His show-stealing sets creating soulful, smooth and playful melodies are the reason why he’s created a legion of fans wherever he goes. Rohan Kapoor from Bengaluru mixes a touch of club synthetics, with his famed house music. Now, the city’s popular DJ has a good reason to cheer. He couldn’t have asked for a better way to close the year. He has been picked by Sunburn to play at the festival at Sunburn hills, Kesnand, Pune alongside headliner acts by Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, Axwell Ingrosso, Dimitri Vegas, Krewella and many others. “I’m the only DJ from Bengaluru who’s playing at Sunburn and it’s a huge high for me,” reveals Rohan who is now also producing music.
“After completing my schooling from Frank Anthony Public School, I did my graduation from Christ College. I went on to do my Masters in film and television production from the University of Bristol, England. After I returned to Bengaluru, I was on the lookout for a suitable job and one of my friends asked me to jam with him at a city club. One gig led to another and my friend kept calling me back and it just kept getting better. Music had always been my passion, but my parents were concerned as one can’t live off pure passion. These gigs started as a hobby and when I was offered residency with some income I knew that this was my calling for life. I continued to rock at city clubs, but I had to go through a lull for almost two years. I played at different places and sometimes even at dance floors with barely any crowd, but thankfully things turned around for me. I started ‘Addicted to House’ at Pebble and everyone loved it. The club crowd grew in large numbers and we had to close the gates,” shares Rohan of how he turned to DJing despite all the odds.
Soon word spread and Rohan was playing not just at city pubs, but also at clubs across the country. “Some of my most memorable gigs have been at Hyderabad, Lucknow, Raipur, Jaipur, Indore, Delhi and Mumbai. I’ve also played in Dubai, Sri Lanka and my most recent gig was in Amsterdam. It was my first European gig, where I played for a music label launch. I’m also producing my own music now. Apart from DJing, I’m now also producing a lot of music for other major labels.”
Revealing how Sunburn happened, Rohan states, “They got in touch with me for my music. We have built a relationship over the years and this time I’m on the Sunburn main stage on December 30 playing on top of a hill near Pune. My set will represent me and the house music I’m known for with a lot of soul and energy. My Sunburn set will have a starting point and an ending point and there will be a definition that takes you up and down and pick up the tempo according to the mood around. I will be playing with some of my favourites like Axwell, and I love the tunes of Calvin Harris, Major Laser, Shapov, Meg & Nerak from Russia and Jonas Blue.” When he gets time off, Rohan confesses to being a fitness and food junkie. “I spend 14 hours everyday in my studio producing and mixing. I always take out an hour to workout. I explore a new restaurant every Sunday. Sunburn is my favourite music festival, apart from Creamfields England and Ultra in America. I would love to play at Tomorrowland one day and am keeping my fingers crossed.”
