MUMBAI: Of the ‘Bass Rani’ fame, Udyan Sagar aka Nucleya, is a soft-spoken Indian DJ, who has not only been trending in Indian electronic music, but has been setting benchmarks for upcoming artists to focus on Indian influenced music. He has been producing bass heavy content for more than 15 years, but his breakthrough was EP Koocha Monster in 2013.
The Delhi-based electronic artist was born in Agra and raised in Ahmedabad. He is known for bringing Indian classical music on the main stage with a twist of bass. Nucleya’s first collaboration came in Ahmedabad with his school mate Mayur Narvekar when they performed ‘Private Sochalay’, that would be named later as ‘Bandish Projekt’ in 1997.
It was in 2008 when Sagar took the stage name Nucleya and began to produce music of his own. Since then he has been gathering fan base that has been only increasing.
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Last year in September he released his album ‘Bass Rani’ as part of a Ganpati Visarjan procession. It was one of a kind album that received a huge response from the audience which followed him through Mumbai, and on social media. The set was equipped with a giant truck equipped with sky high speakers and featuring visuals by Saurya Sen, who is also known as ‘Oblique’, and an opening set from Su-Real and Alo Wala.
Indian music festivals have been catering a stage for many international artists, either at Sunburn, Supersonic or Enchanted Valley Carnival, the list of artists has been filled with international names. Indian electronic music is finding roots in India, whereas Indian music producers are trying to create a space in the international market. Indian DJs like Wild City and Lost Stories have been leaving a mark in the eco-system, but can they establish a space in the country despite international artists coming over to perform?
Nucleya asserts, “Industry and fans need to back Indian DJs. We need more support from festivals and industry, we need top layer people to put Indian artists up on the main stage, and the side artists should be bought on the main stage. It will not only help the music producers, but also the audiences will know their artists.”
In last few years, Electronic music has been commercialised, there are artists that have created breakthroughs such as Kygo, Skrillex and Diplo in the Indian context. Nucleya admits the fact that it is getting monotonous, he said, “Everyone is making the same kind of music, except for a few artists, it is the same. We need to cater unique and fresh content to the audience. In terms of India, as an Indian artist, we need to make more content which is influenced by our culture and music forms.”
And answering how we can help grow electronic music in India, he said, “We need more and more Indian artists coming in front, we can’t keep our festivals alive with international content. It has to work in both ways, as artists, we should create content keeping Indian audiences in mind, rather than following international artists. Whereas management, marketing, and sponsors need to buck up, they need to provide opportunity and back home grown talent in music festivals. And that is how we are going to make it grow and fix it.”
