What can you tell us about the mix that you have put together for us and what are some of your favourite tracks on it?

I wanted to deliver a mix that was a blend of my core sound & the Mixlabs philosophy. The set starts off with Soulful House fused with some jazzy elements going into spacey Deep House.
Moon Desert by Idan Hana, Sunrise Fiction by DJ Pipe are tracks that I really like.

Which music personality has had a huge impact on you and your career?

John Digweed, at the very start of my DJ career for the choice of music & the precision with which he mixed & presented his sets. I was always in awe of his immaculate mixing skill and how he built such a brilliant atmosphere with his music. He’s much more than a DJ/ music producer in my opinion. He could be termed as a sound designer.

What changes have you seen in the music culture in India since you started?

There’s been a sea of change in the music culture from the time I started back in 1994. Electronic music has seeped into the mainstream & has become a big business.
There are a lot of new Indian DJs/ producers that have emerged on the scene. We’ve graduated from club events to massive festival size events that are frequently taking place across the country. There’s been a surge in the number of international artists touring India & audiences are a lot more open & accepting of new artists & their work.
Nightlife in India is yet to reach the pinnacle & the next decade will be a very interesting time for art & culture.

What makes vinyl so great? Tell us about your passion for your growing collection.

Vinyl isn’t just a format, it’s creation is art on its own. The entire process of pressing a record, creating an artwork that goes on it really fascinates me. Not to mention, the quality of vinyl when played using the right equipment is unparalleled.
Two things that really make me a sucker for vinyl are the kind of exclusive music that is released on it & the challenge in mixing records. I kinda find it boring to mix four to the floor tracks on digital after so many years of DJing. Vinyl keeps the part of me as a DJ, alive. A good mix on vinyl equates to a natural high for me.
I’ve been collecting records since the last fourteen years. My dad passed down his collection of English retro & some rare Bollywood classics to me & that was the starting point of my journey with vinyl. I started delving into it & collecting records became a thing for me. Ever since, I’ve managed to collect about eight hundred records. The collection is pretty diverse consisting genres like Electronica, Jazz,  Funk, Disco, Disco-House, House, Afro, House Classics, Techno, Electro, Garage & some breaks. Each record is a piece of my heart 🙂

How would you explain the essence of ‘soul’ in music?

To me, music without ‘soul’ is no music, it’s noise. No matter what genre I play, there’s always an underlying element of ‘soul’ in it. Visceral sound is my favourite & I think it’s kinda synonymous with Sindhi Curry. I connect with it heart and heart. Soul is deep, sweet & evokes feelings that are beyond the surface.

What’s on the horizon for you in the coming years?

I suppose, I’m at the tipping point of my DJ career. I intend on reducing the number of gigs & do more meaningful ones. I’d like to focus more on my own IPs and scaling them up & also providing a platform for other talented DJs. Getting into music production has been on my mind since some time but I’ve been unable to begin that with all of the things going on currently. I hope to explore that avenue & put out some music under my name.
I would like to pass my knowledge & expertise to budding artists & those who are keen to learn. So, yea, maybe a DJ school at some point 🙂

Check out more mixes on our SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/mixlabsacademy