IT’S SENSATIONAL Saturday at Phoenix, the night club at The Astor Hotel, and Rudra Saraswat the Resident DJ at is staying off the console. He is donning the hat of a programmer tonight making sure that his guest DJs are at ease on stage. When we got talking to the 32-year- old city DJ who has around 12 years of experience under his belt, he talked about Electronic Music on Fridays, one of his major projects at Phoenix and connecting with his listeners through fresh music.
Rudra, who was with Roxy, a five-star hotel property, before he moved to Phoenix in 2015, accepts that the journey from a DJ to a programmer has been a challenging one, but he takes it in his stride. He tells us, “I knew I had more potential than just standing behind the console and making music. I wanted to understand the music and culture scene of the city better and though I used to help in programming at Roxy, I am in charge and work independently here.” Continuing, he adds, “It was a challenge because I have to do a lot of stuff simultaneously. But it’s all part of one’s growth.” Rudra is credited to have introduced Electronic Music on Friday s at the club that was originally known as Plush.
“My vision for Phoenix was to make it a dedicated space for electronic music, which it is now. It had its challenges. I have had just three people listening to the sets some days and on others, we have entertained 300. I appreciate owner Vikram Puri’s belief in me,” says Rudra who started as a club DJ in 2007 and now has 10 to12 EPs and two albums to his credit.
A self-taught programmer who learnt his mixing skills from Dharmology and DJ Deva, interestingly, a former DJ at the same property, Rudra swears by commercial and tech house music and mainly non-melodic sets. He supports homegrown music producers and is influenced by the likes of Coalition, STIG, 8-bit Culprit, Midnight Traffic and many others.
Come 2020, and he is looking at reinventing himself and it’s his music that will do all the talking, he emphasises. “I have this image of an introvert DJ, and I want to change that notion about myself. And, it will be through more familiar music that I will bridge that gap,” says Rudra , who also adds that he will start one free download a month for his listeners. Music videos and exploring the music scene outside India are also on his planner.
His music is available on iTunes and Spotify