DJ Gurbax who is hailed as one of the fastest rising names in the country’s electronic dance music scene and is the first Indian trap artiste to debut at the psychedelic playground, The Mushroom, this September, is concentrating on vocal-centric music. Though his plans for an EP is underway, here he talks about his recent single Dirty South and more. Excerpts:
Tell us about your upcoming EP.
EP planning is still underway. I have got a few singles that I’m going to be releasing next which will reveal the sound and style of it.
How will it be different from your previous releases?
In the past, my music has been more instrumental/sample-heavy and these next few rounds of releases will be a lot more vocal-centric. For instance, Dirty South, my recent single, is a perfect intersection between the two cultures that have impacted my life the most – Indian and American. Growing up in both places meant my music had undeniably become this mutant love-child of the East and the West. However, up until this point, I had never actually attempted to combine the cultures of the specific cities that influenced me the most, namely – Bengaluru and Atlanta. ‘Dirty South’ attempts to do just that. It draws inspiration from the instrumentation, rhythms and musical motifs that are signature to both cities.
This track is extra special to me because I got the opportunity to collaborate with Beats Antique, the legends whom I’ve looked up to since the early days of my introduction into electronic music. I’ve been a huge fan and literally been at multiple of their concerts in the front row raging while I was in college. So, it’s quite surreal that they agreed to work with me on this.
During Burning Man you had said 2020 is all about being radically inclusive. Please elaborate.
We’re all going through a tough time right now and need each other more than ever. Art seems more and more like one of the only things that are bringing us all together and ironically, it’s also the artistes who are suffering the most during the time. Hopefully, we can all ride this out together and come out stronger on the other side.
How fruitful was the lockdown for you and what can we expect more in the coming months?
Very fruitful. I got to play one of the Burning Man, shot a music video and got to collaborate with some amazing artistes. Also, I will be revealing lots of exciting stuff in the upcoming months.