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ShareMumbai: Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is suddenly everywhere in India -- be it in TV ads, movies, Bollywood music or mobile ringtones. Never before have so many musicians led the scene as they've done in the past few months.
India has played host to some of the biggest international electronica artistes like Paul Van Dyke, Tiesto, Pete Tong, Sasha, Talvin Singh and Karsh Kale. Even our own EDM artistes like Jalebee Cartel, MIDIval PunditZ and Shaa'ir + Func are performing across the world.
Randolph of Shaa'ir + Func feels, "The creative instinct of artistes to come up with new ideas without spending a fortune has stirred an interest in electronica."
Ash Roy of Jalebee Cartel adds, "Even classical musicians are now experimenting with EDM. For example, electronica is one of the styles included in Ustad Zakir Hussain's musical group Tabla Beat Science."
Most musicians also believe that easy accessibility to the internet has taken electronica to the masses. "A new crop of artistes and producers have been making music in their bedrooms and getting them out online," says Karsh Kale. "It is not a style of music, but a paradigm shift in sound. It is the use of new sounds and frequencies to change the presentation of music."
When asked what the best thing about electronic music is, Randolph says, "It is as fascinating as electric guitars with distortion must have been in the 60s. I love how different frequencies can make one dance like a superfreak."
Gaurav of MIDIval PunditZ calls it the 'globalisation phenomenon'. "Electronica is a huge genre, comprising many starkly different styles -- from chillout to IDM to techno. It's a big thing in the history of music and is here to stay."
