A DJ's spin on Mumbai's dance music scene: Bury the jukebox DJ!

As the sun sets on a crowded Juhu beach, people gather from all directions to experience the sights and sounds of Aurus, one of Mumbai's finest restaurants and music venues. On Sunday at sunset a steady flow of affluent Indians, foreigners, fashion models and music aficionados spill onto a decadent dusk beach deck patio while those less fortunate look on with wonder from the sand down below at the luxury of this Mumbai party and the strangeness of the music.

I now have three funky minimal techno grooves spinning harmoniously through an arousing sound system and it's all stations 'get down' at another successful Bhavishyavani event. This is a place fit for even the most respected of DJs and in recent months Aurus has seen the likes of Peter Kruder, Mandy and Chloe rocking the shoreline. Thanks to a couple of long-standing, forward thinking music event companies like this collective of Indian and French DJs, I can push musical boundaries as a DJ with no fear of reproach.

And that is rare privilege in Mumbai. 

Aurus may be DJ heaven but it's certainly not the norm in a city that is still playing musical catch up to other parts of Asia and the world. Jukebox DJs still rule the roost here and a DJ who remembers that the customer is always right, musically speaking, will do well to keep their job. My three-month DJ residency at Wink, a trendy bar at the Taj Presidency hotel in south Mumbai was a great place to see the battle unfold between the ‘customer is king’ versus a venue aiming for musical originality. It was not uncommon for some ’well to do’ patrons of this high-energy bar to think they were in charge of not only the type of music, but also its volume. 

As for the rest of downtown Mumbai and many other parts of the city, it is still common to hear a DJ spin hip-hop, commercial house, trance and Bollywood all in the same night in an attempt to keep everyone dancing. A talent though this may be, many such DJs will struggle to stand out and do little to help the development of dance music in this city.

But is the DJ really to blame?

New clubs continue to open here but like their forerunners still promote music mediocrity. It is also common to see no expense spared on the décor of the place and pennies spent on the DJ. I still find it strange to walk into the most elegant of night spots, only to hear Yves LaRok’s "Rise Up" for the 1,000th time. Although outstanding clubs don’t always mean outstanding music, the frequency with which one doesn’t mean the other is conspicuous in Mumbai.

This city may have come a long way from the days of only rock, pop and Bollywood but still has some ways to go. [Read the CNNGo Mumbai Nighlife Review.] The reality is, that the main demand here is for the jukebox DJ. But thanks to the courage and success of a few brave and pioneering clubs like Aurus, Blue Frog and Zenzi, new music scenes are developing. In the past week alone, at the Dutch owned Zenzi Mills, the sister club of Zenzi in Bandra, both local and international DJs have packed the dance floors with drum and bass, dub step, deep house and minimal techno.

Although the goal of building a reputation on musical originality has been left to a handful of clubs in this city, I am more than confident that more such venues will appear in the next few years. One only has to consider a city like Tokyo who also graduated from rock and pop to emerge as one of Asia’s most original and forward thinking dance music cities. It is now a destination that many international DJs want to have on their gig itinerary. What is also important to note, is the willingness of the Japanese to spend money not only on décor, but on cutting edge sound systems and contracting not just big headline DJs but also talented underground DJs both locally and internationally. Even back in 2002, while working as a DJ in Tokyo, I had the luxury of choosing to see U.K. funk giants Norman Jay & Gilles Peterson or Detroit’s legendary techno producer, Moodyman perform on the same weekend.

One day people in Paris and elsewhere will be talking about the club music scene in India.

Currently trance music is still the dominant force when it comes to hard dance music passion, but last year’s Sunburn Festival, India’s largest dance music gathering, continued to show promising signs of musical diversity and progress. Progressive house, Chicago house and minimal techno also featured alongside trance as many talented international and local DJs, many from Mumbai, brought new tech sounds to many new ears. Judging by the positive feedback from DJ heavyweights like Roger Sanchez and Armin Van Buuren who performed at last year’s Sunburn in Goa, may be it won’t be too long before cities like Mumbai will be a must play city throughout the year on the itineraries of the world’s leading DJs. 

Johnny Deep is a 34 year-old, U.K. born British-Indian DJ and producer who has been living in Mumbai since December 2008. He has performed in 12 cities around the world and presented eight of his own radio shows including two for the Ministry of Sound in Australia. His latest release, "The Mini Disco" EP can be downloaded from Beatport.com