Scratching the EDM surface

He rocked the high energy crowd as he played to a packed house at UB City on Saturday. DJ producer Sarthak Sardana aka Sartek seems to be on a roll, spinning his EDM and Big Room music at some of the most phenomenal gigs across the world. The fastest rising names in the global dance music scenario, Sartek has also become the first Indian producer to be signed on Hardwell’s label.

We chat up with him on his journey, during his visit to Bengaluru.
The graduate from Delhi University hails from an entire family of chartered accountants and confesses, “I also tried my hand at it, but music was intriguing and pulled me away until it eventually became an integral part of me.

It wasn’t an easy decision to move away from being a CA as my family was absolutely not up for it; but I knew I had it in me. And to prove my mettle to them, I completed my music production course. I was lucky to be a student at Beatfactory as I was mentored by biggies in our field like Gaurav Dayal, Amit Yadav and Saibal Basu.

They taught me everything from the basics of production to advanced mastering.” And since then there’s been no looking back for him.
He alternates between fierce, pulsating blasts of bass heavy grooves and celestial breakdowns.

Talking about the highpoints in his career and revealing the story behind how Hardwell traced him down, Sartek shares, “I’ve been supported by David Guetta on his radio show thrice; have opened for Martin Garrix and am the first Indian to ever be signed on Hardwell’s Revealed Records. Hardwell happened to stumble upon my Facebook page while browsing online. My track was up for free download at the time and he got his hands on it.

He played it on his shows all over and supported it on his radio show too. He’s among the most humble people I’ve met in the industry. We had a wonderful conversation about my upcoming projects and the music scene in general and my track Don’t need love is on Hardwell’s record label.”

Music makes his world go round and he’s excited as Hardwell is playing his track Revealed recordings. “I spend most of my week in the studio, apart from weekends where I travel for gigs. When I started off my musical career, Armin Van Buuren was a huge inspiration but currently, it’s Hardwell.

I’ve been lucky to have played at some of the most memorable gigs and will always remember the Mood Indigo, Mumbai concert in December last year as the vibe and energy was infectious. Also Bengaluru is always great and I love to keep coming back here.

The youngsters here are musically educated and totally inclined and I feel comfortable playing the different styles of my own music. I can’t wait to be back for a bigger show soon,” states the boy who brings a futuristic take to the table and has played over 100 gigs last year, had a track (Back to the Future) cracking the Beatport electro house chart, playing at several International music festivals and released his track Don’t need Love worldwide in December last year.