EDM will thrive in India, says DJ Nucleya

If you’re a Nucleya fan, there’s probably no Electronic Dance Music (EDM) that would please you as much as Nucleya’s. Songs like Laung Gawacha and Aaja Aaja would not have such massive following among the country’s youth, had it not been for Nucleya aka Udyan Sagar’s peppy and psychedelic renditions of them. 

The 37-year-old, who is one of the top DJs in the country, rose to fame 20 years ago in Ahmedabad, where the popularity of electronic music was almost negligible. It took a while for Nucleya to rise to fame. And now, Udyan gives his fans a sneak peak into his life before he became Nucleya, through a documentary film titled Ride to the Roots.

The documentary
The film, produced by Red Bull Media House, retraces Nucleya’s journey right from producing music in his bedroom before he was recognised.

“It’s been a struggle of 20 years and I think this documentary does a great job of conveying it in a very honest light,” says Udyan. 

The journey
Looking back, Udyan recalls how he started with being a part of the band Bandish Project, when electronic music and independent music industry were at a nascent stage. “We had to pretty much do everything ourselves… Organising farm house parties for gigs, distributing our music ourselves and trying to reach out to anyone who could help us build the project further. However, seeing different festivals, media platforms, clubs and pubs actively thriving off independent music is very heartening,” he says.

Struggles of independent artistes 
While independent bands and musicians are mushrooming in the industry, Nucleya feels that the one thing most artistes lack is being simple. He explains, “I think a lot of artists try to be overly complex or complicated with their music. There is no need to over-complicate things. Artistes should recognise the point they just need to step back and say — that’s it.” 

Scope of EDM
EDM lovers are growing not just internationally, but in India as well. Agrees Udyan, who feels that the genre is going to have a massive fan base in the coming years. “Electronic music is the tip of the iceberg and it’s already fairly large. It’s going to increase ten times over the coming years. Electronic music is massive internationally and India will follow that trend. Also, a lot of the youth in India has now seen homegrown Indian DJs become quite successful, so they now know it can be done.” 

Tryst with B-town
Fans love the way Nucleya adds his sensibilities to Bollywood melodies. His debut composition for Kapoor and Sons — Let’s Nacho, — was a chartbuster. So does he enjoy Bollywood music? “Bollywood has been extremely welcoming to me and I really appreciate the opportunities I have got so far. As long as films want the Nucleya sound, I am happy to take up more projects. But I will not compromise my sound just to fit into Bollywood. Staying true to my sound has actually worked quite well,” he says. And do we see more of Nucleya in Bollywood in the coming years? “I have sung a song for Anurag Kashyap’s upcoming film Mukkebaaz. Apart from that, I do have some singles coming out this year. Some will be collaborations and some just my own tracks,” he signs off.