicality diversity & unpredictability and still be well recognized & respected. One of them I Praveen Achary, who has, singlehandedly produced a number of chart topping productions on heavyweight international record labels, thrown in DJ sets that have resonated across the nation. He has performed at festivals around the nation, the like, Sunburn, Submerge Supernova, Above & Beyond's Radio - Group Therapy, Krank and Go:Madras.
10. Ash Roy
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He has had an illustrious 17-year career that has seen him perform in Germany, USA, India, Sweden, Netherlands, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Denmark, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bahrain, to name a few. He, along with friends, founded the fantastic electronica band Jalebee Cartel, which gained massive popularity globally, in 2004 and launched his own dance music record label - Soupherb Records, in 2013. His music ranges from minimal to tech-house to techno and has played alongside headliners like The Chemical Brothers, Modeselektor and Carl Cox, to name a few.