I don’t make music just because I have to, says Nucleya

Nucleya exploded on the Indian EDM scene with his debut EP, Koocha Monster, in 2013. Since then, he has belted out his signature style of robust electronic music meeting Indian sounds. Right now, days are a whirlwind for Udyan Sagar (that’s his real name). He headlined the Guestlist Festival, judged the House Party Sessions, played the Enchanted Valley Carnival and performed at the Sunburn Festival. He will soon debut as a reality show judge on Amazon Prime Video’s The Remix and has also scored music for Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaz, for which he recently dropped a single — Paintra — with hip hop artiste Divine.

PUNCH TIME

December may be about music festivals for Nucleya but come January and the EDM star will have a film release as a composer — Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaz. He tells us that the only brief Anurag gave him was to give the music a North Indian feel to fit the overall film. “He wanted me to bring my unique sound to the movie. He really allowed me to have full creative freedom,” says Nucleya, who collaborated with Divine for the third time after Jungle Raja and Scene Kya Hai.

CHOOSING BOLLYWOOD

Before Mukkabaz, Nucleya has composed for Mere Dad Ki Maruti and Let’s Naacho in Kapoor & Sons. Though Bollywood songs come his way frequently, the deciding factor is whether he likes the message of the movie, who is directing it, and the creative freedom he will get while composing and producing. “Also, I don’t make music just because I have to. If I am not happy with a song, I will not put it out. If people don’t like it, even then it doesn’t bother me,” he laughs. He says that he likes to make music as different as dance, Hindi, English, high-energy electronic music, and sometimes desi not just because it’s creatively satisfying but also because it opens people up to different styles of music.

‘DON’T SHOW ME THE MONEY’

Someone as non-Bollywood as Nucleya entering the industry may seem like the industry is getting experimental but he doesn’t completely agree. “Not all of it is very good,” he says, “I don’t blame a music composer. They aren’t given a decent amount of time to come up with new music. There aren’t too many people who give the creative liberty and they are in a position to dominate. So, that sucks the creativity out.” So, how does he work around it? “I simply don’t take up the project,” he offers, divulging that he recently turned a big production house down even though they offered him big bucks. “They were surprised. But, I told them that it’s not about the money and I’m not the right person for the project.”

TRANSITION FROM BANDISH PROJEKT

Even if successful as a musician now, there was a phase when things plummeted after his musical act, Bandish Projekt, disbanded and picking the pieces up was a struggle for him. He recalls, “We were touring extensively, making a lot of music and had a lot attention. So, from being up there to starting from the scratch without any money or infrastructure was very difficult but I had the right team to pull me through,” he says. At the time when money was too tight to mention, he did everything that came his way. “Bollywood music, remixes, engineering music for Gujarati film and folk music, I’ve sold CDs in music stores, too” he recalls.

UPCOMING WORKS

Currently, Nucleya is busy with his ongoing live show SUB Cinema where visuals are mashed up and synced with his DJ tracks. “We have done about 25 shows already and have about another 30 shows left until April. There are a few films in the pipeline, but more on that as they firm up,” he says. After his albums Bass Rani and Raja Baja, Nucleya has started working on his next album. “Come March, I will take a six-month break to finish it,” he says.