There are talented musicians in this world, and then there’s Nucleya!
With the success of his latest release, Bass Rani, Nucleya, the former Bandish Projekt founder has firmly established himself among the top electronic music DJ’s and producers in India! Nucleya recently announced an association with the music streaming app SAAVN, and I caught up with him to find out what it was all about:
1.Tell us about your association with SAAVN Originals?
A. For now I can only say that it’s one of the best associations I have had so far, and we’re going to do really cool stuff together.
2. What kind of music can fans expect from you on SAAVN?
A. Saavn is helping me to get my music heard by a much larger audience. My association with SAAVN will not change the way I make or perform music.
3. Congratulations on a fantastic Levi’s® Presents 501®Friday: The Birthday Of The Blue Jeans gig at Mehboob studios recently in Mumbai. Clearly the audience went crazy! How was it for you? Was it the response you expected? How is it playing at brand events as opposed to playing at a music festival?
A. Thank you, I had a great time! Yes of course, I was really looking forward to this gig as it was my last live show for the season, and it was great to see such an amazing audience. When it comes to brand events, the audience is mostly by invite only as opposed to the audience at music festivals, which is open to all. But as far as Levi’s is concerned, they’re an amazingly chilled out bunch of people and they made it feel like nothing less than a festival. They kept a completely separate group of invites just for fans of the performing artists. So I got a chance to hang out with my other musician friends, give my fans a special exclusive experience and enjoy myself at the same time.
4. Tell us about the evolution of your music, from Bandish Projekt days to what you play now.
A. When I initially got into making music, I was mostly creating a lot of experimental stuff and I was trying to make music that I thought people wanted to listen to. But slowly my tastes changed, and I realised that the music I personally like is all very unique and melodious. This realisation pushed me to hunt for my own sound and that’s when I started making music that I like and I’m very fascinated that it worked.
5. What kind of music did you grow up listening to? Did you grow up with electronic music influences?
A. My father introduced me to a lot of old Indian film music, music by Ghulam Ali, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saab and a lot of other stuff. And my brother introduced me to a lot of the pop stuff like Michael Jackson, Khalid, etc. So I grew up listening to a bunch of different sorts of music. I only got into electronic music later in life, when I explored it as part of my first band.
6. You play electronic music, and yet, you aren’t much of a mainstream EDM fan. Clearly, it appeals to a certain audience. What would you play to a festival going crowd that loves EDM?
A. When people come to my gigs, they come to listen to my own original music, regardless of whether they like EDM or not. They know exactly what to expect. In fact, sometimes my fans get angry when I don’t play my own music hahaha.
7. We hear you’re working on commercial Hindi feature film projects. How did that come about? What can we expect?
A. It’s still in the initial stage, very difficult to comment right now.
8. Are you cool with mixing up genres while working on films?
A. Absolutely, that’s what i do with my own music too.
9. Are you a party person?
A. It depends really. I’m not a huge fan but I don’t dislike them either.
10. Where does Nucleya party? Favourite party destination? Favourite clubs?
A. Secret parties are my favourite!
11. We hear you’re collaborating with some big international artists. Could you give us a scoop on who they may be?
A. Wish I could, but it’s still too early to spill the beans!
I wish he could too but, no such luck! All I know is, I ain’t missing another gig he plays in Mumbai!
For more on DJ’s, nightlife and my general hedonism in India, follow me on @kingofclubsin on Instagram, twitter, snapchat and facebook!