To belong to a family that owns one of the biggest music festivals in the world comes with its own set of pressures and expectations. Being the son of Shailendra Singh, who owns the company Percept that organises the Sunburn Festival, for 23-year-old Shaan Singh, to set foot into the music industry was always a case of when, rather than how.
While he always thought he would follow in his father’s footsteps, the Mumbaikar’s life took a different turn when he decided to become a DJ instead, starting with a performance in Sunburn Goa 2010 at the age of just 15. “Music was a part of my life from school days, as I was in the band, and my family was always listening to music and enjoying it. I always wanted to do something that was passionate and adrenaline driven and tried a bunch of stuff. DJing stuck and so it began from there,” he says.
Shaan is currently riding high on the success of his latest song — a remix of Personal, a peppy romantic track by 19-year-old English singer Harvey Leigh Cantwell, who goes by his stage name HRVY. “I heard that he was performing in Mumbai on this recent tour in February and I learnt how much of a star he was growing to be, and so I thought why not try and get a collaboration somehow. He was up for it and was super excited through the entire collaboration,” he says. The remix was released last month, and has since been the opening song for all of HRVY’s gigs.
Shaan, who is one of the first DJs from India to play in Tomorrowland, has also performed alongside many international DJs, including the late Avicii, when the Swedish superstar toured India in 2011. Shaan has also collaborated with Steve Aoki and Louis Tomlinson from One Direction for the song Just Hold On. As he prepares to finalise dates for performances later this year, Shaan reveals that he would love to perform with internationally acclaimed musicians like Armin Van Burren, Post Malone, French Montana and Passenger (of Let It Go fame).
Available on all music streaming platforms.